CERTIFICATE COURSE: PROTECTION OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE IN ARMED CONFLICT

Certificate Course:

PROTECTION OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE IN ARMED CONFLICT

Call for participants

The Levan Alexidze Foundation (LAF) and The Georgian American University (GAU) are pleased to announce a call for participation in the certificate course “PROTECTION OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE IN ARMED CONFLICT.” This course will be conducted in close cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in terms of promotion of the ICRC’s 2020 Guidelines on the Protection of the Natural Environment in Armed Conflict. The course is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of the legal frameworks governing environmental protection during armed conflict.

The call is open to undergraduate and graduate law students across Georgia with basic IHL knowledge, requiring those selected to undertake a brief ICRC e-learning module in case of having no prior knowledge of IHL. Proficiency in English is required of the candidates for the course, as English is the language of instruction and all course materials.

The course is structured into five sessions, covering key areas as follows:

• Introduction into the ICRC’s Guidelines on the Protection of the Natural Environment (PNE) in Armed Conflict;
• Animals in the international law of armed conflict;
• Protection of the natural environment through conduct of hostilities rules;
• Exploring the specific protections of the natural environment;
• Enhancing protection of areas of particular environmental importance or fragility.

The inaugural session will feature a hybrid presentation with an ICRC Geneva expert(s) lecturing online to an audience in Tbilisi, while subsequent sessions will be held in-person at GAU, led by LAF and GAU expert(s), using methods from the ICRC’s  PNE Teaching Outline.

Upon the successful completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

The participants will have the opportunity to submit and present a paper on a relevant topic at the 13th annual academic conference dedicated to the International Criminal Justice Day, hosted by LAF. This year’s conference will focus on the prosecution of environmental crimes during armed conflict.

Interested applicants must fill in the application form before the deadline of June 21, 2024. Selected participants will be contacted by June 24.

Important Dates:

June 21: application deadline

June 24: selection of participants

July 5-7: course sessions (3 hours per day)

July 17: Academic conference

For questions, please feel free to contact at laf@laf.ge saba.pipia@gau.edu.ge