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INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
Prof Morgera on opening panel at Annual Science Conference
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Prof Elisa Morgera was invited to contribute to an opening panel on the science-policy interface for achieving SDG 14 at the Annual Science Conference of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Sept 2019. The Council is an intergovernmental marine science organization that seeks to advance and share scientific understanding of marine ecosystems and the services they provide and to use this knowledge to generate state-of-the-art advice for meeting conservation, management, and sustainability goals. The conference was held at Gothenburg, Sweden, and gathered 763 participants from 38 countries, including 175 early career scientists.
The opening panel also included Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry (President of the World Maritime University), Katherine Richardson (University of Copenhagen), Manuel Barange (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), and Vladimir Ryabinin (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO). The video-recording of the panel wen can be found here.
Prof Morgera leads the One Ocean Hub, a global inter-disciplinary collaboration that seeks to transform our response to the urgent challenges facing our ocean through integrated and inclusive governance. The Hub is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) - which is a key component in delivering the UK AID strategy and puts UK-led research at the heart of efforts to tackle the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
European Social Network award win
A partnership project with SOS Children’s Villages, ‘Prepare for Leaving Care’, won the European Social Network (ESN) European Social Services Innovation Award. CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection) was commissioned by SOS Children’s Villages to produce the project guidance. The work included Dr Chrissie Gale and Dr Gayle Rice facilitating participation work with young people across Europe; Kenny McGhee, Dr Chrissie Gale and consultant Nigel Cantwell (Honorary Doctor of Children’s Rights at the University) writing the guidance, and Ian Milligan and Dr Irene Stevens developing and delivering ‘training for trainers’ guidance. More information about the project can be found here: https://www.sos-childrensvillages. org/prepare-for-leaving-care
The Treaty of Versailles Centenary
To mark the centenary of the Paris Peace Conference, Dr Rogelia Pastor-Castro organised a major international conference in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, The National Archives, the LSE and the British International History Group. The National Archives hosted the first day of the conference on 27 June, which included a display of the treaties signed between the Allies and Germany and the Central Powers. The Guardian reported on the private display and the fact that Britain is the only nation to hold a complete set of all the original treaties.
On 28 June, exactly 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosted the second day of the conference at Lancaster House, where Sir Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary at the FCO, welcomed the 140 delegates representing fifteen nationalities. The range of papers examined the impact of the treaties on the modern world, and discussed such topics as East Asia, the Middle East, transnational actors, minorities, diplomats and borders.
NEW EPRC REPORT: Northern Periphery and Arctic programme impact evaluation
Research by EPRC’s Irene McMaster and Heidi Vironen and independent consultant Nathalie Wergles, on the Impact Evaluation of the Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) Programme, has been highlighted at an event on Interreg Evaluation, Capitalisation and Communication in Budapest 5-6 November. The transnational Interreg NPA programme covers an extensive geography from the west coast of Greenland to the Eastern borders of Finland, has a strong focus on addressing the development needs of extremely remote peripheral areas through transnational cooperation. Measuring programme impacts over such a large programme area and dispersed populations poses challenges for regular evaluation approaches. The research included an innovative elements such as foundation analysis of longer-term territorial impacts of projects, and in depth territorial case study analyses, involving interviews with ‘end users’ as well as project partners. This allowed the research to not only assess programme and project progress, but understand the potential long terms benefits for the territories, the distinctive role that territorial cooperation efforts can play, and the real benefits on the ground.
To download the full report here.
History at the Heart of Diplomacy
The British Embassy in Paris asked Dr Rogelia Pastor-Castro to act as historical adviser for the commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris and the reopening of the embassy. Dr Pastor-Castro wrote about the embassy from 1940 to 1947 based on her publication The Paris Embassy: British Ambassadors and Anglo-French Relations, 1944–79 and her forthcoming volume Embassies in Crisis.
Selected text and images were displayed on panels at the Ambassador’s reception to mark the event. Guests read Dr PastorCastro’s account and discussed with her the history of FrancoBritish relations. After the reception, Ambassador Llewellyn hosted a private dinner at which the special guests included descendants of the Grenadier Guards who liberated the embassy in 1944. Dr Pastor-Castro’s research will continue to reach members of the public as the panels will be on display when the embassy holds Open Doors Day.
