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Conference Speakers

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Earth Laws Asia Pacific Conference, 14-16 October 2020

Guest speakers include:

  • Dr Mary Graham, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Queensland and Kombumerri First Nations person
  • Professor Brendan Mackey, Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Australia
  • Professor Klaus Bosselmann, University of Auckland, New Zealand
  • Dr Michelle Maloney, Australian Earth Laws Alliance
  • Dr Nicole Rogers, Southern Cross University, Australia
  • Victor David, L'Institut de recherche pour le developpement (IRD), New Caledonia
  • Mari Margil, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights, USA
  • Daniel Hikuroa, University of Auckland, New Zealand
  • Enteng Bautista, Kalikasan, Philippines
  • Dr Alessandro Pelizzon, Southern Cross University, Australia
  • Michelle Bender, Earth Laws Center, USA
  • Erin Fitz-Henry, University of Melbourne, Australia
  • Dr Fran Humphries, Griffith Law School, Australia
  • Dr Erin O'Donnell, Melbourne Law School

Conference Speakers: Biographies and Abstracts

Speaker: Akhatar-Khavari, Afshin

Paper Title: Building Earth Law through Aesthetics and Emotions

Abstract: This panel session, comprising four presenters, examines the role of aesthetics and emotions in reshaping human - environmental relationships, and the implications for developing better legal governance. Panelists will enquire inter alia into the role of the performative, compassion, vulnerability, beauty, and their implications for Earth Law. These themes are illustrated with reference to Australia and selective international examples. The four presentations proposed for the panel are: Prof. Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, "“The problem of extinction and the compassion deficit in environmental law.” Dr Katie Wollaston, "Law, emotion, and the determination of conservation Values" Associate Prof. Nicole Rogers, "Performing the climate crisis - the shifting parameters of climate activism'" Prof. Benjamin J. Richardson, "Natural beauty: an elixir for Earth law?" (he will also chair the session).

Biography: Afshin Akhtar-Khavari is a Professor of Law at Queensland University of Technology, with expertise in global environmental law, ecological restoration law and environmental humanities and philosophy. He is the co-author of two recent books on ecological restoration law. He is currently Director of Research at the QUT Law School.

Afshin Akhtar-Khavari’s co-presenters are Benjamin Richardson, Nicole Rogers and Katie Wollaston

Speaker: Bartel, Robyn

Paper Title: Apples and oranges? Exchanging offsets for a place agency-based approach

Abstract: Offsets-based approaches attempt to compensate for the loss of cultural and natural heritage destroyed by development. Similar approaches have been extended worldwide, from wetland mitigation to Indigenous cultural heritage management. Offsets are criticised for becoming a licence to destroy, for infringing the mitigation hierarchy and for failing to ensure equivalence: exchanging “apples and oranges”. The principle of like-for-like replacement is rarely ever achievable in practice. It is an impossible ideal: all places are unique. Rather than piecemeal reform, fundamental transformation is required, by recognising the co-constituted web of social and natural interactions which comprise and produce places. Place agency-based approaches are preferable for both cultural and natural heritage, given their mutual embeddedness.

Biography: Robyn has multi-disciplinary expertise in science, law and education and her research encompasses regulation, regulatory agencies and the regulated, as well as the social, institutional and natural landscape in which all are situated. Her work has been influential in policy development, heavily cited in the scholarly literature and hand-picked for prestigious international collections and seminal texts in environmental law. Robyn is the lead editor of Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation: Interdisciplinary approaches (Routledge, 2018) and the forthcoming Rethinking Wilderness and the Wild: Conflict, Conservation and Coexistence (Routledge, 2021)

Speaker: Bleby, Alice

Paper Title: Reconciling rights of nature with the Anthropocene

Abstract: There is increasing recognition in the natural and social sciences that we are now living in the Anthropocene, a geological epoch in which humans are a major driver of Earth system change. What are the implications of this concept for rights of nature laws emerging across the globe? This presentation will critically examine the concept of the Anthropocene and what it means for environmental law, focussing on the emerging legal doctrine of rights of nature. It will consider how recognising legal rights of nature responds to the exigencies of the Anthropocene. It will explore alignments and contradictions between the theoretical apparatus of the Anthropocene and frameworks for rights of nature. It will discuss how the principles and underpinning ethics of nature rights could normatively orient legal reforms to address the Anthropocene. Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives, including Earth jurisprudence and Earth system law, and analysis of various rights of nature laws already in effect, this presentation aims to position rights of nature amid the panoply of proposed legal responses to the Anthropocene.

Bio: Alice Bleby is a Scientia PhD Candidate at UNSW, researching the rights of nature as a legal instrument for protecting the Earth in the Anthropocene. Alice holds a BA/LLB(Hons) from the University of Melbourne and a Masters of International and European Environmental Law from Aix-Marseille University in France. Alice has worked in government, politics and environmental advocacy, most recently leading the Climate Change Adaptation Policy team in the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Speaker: Barlo, Stuart

Paper Title: Relational Accountability with Country

Abstract: What does it mean to cultivate relationships with Country which are governed by principles of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity? How do we intentionally participate in our relationship with Country and become attuned to Country’s participation? From an Indigenous perspective, Country has agency and participates in relationship with humans and more-than-human beings. We can learn to engage in this relationship through principles and protocols which promote balance and mutuality. This panel will discuss how we cultivate respectful relationships and systems of governance which are based on relational accountability with Country and among human and more-than-human beings. We will discuss what it means to each of us to work with principles and protocols in our different areas of research, and in our everyday lives, and how these principles contribute to restoration and healing.

Bio: Dr. Stuart Barlo is the Dean of Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples at Southern Cross University. Stuart is an Aboriginal man from the Yuin nation, situated on the far South coast of New South Wales, Australia. Stuart has developed Yarning as a research methodology based on Indigenous Australians’ understanding of yarning practice and its underlying principles and protocols.

Stuart’s co-presenters are Margaret Hughes, Allessandro Pelizzon and Shaun Wilson

Speaker: Barlo, Stuart

Paper Title: Relational Perspectives on Cultivating Land and Peace

Abstract: Indigenous Peoples throughout the world have developed sophisticated systems for managing and cultivating land in ways which promote balance and provide for the needs of human and more-than-human communities into the future. These systems also encompass processes for governance and building peace in relationships. While diverse and grounded in local cultures and Knowledges, Indigenous systems share a relational worldview which entails the interconnectedness and interdependency of all beings in human, natural, and spiritual worlds. This panel brings together researchers and practitioners who are working with relational approaches in the interconnected areas of law and justice and Caring for Country.

Biography: Dr. Stuart Barlo is the Dean of Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples at Southern Cross University. Stuart is an Aboriginal man from the Yuin nation, on the far South coast of New South Wales, Australia. Stuart has developed Yarning as a research methodology based on underlying principles and protocols. He has also developed the Caring for Country program at Southern Cross university from a book and lecture-based unit, to a learning process on Country where Country and community are the teachers.

Stuart’s co-presenters are Greg Bork, Margaret Hughes,  Kyasingmong Marma and Sylvie Millard

Speaker: Bork, Greg

Paper Title: Relational Perspectives on Cultivating Land and Peace

Abstract: Indigenous Peoples throughout the world have developed sophisticated systems for managing and cultivating land in ways which promote balance and provide for the needs of human and more-than-human communities into the future. These systems also encompass processes for governance and building peace in relationships. While diverse and grounded in local cultures and Knowledges, Indigenous systems share a relational worldview which entails the interconnectedness and interdependency of all beings in human, natural, and spiritual worlds. This panel brings together researchers and practitioners who are working with relational approaches in the interconnected areas of law and justice and Caring for Country.

Biography: Greg Bork is second-generation white settler. In the five years he has lived on Bundjalung Country he has become a bush regeneration contractor, and also a cultural studies PhD student with Southern Cross University School of Arts and Social Sciences. Greg’s research engages transformations in settler community’s relationships with Bundjalung community and Country.

