ABOUT CEJ
CENTER FOR EARTH JURISPRUDENCE (CEJ)
Mission: The mission of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence is to advance legal principles, laws and governance that reflect a transformative Earth-centered perspective and support the well-being of all members of the Earth community.
What’s going on
Dr. Vandana Shiva, renowned author and environmental activist, speaks at a CEJ conference and dinner, “Ecological Integrity: Reconnecting Humans, Health and Habitat”
Tuesday, July 13, 2010.
Click here for more information. Please note: registration for the conference and dinner is complete.
“Whose Land is it Anyway? Empowerment and community of place”: Schumacher College, in association with Landscope and the Gaia Foundation, offers a course led by Alastair McIntosh, Iain MacKinnon, Sulemana Abudulai from 27 September - 1 October, 2010 in Devon, England. Find out more here.
Sister Patricia Siemen, executive director of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence, recently attended the World Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. Read her Reflections about the experience here.
Terrence “Rock” Salt addressed students and the wider public at St. Thomas University. Read about it here.
Australia’s first conference about Wild Law drew participants from every corner of that country. Among them were civil servants, lawyers, students and educators. Read a summary by Liz Rivers here.
ABOUT THE CEJ
With offices in South and Central Florida, the Center for Earth Jurisprudence (CEJ) is sponsored jointly by Barry and St. Thomas universities. The Center works closely with both law schools and is the first of its type in the U.S. Its mission is to re-envision law and governance in ways that support and protect the health and well-being of the entire Earth community - that is, all beings and ecosystems that constitute the natural world. The CEJ seeks to develop a philosophy and practice of law that respect the natural world in its own right and recognize humans as an integral member of the Earth community.
Earth jurisprudence is closely allied with environmental law but is, in fact, broader; after several decades of implementation of environmental rules, ecosystems across the planet are as near or still closer to tipping points as before. Clearly - indeed, urgently - a more significant transformation of legal thinking is required to extend appropriate consideration to the intrinsic, spiritual value of the natural world. The CEJ creates law school curriculum that delves into Earth jurisprudence principles and promotes professional and academic discourse in the legal community. The CEJ is helping to extend legal protection to all human and nonhuman members of the Earth community; this includes consideration of the rights of future generations.
To respond to the unprecedented ecological challenges of the 21st century, the CEJ takes an interdisciplinary approach, working with lawyers, scholars, indigenous peoples, artists, economists, ecologists, scientists, philosophers, theologians and grassroots activists to help define a new field of law that moves beyond environmental regulation toward legal responses that protect the existence, right to habitat and ethical consideration of all beings. Both Barry and St. Thomas universities come from a rich Catholic tradition that honors the sacredness of creation and justice for all peoples.