Project description
Giving non-human nature legal voice
The current ecological challenges require new approaches to understanding how we interact with the environment. Building on the concept of ecological justice (EJ), the distributive paradigm where nature is no longer simply “a factor” of justice but an actor that “receives,” the EU-funded Speak4Nature project will develop new socio-legal instruments and methodologies to provide a theoretical and operational basis in social and environmental sciences to ensure non-human nature participation in legal instances. By defining why and how different social sciences extend moral consideration to non-human nature, the project will conceptualize EJ from a multidisciplinary, intersectoral and international perspective. Project work will ultimately lead to ensuring interhuman, interspecies and intergenerational fairness.
Objective
The complexity of current ecological challenges requires to elaborate new methods to understand the way we interact with the environment and to eradicate the anachronistic human-centred conception of nature. Scientists, governments and regulators are asked to create a “justice” capable to reframe the concept of nature as an active player, in line with the notion of Ecological Justice (EJ). Counting on a consortium of 9 international interdisciplinary forefront academic (universities and research centers) and non-academic institutions (a for-profit company and NGOs) in EU and Latin America, Speak4Nature aims to develop new socio-legal instruments and methodologies to provide a common theoretical and operational basis in social and environmental sciences to give voice to non-human beings in legal instances, and to contribute to the creation of a shared vision towards the treatment of “nature” itself useful for the adaptation of the political process to the current ecological challenges.
In particular, Speak4Nature will aim to: SO1) conceptualize EJ from a multidisciplinary, intersectoral, and international perspective; SO2) define why, how and under what influence different social sciences extend moral considerability to non-human nature; SO3) map the current social and legal techniques to assert the voice of non-human nature; SO4) empower civil society and stakeholders’ role in ecological awareness, restoration and climate change litigation; SO5) ensure the uptake of project outcomes by developing practical guidelines and training tools on legal techniques and standards to implement EJ principles in disputes over environmental violations.
Through interdisciplinary and intersectoral secondments and knowledge transfer mechanisms, Speak4Nature will increase the skills of the involved staff to foster the study, exchange and dissemination of knowledge on issues related to the ecology of law, contributing to the improvement of EJ standards and policies.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-SE - HORIZON TMA MSCA Staff ExchangesCoordinator
13100 Vercelli
Italy