Greg’s co-presenters are Stuart Barlo, Margaret Hughes, Kyasingmong Marma, Sylvie Millard

Speaker: Cranwell, Caresse

Paper Title: Bridging the Divides on Climate Action

Abstract: A workshop in 2 parts. WE host conversations that bridge divides, build relationship and open potential for collaboration. WE recognise there are divides that exist within the community, Us vs Them, and divides that exist within ourselves, e.g., between our feeling, relational self and our analytical, problem solving, action oriented self. Our hypothesis, which we want to test in these workshops is: if we build bridges across our inner divides, create pathways between each other, deepen relationships, can we generate ecosystems of action where everyone’s a player. We propose 2 x 50 minute or if you’ve willing to stretch the program 2 x 90 minute workshops. Workshop 1. Bridging our inner divides. WE want to create a WEspace where we see the landscape of analysis, judgement and blame and the impact this has on us; where we traverse the terrain of our fears, mourning and longing; accompanied by others, we begin to build bridges of empathy and compassionate understanding. We can then access generative spaces, spaces where we have moved from debate/defence to deep listening to what wants to emerge in the field of relationship that we’ve created. Workshop 2. Bridging the divides between us. In this workshop we host a WEspace where the diversity and complexity of our perspectives forms a field of views, an ecosystem of wonder, inquiry and action. We host a Conversation Cafe [World Cafe style] to build alliances, enable collaborative potentials to emerge in diverse action pathways.

Biography: Wicked Elephants Co-operative www.wicked-elephants.coop. Innovative facilitators who work to foster collaborations where everyone and all life thrives. Individual Bios: https://www.wicked-elephants.coop/about-us/

Speaker: Dovey, Ceriden

Paper Title: The Moon Speaks: A (non-academic) presentation about how to use art and satellite data to advocate for legal personhood for the Moon

Abstract: What would it mean to give legal personhood to the Moon? We ask this question as we stand collectively on the brink of exploring and mining the Moon in the near future, in a new commercially-driven 21st-century Space Race. During the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump issued an executive order that entrenches the U.S. view that space is not a global commons (in contravention of established international space law), and that the U.S. reserves for its citizens the right to mine the Moon’s resources and sell them for profit. We’ll speak about how we can use both art and satellite data to advocate for ecological jurisprudence to be extended to nature in space (such as craters or mountains on the Moon), drawing inspiration from successful rights of nature campaigns in New Zealand, India and Bolivia. We propose that the Moon should have the same rights, under the law, as the companies that plan to mine it, to ensure that it is protected from irreparable damage as humans establish a long-term lunar presence. We envision this as a 20-minute presentation (non-academic) taking listeners on an extended thought experiment to consider outer space as part of nature, and to advocate for a rights of nature approach to be extended off-Earth.

Biography: Ceridwen Dovey is an award-winning Australian novelist and essayist who is passionate about environmental justice in outer space. She’s written for newyorker.com and WIRED about the pitfalls of a space resource race, and the mysteries of moon dust. Her essays have been selected for The Best Australian Science Writing 2019 and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018.

Ceridan’s co-presenter is Thomas Gooch

Speaker: Downes, Liz

Paper Title: Rights of Nature in Ecuador: where biodiversity and mining frontlines clash

Abstract: Ecuador is the most biodiverse country in the world, but it ‘needs mining’ to pay off its international debts. We will present and discuss two current high-stakes cases in Ecuador where constitutional Rights of Nature laws are being tested to protect biodiverse forests from mining. What can we learn about applying the Rights of Nature in other regions in similar situations? Case 1: Los Cedros is a cloud forest reserve in the northwestern Andes, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. It contains critically endangered species and supports an incredibly specialised ecosystem. It is also being explored for grand-scale mining. The Ecuadorian Constitutional Court has agreed to take Los Cedros on for a hearing. If the case succeeds it could mean the end of mining for 2 million hectares of threatened forests across Ecuador. Case 2: Junín is a community situated high in the Western Andes which has been fighting mining for decades. Now a massive gold mine threatens a region whose mega-diverse cloud forests contain over 270 endangered species. The mine has already caused considerable environmental damage. In August, the Constitutional Court will decide on the rights of the endangered species within the mining concession.

Biography: Liz Downes and Susie Russell are both directors of the Rainforest Information Centre (RIC), a volunteer-run organisation which has supported grassroots rainforest activism and community-based conservation projects in Australia and internationally for decades. Currently RIC's largest campaign is supporting indigenous and rural frontlines in Ecuador to defend their lands and forests from grand-scale mining. Liz has a background in local and international community development, wears various hats as a campaigner for environmental issues, and has a specialist interest in applied ecocentric ethics, deep ecology and earth rights.

Liz’s co-presenter is Susie Russell

Speaker: Dunleavy, Janine

Paper Title: Respect is Country

Abstract: Country is an area of land that is directly related to a group of Aboriginal peoples through ancestry, cultures and languages. The relationship between a people and their Country extends beyond time and is recorded in stories laid down in Country that are the spiritual source of knowledge essential to generations. Country is alive and intelligent providing everything that its people need. As a conception, Country exists outside as a living, vital place that we inhabit and through learning culture and respect it also exists inside as a model for being human in a proper way. Country provides everything we need" (Southern Cross University, 2019, p. 20). Elders and Indigenous scholars connected with Gnibi Wandararhn (College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, Southern Cross University) and Garlugun Girrwaa Yuludarla-Onemobdreaming (a cultural healing and education foundation) propose to sit in circle and yarn about how the concept – Respect is Country – challenges dominant governance systems and colonisation in the 21st Century. Reference Southern Cross University. (2019). Gnibi Wandarahn Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan March 2019 – March 2021. Lismore, NSW: Southern Cross University.

Biography: Janine Dunleavy is a woman of Aboriginal descent, a mother and grandmother, an aunty, a daughter, a sister and an Indigenous scholar. She holds a Bachelor of Anthropology from the University of QLD and a Master of Environment from Griffith University. Janine is director of Garlugun Girrwaa Yuludarla-Onemobdreaming.

Janine’s co-presenters are Herb Roberts, Allan James Phillips and Atalanta Lloyd-Haynes

Speaker: Gates, Sarah

Paper Title: Indigenous Kashmiri approaches to Interconnectedness: Seeing in Three

Abstract: Short overview of how indigenous yogic philosophy of spiritual, societal and ecological interconnectedness frames social justice activism and cultural continuity among Kashmiri Pandits in exile. My PhD research demonstrates how this framework also guides a culturally appropriate academic and practitioner approach to the decolonisation of the academy and neoliberalised yoga industries. This is attained by 'slow learning', cultivating mutual, reciprocal relationships and active deep listening whilst placing the self within the cultural millieu of a community in exile. This method, as approach to epistemology and literary social activism, can work to simultaneously decolonise the mentality of the former colonial class as well as foster and encourage the self determination of cultural subjects throughout their decolonial project . I propose to introduce an overview of Kashmiri indigenous people, to describe core tenets of their tripartite approach to interconnectedness and apply that to action based research methods developed throughout the course of my studies since 2014.

Biography: Sarah Louise Gates is a PhD student in her final year, studying ecological and social interconnectedness within Trika Tantra philosophy and how it underpins the indigenous Kashmiri Pandit community in exile's struggle to uphold resilience, and retain cultural continuity after exile from one of the world's most militarized regions.

Speaker: Gooch, Thomas

Paper Title: The Moon Speaks: A (non-academic) presentation about how to use art and satellite data to advocate for legal personhood for the Moon

Abstract: What would it mean to give legal personhood to the Moon? We ask this question as we stand collectively on the brink of exploring and mining the Moon in the near future, in a new commercially-driven 21st-century Space Race. During the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump issued an executive order that entrenches the U.S. view that space is not a global commons (in contravention of established international space law), and that the U.S. reserves for its citizens the right to mine the Moon’s resources and sell them for profit. We’ll speak about how we can use both art and satellite data to advocate for ecological jurisprudence to be extended to nature in space (such as craters or mountains on the Moon), drawing inspiration from successful rights of nature campaigns in New Zealand, India and Bolivia. We propose that the Moon should have the same rights, under the law, as the companies that plan to mine it, to ensure that it is protected from irreparable damage as humans establish a long-term lunar presence. We envision this as a 20-minute presentation (non-academic) taking listeners on an extended thought experiment to consider outer space as part of nature, and to advocate for a rights of nature approach to be extended off-Earth.

