September 17, 2016

Maryland-Pace Environmental Law Alliance Takes Office As Secretariat For The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law

The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Environmental Law Program and The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University’s Environmental Law Program will jointly serve as Secretariat for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Academy of Environmental Law (Academy). The Maryland-Pace Environmental Law Alliance, an innovative partnership the two schools created last year, will jointly administer the affairs of this global, 200-institution organization.

The Academy is the only international learned society for university environmental law academic scholars. Professor Robert Percival noted that “with nearly 200 member institutions from every corner of the world, the Academy has created an extraordinary global community of scholars dedicated to improving environmental law.” The Academy has already published 50 books and holds annual Colloquia at different institutions around the world. Pace Haub Law hosted the Academy’s 4th Colloquium in 2006, and Maryland Carey Law hosted the 10th Colloquium in 2012. This year the University of Oslo in Norway hosted the 14th Colloquium which included more than 320 participants from 52 countries. Two Maryland Carey Law faculty and four students made presentations at the Colloquium.

The new Secretariat will provide a wealth of opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate, contribute to the development of environmental law around the world, and provide a world forum for scholarship.

At the Annual General Meeting of the Academy (Collegium) held on June 23, 2016 during this year’s Colloquium, the membership approved the transition from the Academy’s existing Secretariat, the University of Ottawa, Canada, to the new Maryland-Pace Secretariat. This transition will coincide with the reincorporation of the Academy in Maryland. The new Secretariat will continue to carry out the affairs of the Academy, which vary from administrative responsibilities to facilitating communications with its membership, the Governing Board, and IUCN and partner organizations. Additionally, the Secretariat organizes major conferences including the Academy’s Annual Colloquia, coordinates the production of the Academy’s publications, and assists with the selection of Academy fellows and recipients of the Academy’s prizes and awards.

The Academy’s current Governing Board Chair Nilufer Oral stated, “[t]he Academy is very excited to have the new Secretariat hosted jointly by the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Each of these institutions is a leader in environmental law and will further strengthen the work of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, a global network of 200 institutions.”


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