News Item

24-28 June 2013

TE PIRINGA – FACULTY OF LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO

The IUCN Academy* annual colloquium is being held in New Zealand for the first time. It is regarded as the premier international environmental law conference, and is important because it enables experts in environmental law to collaborate and network. Over 120 people are expected to attend from around the world.

The theme for the Colloquium is ‘He Tapuwae: The Search for Environmental Justice’. He Tapuwae means ‘footprints left on the land’ and symbolises the human journey into new territory as we explore and develop our world. The programme highlights emerging issues relating to environmental law in the developing world.

The NZ Law Foundation is providing support to bring overseas keynote speakers to the event, and they include:

> Professor Nicholas Robinson, Pace University, New York
> Justice Brian Preston, Chief Judge, Land and Environment Court, NSW
> Lord Carnwath, Supreme Court Justice, UK
> Professor Justin Rose, University of the South Pacific
> Professor Eric Kwa, University of Papua New Guinea
> Professor David Hodas, Widener University, USA

The Colloquium will give New Zealand legal academics, researchers and policy-makers a chance to connect with leading international specialists and exchange ideas about developments in the field of environmental law. With our strong focus on primary production, it is important for the future of this industry that we have a coherent body of sound environmental law.

The Colloquium website has details about the programme and speakers, and about how to register.

The New Zealand Law Foundation is funding up to $20,000 towards the Colloquium.

* The Academy was established by the International Union for Conservation (IUCN) in 2003, and has grown to become a network of over 500 environmental law academics from over 160 universities based in over 50 countries worldwide