Biography: Thomas Gooch is a landscape architect and founder of Melbourne-based Office of Other Spaces and Office of Planetary Observations, companies specializing in using satellite time-series analysis to inform sustainable city planning. As regional coordinator of the international non-profit Moon Village Association, he advocates for a landscape-sensitive approach to exploring outer space.

Thomas’s co-presenter is Ceridan Dovey

Speaker: Hasimi, Rena

Paper Title: Earth Jurisprudence and the Public Trust Doctrine: Do They Compete, Contradict, or Can Create a Synergy?

Abstract: A fundamental shift in our understanding of human’s interconnected role in the Earth System has given rise to an emerging philosophical field of law, Earth Jurisprudence. The implementation of, and shift to, an ‘Earth-centred’ understanding of law will continue to face a significant headwind, as thousands of years of ‘human-centred’ precedence must be overcome. For Earth Jurisprudence to evolve and achieve its full potential in the practice of law, the emerging field will need to penetrate the current legal system. To track and predict its evolution exploring “how” this will occur is crucial. When asking “the how question,” one should understand where this legal tool sits within the current legal system among other available tools. As such, this paper plans to (a) explore how the Earth Jurisprudence is currently understood; (b) point out other emerging legal tools that can arguably address similar challenges, such as the public trust doctrine; and (c) ask whether these legal tools compete, contradict or can create a synergy.

Biography: Rena is a PhD researcher at the UNSW Faculty of Law, and a volunteer at EDO Sydney Office. My research covers the topic in property law and administrative law, with a specific interest in environmental challenges. My dissertation is concentrated on the potential of the Public Trust Doctrine. Previously, I graduated from Melbourne University LLM programme. I am originally from Turkey, where I hold my LLB degree from and admitted to bar at.

Speaker: Hasson de Oliveira, Vanessa

Paper Title: Mother Earth. Reconnection to Life.

Abstract: This work is part of the academic studies of Vanessa Hasson de Oliveira, a member of UN Harmony with Nature initiative, for whom she developed a report with more than 120 specialists, in which art is highlighted in bringing this new knowledge about themes of the Rights of Nature and Life in Harmony in Nature. The artistic stimulus proposes a subjective, emotional dialogue, enabling the relationship between perception and awareness, that we are part of the whole and that the current behavioral model no longer fits on the Earth depleted of abuse, disrespect and disconnection. The performance is divided into 4 acts. They are equivalent to the 4 elements, earth, fire, water and air. It will have balance in body movement and speech. Is an artistic show that aims to communicate and inspire, stimulating the active participation of the public, creating an affectiveness current with Mother Earth. The public as they enter the space receives a piece of clay to manipulate while watching the performance. Together they are given a paper to minimize the clay residue on their clothes and that contains a poetic text with an instruction to shape in that clay the world they want for themselves, for Mother Earth and all their children. At the end we expected builded some pieces that in a mystical way will represent the world we want. Those pieces will be exposed at other presentation around the world, creating an art collection to reinforce the movement for the rights of Nature.

Biography: Vanessa Hasson de Oliveira - Performer. Director of NGO MAPAS. PHD in Environmental Law in Rights of Nature. Expert member Harmony with Nature - UN. Has successfully advanced municipal laws of rights of Nature in Brazil and organizing many national and international meetings to promote the theme. Stela Maris Bernardi - Director and playwright of the Curarte Theatrical Group whose main focus is to exercise the countless artistic tools that the theater covers with a therapeutic approach and humanitarian awareness. Theater and body expression teacher with experience in social projects and graduate studies in theatrical direction at

Speaker: Hills, Lizz

Paper Title: Children's Fire

Abstract: Art installation- community sculpture and reflections space. Encapsulating communities, especially children's responses to nature framed between concepts of Solastagia ( when your endemic sense of place is being violated. ) and the sacredness of nature, implicit with our obligation to the place and future of that place.

Biography: Lizz Hills , installation co-ordinator, has worked with community for over a decade extending ideas from Wild Mountains. Wild Mountains is an independent, community focused, non-profit organisation providing leadership in environmental education and conservation since 2005. Wild Mountains has a vision of a world where people lead fulfilling lives while sharing the earth’s resources with all of the life forms on this planet and without degrading our life support systems. This vision has become a world class education centre where environmental education in a natural setting as the cornerstone of learning on the Boarder Ranges in QLD. We believe the best way of achieving this vision is through education, inspiring community to lead environmentally conscious lifestyles, and actively participating in conserving habitat and other resources.

Speaker: Hughes, Margaret

Paper Title: Relational Accountability with Country

Abstract: What does it mean to cultivate relationships with Country which are governed by principles of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity? How do we intentionally participate in our relationship with Country and become attuned to Country’s participation? From an Indigenous perspective, Country has agency and participates in relationship with humans and more-than-human beings. We can learn to engage in this relationship through principles and protocols which promote balance and mutuality. This panel will discuss how we cultivate respectful relationships and systems of governance which are based on relational accountability with Country and among human and more-than-human beings. We will discuss what it means to each of us to work with principles and protocols in our different areas of research, and in our everyday lives, and how these principles contribute to restoration and healing.

Biography: Margaret Hughes is a PhD Candidate in Indigenous Philosophy at Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples at Southern Cross University. Margaret is white settler American from Fort Worth, Texas and has been living in Bundjalung Country for 11 years. Margaret’s research is about learning respectfully from Aboriginal principles of Place and Relatedness in the context of conflict management.

Margaret’s co-presenters are Dr Stuart Barlo, Dr Alessandro Pelizzon and Dr Shawn Wilson

Speaker: Hughes, Margaret

Paper Title: Relational Perspectives on Cultivating Land and Peace

Abstract: Indigenous Peoples throughout the world have developed sophisticated systems for managing and cultivating land in ways which promote balance and provide for the needs of human and more-than-human communities into the future. These systems also encompass processes for governance and building peace in relationships. While diverse and grounded in local cultures and Knowledges, Indigenous systems share a relational worldview which entails the interconnectedness and interdependency of all beings in human, natural, and spiritual worlds. This panel brings together researchers and practitioners who are working with relational approaches in the interconnected areas of law and justice and Caring for Country.

Biography: Margaret Hughes is a PhD Candidate in Indigenous Philosophy at Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples at Southern Cross University. Margaret is white settler American from Fort Worth, Texas and has been living in Bundjalung Country for 11 years. Her research is about how to learn respectfully from Aboriginal principles of Place and Relatedness in the context of conflict management.

Margaret’s co-presenters are Stuart Barlo, Greg Bork, Kyasingmong Marma and Sylvie Millard

Speaker: Ivanovich, Sasha (Karma Padme Dorje)

Paper Title: Earth Laws – Historical precedents, today’s Planetary Challenge, for the Future.

Abstract: Earth laws and Rights of Nature laws are inherent and have always supported the Earth community. We cannot and have not survived without them. Over the last two thousand years we have gradually eroded our Earth Laws and Rights of Nature in an impulse to extend our societally constructed human dominion into the ‘unknown’ whether it be ’undiscovered’ regions of our planet, in the sky, below the oceans or across every corner of the planet and now the solar system - seeking to adapt creation to our own societal needs. What has been lacking is our commensurate understanding of ourselves, our correspondence to the place we inhabit and our destination in our evolutionary process. This (power point) presentation will seek to demonstrate, through precedence and recently evolved current global conditions, evidence of our present evolutionary stage that challenges us to become global citizens and to embrace our role as responsible custodians of our world. Examples will be provided of communities pursuing that same goal and adaptation we need to make to embrace the steps evolution is asking to take.

Biography: Sasha Ivanovich is a practicing architect, counsellor, author and social activist. In his student days as an anti-war activist. his award winning film Arts Vietnam received recognition at the Melbourne annual Film Festival. Years later, he was instrumental in organising protest against the 1st Iraqi War. His poem ‘The Baghad Museum is Empty” formed part of the digital banner of a world internet movement against that war. Since 1910 he has been engaged in promoting action on climate change, participating in numerous city planning conferences, including the CSIRO 3rd Australian Earth System Outlook Conference in presenting the case for ‘climate sensitive ecological cities for Australia’. He is the recipient of the Australian Federal Government Endeavour Award for his research on Masdar, the first world ‘Carbon Neutral City’ ongoing experiment in Abu Dhabi UAE. More recently, before the last federal election, his petition called for a ’national interdisciplinary and cross-political parties’ initiative’ on climate change. He is co-founder of the recently established ‘The United States of Well-Being’ a digital platform offering counselling and personal development training for the socially conscious planetary citizen.

