Current Projects

Training the Teachers Project

The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law is committed to advancing the teaching of environmental law around the globe, particularly in countries where the capacity to do so currently is lacking altogether or is seriously inadequate. It has therefore developed the TTT course as one of its “flagship” projects in order to pursue this objective in two types of situation:

• first, in countries or a region where there are relatively few legal scholars currently teaching environmental law within their Law Schools (for example, many countries in South America and Africa); and
• second, in countries where environmental law has been specified as a core element of the law curriculum (e.g., India, Indonesia and China) and where there is a clear need to recruit more teachers to deliver the required course.

Description
The TTT course will be delivered in two modes: first, a basic “training the teachers” course (TTT1) for legal academics who have not previously taught environmental law and are willing to take on this task; second, an advanced  “training the teachers” (TTT2) course, which involves training legal academics who are already teaching environmental law to enable them to deliver the basic course to colleagues in their country or region who have not previously taught environmental law.

Delivering the Course
The first course,  Advanced Training the Teachers, was conducted in Wuhan, China in early March 2011. The five-day course was been developed by a team from the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, in close partnership with the Research Institute of Environmental Law (RIEL) at Wuhan University.

The course was led by a team from the IUCN Academy and from RIEL. Professor Rob Fowler of the University of South Australia (and Chair of the Governing Board), Professor Ben Boer of the University of Sydney and Professor Mark Latham of Vermont Law School (USA) represent the IUCN Academy.  Professor Wang Shuyi, Professor Qin Tianbao, Professor Li Zhiping and Professor Zhou Ke represent RIEL. RIEL has provided financial support for the course. Vermont Law School is also partnering with the Academy to design and deliver the course in China, and has been provided with financial support by USAID for this project.

Plans are  underway to continue the courses in China in the coming months.

Aims
The aim of the TTT1 Course is to equip participants with the capacity to design and deliver a high quality course in environmental law within their Law School’s law degree or program. Consistent with this aim, the course will be structured so as to focus on two aspects: enhancing the knowledge base of participants with respect to environmental law within their particular jurisdiction (including the relevance of regional and international environmental law); and exploring, on a collaborative basis with the participants, the wide range of approaches available in relation to the design and delivery of a quality course in environmental law, including  with respect to presentation of the subject-matter, assessment and research supervision.

In the case of the TTT2 or advanced course, the aim is to equip the participants to assist with the delivery of the TTT1 course to academic colleagues within their country or region subsequently. This is an exemplary model of capacity-building in which self-sufficiency is to be developed within the relevant jurisdiction through the initial training, so that the role of the Academy is able to be reduced in the subsequent delivery of the TTT1 course. This approach would only be possible in countries such as China, India and Indonesia where there is already a sufficient cohort of legal academics engaged in the teaching of environmental law who are willing to undertake a subsequent training role themselves.

Post-training Support
One of the most important features of the Academy’s TTT project, which serves to distinguish it from many aid-funded professional training programs, is the capacity for participants to be provided with follow-up support after their completion of the course. The experts involved in the delivery of the TTT1 course – both the international trainers provided by the Academy and the local experts engaged through the host institution – will make themselves available to respond to requests by participants for advice or assistance following the training.  This is an extremely important element of the TTT course project. The availability of appropriate follow-up support can substantially enhance the value of the actual training and help to avoid situations where the course participants later encounter difficulties that ultimately deter them from implementing what they have learned in their training.

Course Certificate|
The Governing Board of the Academy has approved the establishment of an Academy Certificate in Environmental Law (Teaching) and an Academy Certificate in Environmental Law (Teacher Training) to be awarded to participants who successfully complete the TTT1 and TTT2 courses respectively.

Additional benefits
The TTT course will be likely to generate considerable flow-on benefits. By increasing the capacity to teach environmental law to law graduates, particularly in less-developed countries, the Academy can make an important contribution to the effective implementation and enforcement of environmental law.  Legally-trained professionals who have studied environmental law will be able to apply their knowledge of this field in their subsequent work in government, in the private sector or with non-government organizations. This will contribute in turn to the more effective management and protection of the environment, particularly in countries where this currently presents a significant challenge.