Exploring the Legal Status of Nature

1-4pm Thursday 9th November

University of Technology Sydney

(Room to be advised)

The Hon. Justice Brian John Preston SC

Chief Judge of the NSW Land & Environment Court

Dr Michelle Maloney

Co-Founder/National Convenor of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA)

Dr Virginia Marshall

Indigenous lawyer and author of 'Aqua Nullius'

The dawn of the Anthropocene - triggered by human impacts on the Earth System - is challenging us to rethink the legal, economic and governance structures underpinning our techno-industrial growth societies. Many lawyers around the world are exploring innovative ways to use the law to protect the life support systems of the planet and its precious diversity of species and eco-systems.

This forum is part of a series of gatherings in several cities around Australia that aim to bring together academics, legal practitioners, First Nations People, activists and cultural creatives to explore Earth-centred approaches to law and governance.

On February 19-20 next year the Anthropocene Transition Project will convene a two-day symposium around the theme Rethinking Sovereignty for the Earth.  Speakers will include Professor Klaus Bosselmann, Director of the New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law and Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, Professor Will Steffen, Earth System scientist, International Anthropocene Working Group, Planetary Boundaries Research Project, and Dr Mary Graham, Kombumerri elder and Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland.

A national symposium, Exploring the Legal Status of Nature, will be held in May 2018 to gather the outcomes of these forums and share relevant research. An edited collection of papers from the project will be published in late 2018 or early 2019.