Speaker: Jefferson, David J

Paper Title: Beyond Access and Benefit Sharing: The Rights of Nature as an ‘Ecocentric’ Approach to Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract: Nearly thirty years after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1993) entered into force, it has become clear that its first objective, to improve biodiversity conservation, is not being adequately met. Instead, political debates and policy measures have centred on the second and third objectives of the CBD, which are the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources. This paper will consider the rights of nature as a way to move beyond the anthropocentrism inherent in contemporary legal frameworks for biodiversity conservation, and to enable ‘ecocentric’ lawmaking. The paper will review the jurisprudence of Ecuador, which is the only country in the world to have recognised the rights of nature in a national constitution, focussing on three cases in which the rights of nature were invoked to support conservation. Although there are inherent limitations to the rights of nature, this novel legal concept could offer an effective prototype to rethink policy interventions for biodiversity conservation by valuing the subjectivity and interests of non-human entities.

Biography: Dr David J. Jefferson is a Research Fellow with the 'Harnessing Intellectual Property to Build Food Security' ARC Laureate Project at The University of Queensland School of Law. His research centres on the intersection of intellectual property and related legal regimes on agricultural and food systems. David has several current projects. One area of work focuses on issues related to the governance of native genetic resources that are relevant to the development of uniquely Australian foods. Another line of inquiry that David is pursuing relates to re-imagining systems of intellectual property for plants in ways that would be more 'ecological', by integrating with novel legal concepts such as the rights of nature. Finally, David is studying the impact of the institutionalisation of the notion of food sovereignty on domestic laws for the ownership and circulation of seeds. David's primary research sites are in Australia and Latin America. David holds a PhD from The University of Queensland School of Law, a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from the University of California, and a Masters of Arts in Community Psychology from Suffolk University. He is licensed to practice law before the State Bar of California, USA. David has engaged in legal research and practice in the areas of intellectual property, agriculture, genetic resources governance, and biotechnology for numerous years, including as a member of the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA) (USA) and in collaboration with the UC Davis Chile Life Sciences Innovation Center (Chile) and the Northwest Center for Biological Research (Mexico). In 2016, David received a United States Fulbright Fellowship to study the making of a new intellectual property law in Ecuador.

Speaker: Johnson, Lynn

Paper Title: Three Steps to Modernise CITES

Abstract: One of the most crucial legal systems to protect biodiversity globally is the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which came into effect in 1975. Yet it has not been updated since its launch, despite the global trade in endangered species growing massively to more than US$320 billion annually. CITES permits remain mostly paper based with no traceability, trackability, no integration with customs or effective monitoring. In addition to these flaws in the convention, the lack of funding for enforcement enables a rampant illegal trade that amounts to US$100-250 billion annually. Industry is absolved from contributing to the cost of regulation, despite the trade in endangered species being described as one of the most lucrative trades in the world. Nature Needs More and For the Love of Wildlife are two Australian NGOs who have created detailed proposals to modernise CITES. We have presented these proposals to more than 30 signatory countries and discussed them with a wide range of NGOs and IGOs. The need to modernise CITES is urgent, given the key role direct exploitation for trade plays in the extinction crisis and the emergence of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19.

Biography: Dr Lynn Johnson With a PhD in particle physics, Lynn started her career in research before moving to consulting. She has 20 years’ experience in designing behaviour change interventions and business strategy development. Lynn launched Nature Needs More in 2017 to create strategies to tackle the legal and illegal trade in endangered species.

Lyn’s co presenter is  Donalea Patman

Speaker: Kara, Pelenatita

Biography: Pelenatita Kara is the National Deep Sea Mining coordinator, Civil Society Forum of Tonga. With a BA in Geography and MBA in Marketing, she was part of the first National Team in Tonga to attend all the EU funded project meetings on the issue of deep sea mining under The Pacific Community (SPC) from 2012-2015. She involved in the Legal Framework for the Development of Tonga's Deep Sea Mining Act 2014 and the Tax review in 2015, and was part of the team that helped develop a regional Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Framework and Management Plan Framework to be used by the Pacific Islands.

Speaker: Kelly, Andrew

Paper Title: Has the Yarra/Birrarung Act, the 'Waterways of the West' and the Barwon River initiative our rivers

Abstract: The Yarra/Birrarung act was passed in 2017 - unopposed, and with much fanfare. The act is intended to give the river a cultural, if not a legal personality, and to enshrine Traditional Owner rights to protect and manage the river. But did it? How successful has the Birrarung Council been? What is happening with the Yarra Strategic Plan, a critical part of the act? Was the act flawed or is all innovative legislation inherently difficult? From the Yarra/Birrarung Act followed the Victorian government's commitment to the Waterways of the West and then a similar Ministerial Advisory Committee for the Barwon River. Each initiative springs from the original proposal for the Yarra, but each has taken a somewhat different approach, with even greater participation in the initiative from Traditional Owners. This talk will review, compare and contrast the methods of the three approaches, seeking to understand how the different approaches of the three models are delivering better outcomes and how those models have been constrained. This talk includes a focus on the legal systems of First Nations in these three catchments and the challenge and opportunities of engaging with this innovative legislation and proposals to protect and improve our waterways. There is opportunity and there is risk in finding reconciliation with land and with people in the context of state legislation and regulation.

Biography: Andrew Kelly is the Yarra Riverkeeper. As the Yarra Riverkeeper, he is one of the vital community voices advocating for the Yarra River, its catchment, and its tributaries. He is the spokesperson for the Yarra Riverkeeper Association. The association is a place-based, evidence-based group of independent citizen-advocates. The association lobbied for the Yarra Act and has been actively involved in the work that led to the act and the Yarra Strategic Plan. The association is committed to building and sharing knowledge about the Yarra and its catchment, as well as waterways more broadly. Andrew is a member of the Birrarung Council, and is committed to the association reconciling with people and land.

Speaker: Lloyd- Haynes, Atalanta

Paper Title: Respect is Country

Abstract: Country is an area of land that is directly related to a group of Aboriginal peoples through ancestry, cultures and languages. The relationship between a people and their Country extends beyond time and is recorded in stories laid down in Country that are the spiritual source of knowledge essential to generations. Country is alive and intelligent providing everything that its people need. As a conception, Country exists outside as a living, vital place that we inhabit and through learning culture and respect it also exists inside as a model for being human in a proper way. Country provides everything we need" (Southern Cross University, 2019, p. 20). Elders and Indigenous scholars connected with Gnibi Wandararhn (College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, Southern Cross University) and Garlugun Girrwaa Yuludarla-Onemobdreaming (a cultural healing and education foundation) propose to sit in circle and yarn about how the concept – Respect is Country – challenges dominant governance systems and colonisation in the 21st Century. Reference Southern Cross University. (2019). Gnibi Wandarahn Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan March 2019 – March 2021. Lismore, NSW: Southern Cross University.

Biography: Atalanta Lloyd-Haynes is a woman of Aboriginal and European descent, mother of teenagers, a daughter, aunty. Atalanta is a founding member of Garlugun Girrwaa Yuludarla-Onemobdreaming providing research assistance. She is a third-year student in the Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge course with Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples and research intern with Committix Pty Ltd, an independent, Indigenous-owned research company.

