Symbiosis Law School awarded Jean Monnet Chair on climate justice by European Union

Pune-based Symbiosis Law School has been awarded the Jean Monnet Chair on EU Climate Justice Law, Governance, Management and Policy (EUC-LAMP) by the European Union (EU) with a grant of Euro 50,000, a press communique from Symbiosis International University (SIU) stated on April 6.

The grant will be provided under the Erasmus+ Programme of EU from 2022-2025, it added.

On behalf of SIU, Shashikala Gurpur, a Fulbright scholar, the director of Symbiosis Law School and dean of the Faculty of Law at SIU, will be the first Jean Monnet chair professor.

This is the first Jean Monnet Chair granted in Pune and Western India. It is also the first Jean Monnet Chair in India in Law to be chaired by a woman and the second Jean Monnet Chair in India in the field of law, the communique from SIU read.

Climate Change is currently the most urgent and profoundly complex environment-related problem for the international community. Recognising the importance of climate change and its impact on various aspects like food security, energy security, water security, health, migration and conflict, the central and state governments in India have made climate change a focal area.

A number of major developments have taken place in India in order to centre stage the need for combating climate change-related adversities.

The Jean Monnet Chair will promote EU Best practices and policies in climate change mitigation as an ideal model, foster dialogue between the academic world and society, including local and state-level policymakers, civil servants, civil society actors, representatives of the different levels of education and of the media.

The focus, predominantly, will be on the youth as they will be the thought leaders and change-makers of tomorrow. The main aim will be to enhance employability skills along with proving impetus to climate research, climate impact assessment, climate change and sustainability, climate risk, climate law, renewable resources, green product designing, green energy, natural resource management, policy and governance.

The proposed chair will be focused on reaching out to a wider community of youth, such as students, academics, NGOs, policymakers, think tanks, industry leaders, and the youth of urban, semi-urban and rural communities about imparting climate change-related courses, certificate programmes and specialised workshops.

One of the biggest relevance that the chair will have is the ability to influence and shape a large cohort of young students from SIU which has eight faculties ranging from management, telecom, engineering, media, international business, design, apart from law.

The main target groups of the JM Chair will be students, teachers and educational administrators who are yet to receive JM funding and are interested in specific EU studies related subjects.

The Chair generates interest among students to improve their competencies in terms of skill sets that enable them to work in fields of public administration and other employment positions as lawyers, teachers, researchers, advisors, representatives, analysts, or managers with local, national, international, or EU Institutional bodies present at such levels.

Interdisciplinary courses in climate justice law, policy, management and governance will be developed across undergraduates and postgraduate programmes which will be open to students all over India.

Symbiosis Law School Pune has developed a Jean Monnet Symbiosis Centre for Climate Justice Law, Governance, Management and Policy which is a part of the EU Learning Resource Centre. This excellence centre will contain specialised equipment and books, an online learning resource centre, a legal database, and a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) which will help improve the quality of research and community engagements.