🌍 CROSS-REGIONAL SPRING SCHOOL ON CLIMATE JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT ITS SECOND EDITION
The second edition of the European Interregional Spring School on Climate Justice and Human Rights was successfully held in Orhei, at the Codru Tourist Complex, from 5 to 11 May, strengthening the growing role of the Republic of Moldova in the regional discourse on 🌿 environmental rights and supporting 🌱 sustainable development.
Jointly organized by the Global Campus of Human Rights (GCHR) and Moldova State University (MSU), with the support of the European Union, the Spring School brought together 22 participants – students, human rights defenders and civil society representatives from the Republic of Moldova and from the EU’s neighbourhood and enlargement regions.
🎓 The program included topics for analysis and discussion that demonstrate the cross-cutting and multidimensional nature of environmental issues. As facilitators of the activities carried out during the week, international and national experts have been actively involved, including GCHR affiliated lecturers and teaching staff from the MSU, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Biology and Geosciences: Zoi Aliozi, Pim Martens, Samentha Goethals, Alma Midžić, Marina Shupac, Iordanca-Rodica Iordanov, Daniela Elenciuc, Steliana Clapco, Doina Cuciurca and Irina Punga.
📚 The core academic sessions explored themes that fit into a global approach, including: the foundations of climate justice, planetary health, ecocide and the responsibilities of business in environmental governance.
The workshops has successfully combined the theoretical and the applied approach, including simulation exercises, case studies, and group work. Through the teaching staff of MSU and international experts, a participatory workshop Climate Fresk has been carried out, which represents a way of integrated and systemic approach to problems, thanks to which the causal link between phenomena is clearly presented, thus making it much easier to subject them to analysis and detect innovative and effective intervention solutions.
A special session, in collaboration with the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, was dedicated to the analysis of the country’s climate policies in the context of EU accession, with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Environment, the EU Delegation and civil society. In the context of the discussions in this workshop, the participants were brought to the attention of the progress made by the Republic of Moldova on the environmental dimension, results presented by national experts with active involvement in the process of adjusting the legislation. The representative of the EU Delegation reiterated the availability to provide the necessary support and to stand by the Republic of Moldova in the process of adjusting national legislation to European standards.
🌳 Beyond academic activities, the participants – guided by the MSU teaching staff – visited the Orhei National Park, where they explored local biodiversity and discussed the importance of environmental conservation.
At its second edition, the Spring School strengthened collaborative relationships between academia, civil society and the professional environment, showing that the format in which the activity was conceptualized brings long-term benefits for the promotion of human rights and sustainable development in the region.
The activity was successfully coordinated by the GC Capacity Development Department team – Adriano Remiddi, Vukasin Pajovic, Larisa Barbu – and representatives of the USM Faculty of Law – Rodica Ciobanu and Natalia Creciun.