Atalanta’s co-presenters are Janine Dunleavy, Herb Roberts and Allan James Phillips

Speaker: Lowrey, Natalie

Paper Title: Blue Peril: Pacific Ways in the Protection of Oceans from Seabed Mining

Abstract: Pacific peoples for generations have a deep cultural and sustainable relationship with their seas. In many Pacific cultures, present generations are viewed as custodian — not owners — of marine resources, with the responsibility to maintain and enhance the resources for future generations. Pacific peoples recognise the connectivity between different ocean environments and view the deep sea as connected to the shallow seas and reefs that are part of their tenure. But a new threat is on the horizon set to rupture and disrupt their guardianship over their seas, their traditional resource management and their knowledge systems. With over 1.5 million square kilometres of ocean floor already under seabed mining exploration leasehold, this new extractive industry is poised to be the largest mining operation in history with impacts that would be extensive, severe and last for generations. Not only will it cause irreversible species loss, ecosystem degradation and place further stress on our overburdened oceans any presumed social and economic gains for Pacific economies are unsubstantiated and go against the scientific consensus; Pacific Islanders stand to lose livelihoods, food security, cultural connections and spiritual-wellbeing with their life-giving oceans. However, they are standing up and resisting. Join our panel of Pacific representatives and experts to explore and discuss the rights of Pacific societies and of nature in the context of exploiting the global commons.

Biography: Natalie Lowrey is Communications Coordinator for the Deep Sea Mining campaign (DSMC), who are a partner of Mission Blue, project of The Ocean Foundation and member f the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. DSMC has been advocating and campaigning against the deep sea mining industry since 2011. Holding a Master of Human Rights and Democratisation, Natalie has 20-years as an organiser, communicator, campaigner and advocate on human rights and global justice issues. She is passionate in the practice of allyship and collaborating with local communities and Indigenous Peoples who are resisting large scale extractive developments that threaten their lands, oceans, lives and livelihoods. Natalie has a deep connection to the black sands and ocean off the west coast of Aotearoa/New Zealand where she was born. http://deepseaminingoutofourdepth.org

Natalie’s co-presenters are Jonathon Mesulam and Helen Rosenbaum

Speaker: Marma, Kyasingmong

Paper Title: Relational Perspectives on Cultivating Land and Peace

Abstract: Indigenous Peoples throughout the world have developed sophisticated systems for managing and cultivating land in ways which promote balance and provide for the needs of human and more-than-human communities into the future. These systems also encompass processes for governance and building peace in relationships. While diverse and grounded in local cultures and Knowledges, Indigenous systems share a relational worldview which entails the interconnectedness and interdependency of all beings in human, natural, and spiritual worlds. This panel brings together researchers and practitioners who are working with relational approaches in the interconnected areas of law and justice and Caring for Country.

Biography: Kyasingmong Marma (Mong) is a Professional Doctoral Candidate in Indigenous Philosophies at Southern Cross University. Mong comes from a Marma Indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. His research uses the philosophy of Jum Cultivation as a methodology to explore the Marma justice system. Mong is a Rotary Peace Fellow having completed his Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Queensland.

Kyasingmong’s co-presenters are Stuart Barlo, Greg Bork, Margaret Hughes and Sylvie Millard

Speaker: Millard, Sylvie

Paper Title: Relational Perspectives on Cultivating Land and Peace

Abstract: Indigenous Peoples throughout the world have developed sophisticated systems for managing and cultivating land in ways which promote balance and provide for the needs of human and more-than-human communities into the future. These systems also encompass processes for governance and building peace in relationships. While diverse and grounded in local cultures and Knowledges, Indigenous systems share a relational worldview which entails the interconnectedness and interdependency of all beings in human, natural, and spiritual worlds. This panel brings together researchers and practitioners who are working with relational approaches in the interconnected areas of law and justice and Caring for Country.

Biography: Sylvie Millard works in the community legal sector as a civil lawyer, assisting clients and community capacity building around day-to-day legal issues. She completed her Bachelors of Laws and Bachelor of Indigenous Studies at Southern Cross University, where she met Kyasingmong Marma. Sylvie is the descendent of English-Irish-Scottish colonialists, living on Bundjalung land.

Sylvie’s co-presenters are Stuart Barlo, Greg Bork, Margaret Hughes and Kyasingmong Marma

Speaker: Mesulam, Jonathon

Paper Title: Blue Peril: Pacific Ways in the Protection of Oceans from Seabed Mining

Abstract: Pacific peoples for generations have a deep cultural and sustainable relationship with their seas. In many Pacific cultures, present generations are viewed as custodian — not owners — of marine resources, with the responsibility to maintain and enhance the resources for future generations. Pacific peoples recognise the connectivity between different ocean environments and view the deep sea as connected to the shallow seas and reefs that are part of their tenure. But a new threat is on the horizon set to rupture and disrupt their guardianship over their seas, their traditional resource management and their knowledge systems. With over 1.5 million square kilometres of ocean floor already under seabed mining exploration leasehold, this new extractive industry is poised to be the largest mining operation in history with impacts that would be extensive, severe and last for generations. Not only will it cause irreversible species loss, ecosystem degradation and place further stress on our overburdened oceans any presumed social and economic gains for Pacific economies are unsubstantiated and go against the scientific consensus; Pacific Islanders stand to lose livelihoods, food security, cultural connections and spiritual-wellbeing with their life-giving oceans. However, they are standing up and resisting. Join our panel of Pacific representatives and experts to explore and discuss the rights of Pacific societies and of nature in the context of exploiting the global commons.

Biography: Jonathan Mesulam is the Coordinator of the West Coast Development Foundation and co-founder of the Alliance of Solwara (saltwater) Warriors. Jonathan’s community, on the island province of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea has the dubious distinction of being the first Indigenous people on Earth to have spent the past decade fighting off a Canadian company that planned to mine hydrothermal vents in the depths of the ocean just 30 kilometres away. Jonathan has campaigned extensively within PNG and across the Pacific and Internationally to stop deep sea mining.

Jonathan’s co-presenters are Natalie Lowrey and Helen Rosenbaum

Speaker: Mitchell, Emily

Paper Title: The Save the Sepik campaign

Abstract: Representatives of the Save the Sepik campaign will speak about the threat of the Frieda River copper/gold mine - the largest mine in PNG history - to the Sepik River. The Upper Sepik River Basin has been tentatively listed for World Heritage Status, due to its incredible biodiversity and rich cultural heritage. The people of the Sepik maintain a rich and vivid spiritual connection with the river, waterways, forests and animals of the Sepik: the river is their source of life. The area is also the site of the Karawari caves, which host possibly the greatest example of rock art in the whole of Melanesia. Yet the mine could devastate all this forever. In 2020, Project Sepik worked with 28 haus tambarans, or 'spirit houses' along more than 1,000 km of the Sepik River to issue the Supreme Sukundimi Declaration, a unanimous declaration of the traditional clan leaders that declared a total ban on the Frieda River mine. Emmanuel Peni, Co-ordinator of Project Sepik, will speak about the vital connection of the Sepik people to their home, and about the campaign. Another member of his team will join him in this discussion.

Biography: Emmanuel Peni is the Co-ordinator of Project Sepik, and is based in Wewak, Papua New Guinea.

Speaker: Mulalap, Clement Yow

Biography: Clement Yow Mulalap, a lawyer hailing from the island of Wa’ab in the Federated States of Micronesia, is an international law consultant who specialises in international environmental law (particularly climate change law and biodiversity conservation law), the law of the sea, and
international Indigenous law, with several articles and chapters published on those matters. Among other responsibilities, he is currently the Legal Adviser for the Permanent Mission of the Federated States of Micronesia to the United Nations and has represented the Federated States of Micronesia in various multilateral fora, including meetings for the UNFCCC and the CBD, various meetings of States Parties to UNCLOS and its implementing agreements, and the BBNJ negotiations. He holds a J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law (with a certificate in
Pacific-Asian Legal Studies) and an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from the New York University School of Law.

Speaker: Patman, Donalea

Paper Title: Three Steps to Modernise CITES

Abstract: One of the most crucial legal systems to protect biodiversity globally is the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which came into effect in 1975. Yet it has not been updated since its launch, despite the global trade in endangered species growing massively to more than US$320 billion annually. CITES permits remain mostly paper based with no traceability, trackability, no integration with customs or effective monitoring. In addition to these flaws in the convention, the lack of funding for enforcement enables a rampant illegal trade that amounts to US$100-250 billion annually. Industry is absolved from contributing to the cost of regulation, despite the trade in endangered species being described as one of the most lucrative trades in the world. Nature Needs More and For the Love of Wildlife are two Australian NGOs who have created detailed proposals to modernise CITES. We have presented these proposals to more than 30 signatory countries and discussed them with a wide range of NGOs and IGOs. The need to modernise CITES is urgent, given the key role direct exploitation for trade plays in the extinction crisis and the emergence of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19.

