Advancing engagement with Environmental Sustainability in Higher Education through Clinic-based education
A case study of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law's Environmental Law Clinic, the University of York Baroness Hale Legal Clinic and the University of York Sustainability Clinic
Context
This exchange between UOY's Sustainability Clinic (SC), the Baroness Hale Legal Clinic (BHLC) and University of Belgrade Faculty of Law's Environmental Law Clinic (ELC) aims to foster a shared approach to sustainability-focused clinic-based education. The aim is to explore ways of incorporating sustainability education into higher education using the kind of hands-on Clinical approach that is familiar to law schools around the world.
Aims and Objectives
The Environmental Law Clinic, alongside the Environmental Law and Climate Change Law courses, was established at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade as part of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Environmental and Climate Change Law under the Erasmus+ program.
This exchange between UOY's Sustainability Clinic (SC), the Baroness Hale Legal Clinic (BHLC) and University of Belgrade Faculty of Law's Environmental Law Clinic (ELC) aims to foster a shared approach to sustainability-focused clinic-based education. The collaboration will facilitate knowledge exchange on how different clinics address key sustainability topics, including corporate responsibility, climate justice, and the impact of digitalization.
It will explore the potential for joint projects, research, and curriculum development which will support better preparation of future legal and other professionals to take a multi-disciplinary approach to the climate crisis.
For the SC, the program offers insights into Southeast European environmental law, enhancing comparative studies on global practice.
Professor Steve Levett, University of York Law School
Bio: After initially training as a secondary school teacher and working abroad, Professor Levett retrained as a solicitor and joined the Government Legal Service in Whitehall. Here he handled litigation for government bodies ranging from the Prison Service to the Forestry Commission.
Deciding to return to teaching he joined the (now) University of Law where he set up and ran its first Student Law Clinic. He also instigated its first Streetlaw programmes, as well as a publicly funded legal literacy project based in South Yorkshire and partnerships with law firms and voluntary organisations.
Whilst at ULAW he held a variety of senior management posts including Deputy Director of its York Centre and Head of Business Development.
In 2012 he joined the University of Sunderland as the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Business. Law and Tourism with responsibility for programme development and student recruitment across the Faculty.
In 2016 Professor Levett was appointed Director of Clinical Legal Education at King's College London and was responsible for founding its first student legal clinic.
Since joining the University of York Professor Levett has directed his attention to raising awareness amongst students of the role law plays in the climate crisis. He organises an annual Global Day of Action for Climate Justice which sees law clinic students across the globe join together to focus on one climate crisis issue for one day. He is also the module designer of an interdisciplinary Climate Crisis Lab Module and he has been the first Director of the University of York Sustainability Clinic (January 2023-December 2024), a university-wide initiative and new module available to all undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Professor Dr. Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović
Jean Monnet Chair in European Environmental and Climate Change Law,
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law's Environmental Law Clinic
Bio:
Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović is a Full Professor in Environmental law and Climate change law, Jean Monnet Chair in European Environmental Law, founder of Environmental legal clinic and Master course in environmental law, all at University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. She specializes in environmental law with particular emphasis on access to environmental justice. She is both a Chevening and a Fulbright scholar.
She has more than 17 years of professional experience of which 13 in the field of environmental law and policy. Throughout her career, she has cooperated with numerous international organizations (OSCE, Council of Europe, UN and EU programs,) national authorities, NGOs, research organizations, business and financial institutions.
She is a member of the IUCN World Commission (IUCN WCEL Climate Change Law Network 2021-2025). She was elected by the Government of Serbia to be a member of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of the Republic of Serbia to the EU responsible for Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity where she developed a Serbian Negotiation position, coordinating work of 150 members of negotiation group, business society and civil society.
As a prominent lawyer and expert in the field she drafted several environmental laws and climate change law in a process of transposition of EU environmental acquis. Bearing in mind that full implementation of international, EU and national standards in access to environmental justice is based on understanding of sustainable development and rule of law, she has established a special program for education of judges and prosecutors that became a part of the standard education at the Judicial Academy.
As a Team leader she developed several strategies and policies in different fields of environmental law to support national and regional institutions dealing with sustainable development.
Throughout her career, Mirjana has continuously promoted the concept of sustainable development, fair and equitable governance of natural resources and fair access to environmental and climate justice. She has published more than 60 books and articles in the field of environmental law and climate change law.