Dr Pastor-Castro with Lord Llewellyn, British Ambassador to France
International and local events for judges and policy makers
Prof Alan Paterson, School of Law, has chaired and organised the International Conference on Legal Aid, in Ottawa, Ontario. He was also invited to speak on Quality Assurance and Peer Review at an international conference on Legal Aid in Vilnius, Lithuania and has presented on ‘Peer Review’ at the Kiev International Legal Aid Conference. In October, Alan has presented on ‘Re-accrediation of Lawyers’ at CCBE/FBE Conference on Self Regulation and Quality in the Legal Profession in Lisbon, Portugal.
Closer to home, Alan was invited to convene and act as questionmaster for the Three Presidents of the UK Supreme Court ( Lord Phillips, Lord Neuberger and Lady Hale ) relating to the first ten years of the Court. The event was held in the Supreme Court building and will be placed on the Supreme Court website in early course. He has also given a presentation by invitation to Scottish Government Expert Payment Panel on “Paying for Access to Justice”.
These events all involved practitioners or judges or policymakers.
Visit from Thai judges
The two-week Thai judiciary visit organised by Paul Cardwell, School of Law, has now come to end. It was very successful (if exhausting) and the 35 participating judges have had a great time at Strathclyde.
Prof Cardwell said: “Putting together this programme was only possible with the support of many people in the Law School. I hope I don’t miss anyone out, but I would like to thank Carol, Morag, Eve and Caila for their help with all the organisation aspects, budget, gift wrapping (!) and helping with all kinds of last minute hiccups. I am very grateful to Rhonda and Mike Nellis for giving guest lectures during the programme. Mary did a great job in giving the response on behalf of the School at the Civic Reception in the City Chambers, which Aiden and Alan also attended.
Aileen’s suggestions for speakers in Election Law were very helpful in putting together a coherent programme of study. The support of our PhD student, Thanyanuch (who is also a judge in Thailand) and LLM student, Arunotai, was invaluable, and the student Law Clinic directors, Kirstie and Jamie made a great impression with their presentation on the work of the Law Clinic. Many thanks to all.”
Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) Co-Director Dr Francesco Sindico was invited by the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT) as part of the Institute’s celebrations for its 25 year anniversary. Every month in 2019, TILT has focused on a specific topic and in October Dr Sindico was asked to join TILT for a month as the Climate Change Visiting Professor. In this role he delivered a public lecture titled “Climate Change Tipping Point: Civil Society Turns to Litigation” on 22 October. The public lecture was delivered in Tilburg’s public library, LocHal, a truly magnificent public space that allowed SCELG’s work and research to be accessed by the general public in Tilburg. The public lecture was an opportunity to discuss the work that SCELG is currently undertaking within the Climate Change Litigation Initiative in collaboration with the University of Geneva and the National University of Singapore.
SCELG at Arctic Circle Assembly
In October 2019, the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) contributed to two breakout sessions at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland. The Assembly is the largest annual gathering on the Artic and is attended by heads of state and government, ministers, and members of parliament, as well as representatives of civil society and indigenous peoples.
Nicola Crook, SCELG PhD researcher, presented the work that SCELG has undertaken with the Scottish Government Islands Team. Nicola contributed to a panel chaired by Mr Wheelhouse, Scottish Minister of Energy, Connectivity and Islands, and focused on the methodology undertaken during the National Islands Plan consultation process, with a view to sharing good practices with other countries.
SCELG collaborates closely with the Strathclyde Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law. It works extensively on topics on the crossection of human rights and environmental law, notably in the context of Brexit, the EILEAN lab, the BeneLex Project and the One Ocean Hub.
International Keynote speech
Professor Elisa Morgera contributed to the 16th edition of the annual Course on Multilateral Environmental Agreement Negotiations organized by the UN Environment Programme and the University of Eastern Finland under the theme Emerging issues in International Environmental Law.
Elisa was invited to deliver a keynote speech, titled “Is International Law and Governance Equipped to Deal with Emerging Environmental Issues?” (available at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=cdJ4hbNWHbs.)
In addition, Elisa facilitated an interactive discussion among participants on the options for protecting marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, together with Charlotte Salpin, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea, and a panel discussion on emerging Issues in international biodiversity law.
Furthermore, Elisa co-designed and co-facilitated with colleagues at University of Eastern Finland a two-day negotiation exercise based on the ongoing UN negotiations on a new legally binding instrument on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