Biography – Donalea Patman OAM With more than 25 years’ experience in corporate communications, Donalea knows the importance of engaging people in change. A company director and leading figure working with the Australian Government on key wildlife issues, Donalea received an Order of Australia Medal for animal welfare in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Donalea’s co-presenter is Lynn Johnson

Speaker: Pelizzon, Alessandro

Paper Title: Relational Accountability with Country

Abstract: What does it mean to cultivate relationships with Country which are governed by principles of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity? How do we intentionally participate in our relationship with Country and become attuned to Country’s participation? From an Indigenous perspective, Country has agency and participates in relationship with humans and more-than-human beings. We can learn to engage in this relationship through principles and protocols which promote balance and mutuality. This panel will discuss how we cultivate respectful relationships and systems of governance which are based on relational accountability with Country and among human and more-than-human beings. We will discuss what it means to each of us to work with principles and protocols in our different areas of research, and in our everyday lives, and how these principles contribute to restoration and healing.

Biography:  Dr. Alessandro Pelizzon is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University. Alessandro has been exploring the emerging discourse on rights of nature, Wild Law and Earth Jurisprudence since its inception, with a particular focus on the intersection between this emerging discourse and different legal ontologies.

Alessandro’s co-presenters are Stuart Barlo, Margaret Hughes and Shawn Wilson

Speaker: Penninkilampi, Lachlan

Paper Title: Finding Nature in the Nature of the Common Law

Abstract: I propose to challenge what Dr Maloney and a colleague of hers argued in the Wild Law Judgment Project in regards to the “inherent flexibility” of the common law. After surveying the dominant theories of common law, I shall argue that while there is some flexibility in the common law, a shift from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism would be hindered by the common law’s vague, ambiguous, and inherently conservative character as a form of customary law the validity of which is contingent on its continued reception by a profession which exercises a monopoly over the provision of legal services. From this I shall draw the conclusion that the common law is unlikely to possess the inherent flexibility sufficient for advocates of Earth Laws to treat it as a dependable source of reform. Instead, in my view, it requires supplementation by other forms of law (international, constitutional, statutory) or a revolution in the profession or both. Only then can it be ready for a new legal paradigm of ecocentrism.

Biography: Lachlan Penninkilampi is a final-year LLB student and prize-winning BA graduate from the University of Sydney. Lachlan is a member of the AELA and has provided policy advice about rights of nature to Dr Mehreen Faruqi, who subsequently called for Earth Laws in her maiden speech to the Australian Senate.

Speaker: Phillips, Allan James

Paper Title: Respect is Country

Abstract: Country is an area of land that is directly related to a group of Aboriginal peoples through ancestry, cultures and languages. The relationship between a people and their Country extends beyond time and is recorded in stories laid down in Country that are the spiritual source of knowledge essential to generations. Country is alive and intelligent providing everything that its people need. As a conception, Country exists outside as a living, vital place that we inhabit and through learning culture and respect it also exists inside as a model for being human in a proper way. Country provides everything we need" (Southern Cross University, 2019, p. 20). Elders and Indigenous scholars connected with Gnibi Wandararhn (College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, Southern Cross University) and Garlugun Girrwaa Yuludarla-Onemobdreaming (a cultural healing and education foundation) propose to sit in circle and yarn about how the concept – Respect is Country – challenges dominant governance systems and colonisation in the 21st Century. Reference Southern Cross University. (2019). Gnibi Wandarahn Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan March 2019 – March 2021. Lismore, NSW: Southern Cross University.

Biography: Uncle Allan James Phillips is Gumbaynggirrr/Worimi/Irish man. He is a Father, Grandfather, Uncle, Brother, Husband and Son. Uncle Allan is a member of Southern Cross University Gnibi Elders Council member and founder/director of Garlugun Girrwaa Yuludarla-Onemobdreaming. This organisation aims to bring people together, healing the fractures within and around us to create a better future for all people, our families, our communities and our environment.

Allan’s co-presenters are Janine Dunleavy, Herb Roberts and Atalanta Lloyd-Haynes

Speaker: Quinn, Nelson

Paper Title: The politics of climate change - some next steps

Abstract: The historic failure to convince the public and governments to take really seriously the growing global environmental change problem (atmosphere, oceans, land forms, hydrology, pollution, biodiversity) puts at risk the integrity of the natural systems on which we depend. We have to adapt to the changes already occurring and to an increasingly unstable planet. Traditional means of changing policies and attitudes are not succeeding. Promising policy developments such as the ‘just transition’ approach in Europe need specific action. We need to overcome the problem of scientists and experts having a lot of knowledge about the climate change and other global issues without this experience being shared with younger generations. There is a lack of dialogue among young generations, scientists and politicians. We need to strengthen the young people’s role in embarrassing the older generations. We need to create a community that develops a common project, like a counter culture, to influence government and community decision making. We suggest some practical next steps for progress through paths of least resistance, involving ecological integrity as one of the building blocks and issues such as the ‘best’ style of language to use, communication of risk and increasing the influence of the younger generations.

Biography: Dr Nelson Quinn was a member of the first IPCC and Australian delegate to other climate change events. He was involved later in the global change research activities of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme. (Part of the history - how we got to where we are.)

Nelson’s co-presenter is Natalie Sclippa

Speaker: Quirk, Genevieve

Paper Title: Pacific Island Countries: governing an ocean continent

Abstract: At the inaugural UN Ocean Conference, together, the Pacific Island Countries launched the ‘Blue Pacific Continent’ concept that reframes PICs as collective stewards over the world’s largest ocean continent. This paper traces the development of the contemporary system of oceans governance from 1947 to 2017 to substantiate claims of regional governance over an ocean continent. An ocean continent is a concept that transcends areas within national jurisdiction (AWNJ) and extends collective stewardship of marine resources to areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). This paper demonstrates how regional responses to accelerating external threats to their oceanscape have driven collective ocean stewardship since before the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention. In Oceania, regional oceans governance organisations have evolved to an advanced system of collective governance. Commencing as distinct entities, areas of overlap in the mandate of these elemental regional organisations, compelled their co-evolution through stages of competition and specialisation. The final stage of integration between these organisations is characterised by an architecture for collaboration, coordination and collective diplomacy. Spatially the scope of the common and increasingly dense system of oceans governance instruments that compose the governance architecture encompass AWNJ and extend to ABNJ to distinguish the region as one Ocean continent.

Biography: Genevieve Quirk MEnvLaw (ANU), DULF (Paris III), Bsc (UQ) is a PhD candidate in Law at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security and recipient of the APA and the Global Challenges PhD Scholarships. Genevieve works internationally as an invited lecturer and in policy advising for oceans governance reform in the South Pacific, EU, Antarctica and Australia. Genevieve, is an Earth System Governance Project Research Fellow, Visiting Scholar of the East West Center in Hawaii and joined the Australian delegation to the UN on SDG14 and BBNJ.

Speaker: Reynolds, Annika

Paper Title: Managing Youth Legal Movements to foster Eco-centric Law Reform and Legal Cultures

Abstract: We have a responsibility to work together across generations to ensure that eco-centrism is not only embedded in the letter of the law, but in the minds of the next generation of legal practitioners. GreenLaw, is an ANU College of Law initiative, that is taking on this challenge. GreenLaw is run by young people, aiming to harness the innovation and passion of law students and to amplify our voice. The GreenLaw model connects law students, to academics, to environmental organisations and to legal institutions. This network facilitates the formation of interdisciplinary connections and empathy – between law and environmental backgrounds, academia and on the ground advocacy – GreenLaw the means of advocating for eco-centric values to be adopted in law reform. GreenLaw has also developed novel internal management and wellbeing strategies to foster eco-centric understandings from within, and to build an eco-centric, compassionate legal culture. We work with regenerative culture experts and Indigenous elders to embed these values in our work. This model allows young people to agitate for legal change in a way that resonates with us. Transformative law reform is required to address climate change; reform that adopts eco-centric values in our institutions, legal profession and broader public.

