The workshop on “Climate Change and Legal Education: the Why, the How and the Priestly” held on Thursday 7 – Friday 8 November at Sydney Law School brought together over 30 legal educators from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to discuss approaches to embedding climate change and sustainability into the professionally accredited law programs (LLB and the JD courses).
Universities, law councils, law societies, and bar associations around the world increasingly refer to the importance of Law as a profession and discipline to address the disruptive impact of climate change on modern organised societies and economies. Our challenge, as legal educators, is to adapt our curricula and pedagogy to develop our students’ knowledge and capabilities in partnership with leaders of legal professional practice.
From transition units including foundation-oriented units of study, through intermediate units such as Corporations Law, to capstone units of study – this conference opens space for consideration of climate change in legal education not only in terms of content but also in terms of relevant legal competencies such as interdisciplinary engagement, collaboration and problem-solving.
The workshop was organised by Professor Nicole Graham and supported by the Ross Parsons Centre for Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law and the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law at Sydney Law School.