Earth Law Center Partners with Prestigious Law School in Chile

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso law students will learn how to implement an ecocentric approach in Chile

By Chloe Heskett

This spring, Earth Law Center launched a new partnership with the Law School of the prestigious Chilean university Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Alumni from this renowned university go on to become lawyers, judges, politicians and other influential actors in the region.

The collaboration between Earth Law Center (ELC) and the Chilean university creates exciting opportunities not only for law students at the university to complete internships with ELC, but for ELC to introduce Earth law to the university’s legal scholarship.

ELC is excited to teach Earth law to a new generation of law students and hopes to soon begin setting up and running seminars and workshops on Earth law at the university, introducing the concepts of Rights of Nature and ecocentric law into the legal lexicon of a nation that is new to Earth jurisprudence.

As a country, Chile currently has no laws recognizing the Rights of Nature, and there are few opportunities to learn about how the Rights of Nature fit into both Earth law and the broader jurisprudence in Chile. Working with students at the Pontificia Universidad through this new collaboration can begin to change that. Given the university’s influence on Chile’s political and legal systems, introducing Earth law into legal education can shift the way Nature is viewed and protected.

For law students at the university, this partnership represents an eagerly awaited opportunity to explore a new field of law as well as to complete internships and broaden their networks. Law students at the preeminent university had expressed their eagerness to work with an organization relating to the environment, and the Earth Law Center is delighted to provide such an opportunity. Two students have already begun internships through the new program.

This collaboration will also serve as a model for future partnerships between ELC and other universities in Latin American countries, including a new potential partnership with the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. These partnerships are particularly influential in nations whose laws and legal institutions do not yet recognize or utilize Earth law to protect and restore Nature, as working with students can influence legal institutions and the future of law-making in a country, promoting the Rights of Nature and ecocentric principles and promulgating Earth law around the world.

We’ll be sharing more about this program throughout the year. Be sure to check back to hear about students’ experiences and the success of the partnership!