Biography: Annika Reynolds, Founder of GreenLaw Annika is a current ANU Law (Honours)/International Security Studies student and consultant on federal environmental regulation for the Australian Conservation Foundation, she was previously an ANU College of Law research assistant on international and environmental law. Annika is also a board director for Zero Emissions Noosa, supporting community climate action.

Speaker: Richardson, Benjamin

Paper Title: Building Earth Law through Aesthetics and Emotions

Abstract: This panel session, comprising four presenters, examines the role of aesthetics and emotions in reshaping human - environmental relationships, and the implications for developing better legal governance. Panelists will enquire inter alia into the role of the performative, compassion, vulnerability, beauty, and their implications for Earth Law. These themes are illustrated with reference to Australia and selective international examples. The four presentations proposed for the panel are: Prof. Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, "“The problem of extinction and the compassion deficit in environmental law.” Dr Katie Wollaston, "Law, emotion, and the determination of conservation Values" Associate Prof. Nicole Rogers, "Performing the climate crisis - the shifting parameters of climate activism'" Prof. Benjamin J. Richardson, "Natural beauty: an elixir for Earth law?" (he will also chair the session).

Biography: Benjamin J. Richardson is a Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Tasmania, and a global scholar with 20 years experience in universities in Canada, England, Netherlands and New Zealand. He is the author / editor of 10 books including the Art of Environmental Law (Bloomsbury, 2019) and a former member of the Australian Panel of Experts on Environmental Law.

Benjamin’s co-presenters are Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, Nicole Rogers and Katie Woolaston

Speaker: Roberts, Herb

Paper Title: Respect is Country

Abstract: Country is an area of land that is directly related to a group of Aboriginal peoples through ancestry, cultures and languages. The relationship between a people and their Country extends beyond time and is recorded in stories laid down in Country that are the spiritual source of knowledge essential to generations. Country is alive and intelligent providing everything that its people need. As a conception, Country exists outside as a living, vital place that we inhabit and through learning culture and respect it also exists inside as a model for being human in a proper way. Country provides everything we need" (Southern Cross University, 2019, p. 20). Elders and Indigenous scholars connected with Gnibi Wandararhn (College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, Southern Cross University) and Garlugun Girrwaa Yuludarla-Onemobdreaming (a cultural healing and education foundation) propose to sit in circle and yarn about how the concept – Respect is Country – challenges dominant governance systems and colonisation in the 21st Century. Reference Southern Cross University. (2019). Gnibi Wandarahn Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan March 2019 – March 2021. Lismore, NSW: Southern Cross University.

Biography: Uncle Herb Roberts is a Widjabul Wiyabal Elder. He was born in Lismore and started life at Cubawee Mission. He has been an active member of community organisations most of his life. Uncle Herb is passionate about sharing his knowledge of culturally significant sites and stories at Evans Head. He teaches into the Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge especially in the Caring for Country unit. Uncle Herb is an Elder in residence at Gnibi, Lismore Campus, and Co-Chair of Southern Cross University Gnibi Elders Council.

Herb’s co-presenters are Janine Dunleavy, Allan James Phillips and Atalanta Lloyd-Haynes

Speaker: Rogers, Nicole

Paper Title: Building Earth Law through Aesthetics and Emotions

Abstract: This panel session, comprising four presenters, examines the role of aesthetics and emotions in reshaping human - environmental relationships, and the implications for developing better legal governance. Panelists will enquire inter alia into the role of the performative, compassion, vulnerability, beauty, and their implications for Earth Law. These themes are illustrated with reference to Australia and selective international examples. The four presentations proposed for the panel are: Prof. Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, "“The problem of extinction and the compassion deficit in environmental law.” Dr Katie Wollaston, "Law, emotion, and the determination of conservation Values" Associate Prof. Nicole Rogers, "Performing the climate crisis - the shifting parameters of climate activism'" Prof. Benjamin J. Richardson, "Natural beauty: an elixir for Earth law?" (he will also chair the session).

Biography: Nicole Rogers is an Associate Professor at Southern Cross University, with a strong record of scholarship on environmental activism and performance studies and wild law. She is the author of the new book Law, Fiction and Activism in a Time of Climate Change (Routledge, 2020). In 2014, she instigated and then co-led the Wild Law Judgment project, resulting in 2017 in the book Law as if Earth Really Mattered (Routledge).

Nicole’s co-presenters are Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, Benjamin Richardson, and Katie Wollaston

Speaker: Helen Rosenbaum

Paper Title: Blue Peril: Pacific Ways in the Protection of Oceans from Seabed Mining

Abstract: Pacific peoples for generations have a deep cultural and sustainable relationship with their seas. In many Pacific cultures, present generations are viewed as custodian — not owners — of marine resources, with the responsibility to maintain and enhance the resources for future generations. Pacific peoples recognise the connectivity between different ocean environments and view the deep sea as connected to the shallow seas and reefs that are part of their tenure. But a new threat is on the horizon set to rupture and disrupt their guardianship over their seas, their traditional resource management and their knowledge systems. With over 1.5 million square kilometres of ocean floor already under seabed mining exploration leasehold, this new extractive industry is poised to be the largest mining operation in history with impacts that would be extensive, severe and last for generations. Not only will it cause irreversible species loss, ecosystem degradation and place further stress on our overburdened oceans any presumed social and economic gains for Pacific economies are unsubstantiated and go against the scientific consensus; Pacific Islanders stand to lose livelihoods, food security, cultural connections and spiritual-wellbeing with their life-giving oceans. However, they are standing up and resisting. Join our panel of Pacific representatives and experts to explore and discuss the rights of Pacific societies and of nature in the context of exploiting the global commons.

Biography: Dr Helen Rosenbaum is the Coordinator of the Deep Sea Mining Campaign, an association of individuals and organisations worldwide concerned about the potential impacts of DSM. Helen has 25-years experience in community development, research and policy analysis, human rights and environmental advocacy. Helen has earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medical Research and has also worked as a marine eco-toxicologist Note: It is proposed to have two other speakers from the Pacific, most likely Cook Islands and Tonga, we are still in discussion with Pacific partners who the speakers will be

Helen’s co-presenters are Natalie Lowrey and Jonathon Mesalum

Speaker: Russell, Susie

Paper Title: Rights of Nature in Ecuador: where biodiversity and mining frontlines clash

Abstract: Ecuador is the most biodiverse country in the world, but it ‘needs mining’ to pay off its international debts. We will present and discuss two current high-stakes cases in Ecuador where constitutional Rights of Nature laws are being tested to protect biodiverse forests from mining. What can we learn about applying the Rights of Nature in other regions in similar situations? Case 1: Los Cedros is a cloud forest reserve in the northwestern Andes, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. It contains critically endangered species and supports an incredibly specialised ecosystem. It is also being explored for grand-scale mining. The Ecuadorian Constitutional Court has agreed to take Los Cedros on for a hearing. If the case succeeds it could mean the end of mining for 2 million hectares of threatened forests across Ecuador. Case 2: Junín is a community situated high in the Western Andes which has been fighting mining for decades. Now a massive gold mine threatens a region whose mega-diverse cloud forests contain over 270 endangered species. The mine has already caused considerable environmental damage. In August, the Constitutional Court will decide on the rights of the endangered species within the mining concession.

Biography: Liz Downes and Susie Russell are both directors of the Rainforest Information Centre (RIC), a volunteer-run organisation which has supported grassroots rainforest activism and community-based conservation projects in Australia and internationally for decades. Currently RIC's largest campaign is supporting indigenous and rural frontlines in Ecuador to defend their lands and forests from grand-scale mining. Susie is a long-term forest activist and community coordinator who is currently working with RIC and several other grassroot groups to protect old growth forests and koalas in northern NSW.

Susie’s co-presenter is Liz Downes

Speaker: Sclippa, Natalie

Paper Title: The politics of climate change - some next steps

Abstract: The historic failure to convince the public and governments to take really seriously the growing global environmental change problem (atmosphere, oceans, land forms, hydrology, pollution, biodiversity) puts at risk the integrity of the natural systems on which we depend. We have to adapt to the changes already occurring and to an increasingly unstable planet. Traditional means of changing policies and attitudes are not succeeding. Promising policy developments such as the ‘just transition’ approach in Europe need specific action. We need to overcome the problem of scientists and experts having a lot of knowledge about the climate change and other global issues without this experience being shared with younger generations. There is a lack of dialogue among young generations, scientists and politicians. We need to strengthen the young people’s role in embarrassing the older generations. We need to create a community that develops a common project, like a counter culture, to influence government and community decision making. We suggest some practical next steps for progress through paths of least resistance, involving ecological integrity as one of the building blocks and issues such as the ‘best’ style of language to use, communication of risk and increasing the influence of the younger generations.

Biography: Natalie Sclippa, an undergraduate at the University of Trieste, Italy, attended the Jean Monnet Module ENSUEU “Environmental sustainability in Europe: a juridical perspective. “ During her 6-month Erasmus Munich experience (Germany), she focused on environmental communication and eco-movements - listening to the voice of the younger generations and their needs. (The voice of the future.)

Natalie’s co-presenter is Nelson Quinn

Speaker: Sunder Raj, Manjeri Subin

Paper Title: Towards Creating a More Effective Earth Law Regime: Do Customs and Traditions Hold the Key? Lessons from India.

Abstract: Laws, it is said, have to be atleast a step ahead of the times in which they exist, lest they become obsolete, and Earth Laws are no exception- albeit it being relatively young! Earth Laws or Rights of Nature, have been able to bring about a paradigm shift which fosters an eco-centric approach; but with varying degrees of success, across various jurisdictions. Having carved a niche area of jurisprudence, it has had its fair share of criticisms as well, which warrants a thorough inspection as regards the ways in which its effectiveness can be bettered. The paper proposes to look into hurdles that exist in re implementation of such laws, taking clues from India, where this branch of law, albeit in a nascent stage, has attracted the attention of the judiciary. The paper, by highlighting legal issues and challenges that exist, proposes to delve into certain communitarian practices and customs, and would figure out the impact it would have if they were to be afforded legal recognition and protection. This, it is felt, will bring about a much-needed thrust in ensuring that the current anthropocentric approach of law gives way to a more inclusive eco-centric approach.

Biography: Dr. Manjeri Subin Sunder Raj, a fifth-generation lawyer, is extremely passionate about Rights of Nature, Environmental Rights and Human Rights, and is involved in Public Interest Litigations and several campaigns related to environmental protection, human rights, and dissemination of legal literacy, in India.  He is a member of the Knowledge Network Experts, UN Harmony with Nature.  His doctoral research revolves around ways in which culture and tradition can be imbibed, in law, to foster an eco-centric approach. He has taught courses on the Earth Justice and Environmental Ethics at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

Speaker: Wallace, Scott

Paper Title: Veganism: Towards Ecocentric Culture

Abstract: For many of us, our relationship with the rest of the natural world has been influenced by deep-seated, destructive anthropocentric beliefs that humans are separate from and superior to nature and other animals. This has led to rampant and legalised exploitation and abuse of animals for profit, with the best excuses being tradition, taste and convenience. In addition to the 70 billion land animals being killed each year, the collective animal agriculture industry is the leading driver of a range of environmental harms. If we are to address the climate and ecological crises and spread more compassion in this world then our relationship with animals and our exploitation of them must be questioned. We must take accountability for the consequences of our consumption habits and choices on the planet, people and the animals and make changes where necessary. In this diverse and engaging presentation, Scott will provide a fresh perspective on the relevance of Veganism and Animal Rights within the global Earth Laws/Rights of Nature movement. Veganism provides us with a philosophical, ethical and practical framework for upholding the rights of other members of the Earth Community and a way of embodying other ecocentric principles and beliefs on a day-to-day basis. Veganism can play a crucial role in the transformation of our culture that is so desperately needed.

Biography: Scott is an Environmental Scientist with qualifications in law, a passionate educator and advocate for Earth Justice and Animal Rights. Scott is on a mission to create a world which respects all members of the Earth Community and is representing the Animal Justice Party in the upcoming QLD State Elections.

Speaker: Whitehurst, Richard Henry

Paper Title: The Overview Effect and The Future of Humanity

Abstract: I convey in words and imagery, and through direct audience experience, the power of the planetary overview, seeing Earth from space. I assist audiences in establishing a viscerally felt shift within themselves through a live 5 minute meditative experience using actual and astounding video imagery of Earth from space, a spoken induction along with evocative music. The entire presentation from start to finish would require the 20 minute block. This process can help people to further establish a more life-affirming contextual understanding of our collective fate as members of a species on a singular planet - 'Spaceship Earth' - with limited its resources. It can also establish within participants a felt-sensing of our kinship with one another, and with the entire biosphere. This brief presentation has become for many past participants an immensely valuable re-contextualisation that has catalysed and accelerated their involvement in further life-affirming actions. I have delivered this presentation to scores of diverse groups of all ages, ranging in size from 10 to 250 people. It has been a powerful, often emotional and transformational experience, with tears being shed and a palpable shift in the overall collective feeling (or 'energy') in the venue. I require a screen, a room/space the can be made dark, a video projection arrangement and a good (if not excellent) sound system. The felt-sensing of the planetary overview will definitely support and nurture diverse Earth-centred cultures and legal approaches. It can assist our current Earth-disconnected culture to become Earth-centred. Our website is: www.overviewinstituteaustralia.org

Biography: Richard Henry Whitehurst is the founder and director of the Overview Institute of Australia - an educational organisation that disseminates information, both cognitively and experientially, about the life-changing shift in consciousness called 'the overview effect' - the powerful and rapid re-contextualisation that occurs from seeing planet Earth from space. He is an educator, public speaker with some 40 years experience, psychotherapist, published author, futurist and environmental activist.

Speaker: Wilson, Shawn

Paper Title: Relational Accountability with Country

Abstract: What does it mean to cultivate relationships with Country which are governed by principles of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity? How do we intentionally participate in our relationship with Country and become attuned to Country’s participation? From an Indigenous perspective, Country has agency and participates in relationship with humans and more-than-human beings. We can learn to engage in this relationship through principles and protocols which promote balance and mutuality. This panel will discuss how we cultivate respectful relationships and systems of governance which are based on relational accountability with Country and among human and more-than-human beings. We will discuss what it means to each of us to work with principles and protocols in our different areas of research, and in our everyday lives, and how these principles contribute to restoration and healing.

Biography: Dr. Shawn Wilson is Senior Lecturer at Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples at Southern Cross University and Professor of Psychosocial Work (Adjunct), Østfold University College, Fredrikstad Norway. Shawn is Opaskwayak Cree from northern Manitoba in Canada and has been living on Bundjalung territory for fifteen years.   Shawn’s work articulates Indigenous philosophy and research paradigms and explores the inter-related concepts of health and healing, identity, culture and well-being.

Shawn’s co-presenters are Dr Stuart Barlo, Dr Alessandro Pelizzon and Margaret Hughes

Speaker: Wollaston, Katie

Paper Title: Building Earth Law through Aesthetics and Emotions

Abstract: This panel session, comprising four presenters, examines the role of aesthetics and emotions in reshaping human - environmental relationships, and the implications for developing better legal governance. Panelists will enquire inter alia into the role of the performative, compassion, vulnerability, beauty, and their implications for Earth Law. These themes are illustrated with reference to Australia and selective international examples. The four presentations proposed for the panel are: Prof. Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, "“The problem of extinction and the compassion deficit in environmental law.” Dr Katie Wollaston, "Law, emotion, and the determination of conservation Values" Associate Prof. Nicole Rogers, "Performing the climate crisis - the shifting parameters of climate activism'" Prof. Benjamin J. Richardson, "Natural beauty: an elixir for Earth law?" (he will also chair the session).

Biography: Katie Woolaston is a Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, with research interests in wildlife law, ecofeminism and vulnerability theory. She recently completed her PhD (Griffith University) in these fields. One of her journal articles won the 2018 essay prize from the Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy.

Katie Wollaston’s co-presenters are Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, Benjamin Richardson and Nicole Rogers.