Invited speakers

Aleksandra Cavoski is a Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Birmingham and the College of Arts and Law Director of Global Engagement. Aleksandra teaches and researches in areas of Environmental Law and EU Law. She is one of the policy and legislation editors for Environmental Law Review. Aleksandra has published extensively on EU environmental law and policy, including a co-authored textbook on European Environmental Law (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Aleksandra is also part of the Birmingham Plastic Network, a collection of academics working to mould the future of sustainable plastics.

We are honoured to welcome Professor Cavoski to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum at Bournemouth University, 8th-10th September 2021.

Jojo Mehta is key spokesperson Executive Director of Stop Ecocide International, Chair of the Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Phillipe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow.

The Stop Ecocide foundation both advocates for and facilitate steps towards making ecocide a crim at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to prevent devastation of nature and so protect the future of life on earth. It is the only global NGO with this exclusive focus.  

We are honoured to welcome Jojo to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum at Bournemouth University, 8th-10th September 2021. 

Katie Patrick is a TEDx speaker, an innovative environmental engineer and software designer, using data psychology and video game techniques to tackle environmental problems. Katie is the author of the book and podcast ‘How to Save the World’ which insightfully draws upon behavioural psychology, gamification, storytelling, technological designs and more, creating a practical guide to ‘saving the Earth’. Katie also created the ‘Fitbit for the planet’ - an app intended to help social impact entrepreneurs and sustainability professionals to have a real and measurable impact.

We are honoured to welcome Katie to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum at Bournemouth University, 8th-10th September 2021. 

Dr Niina Kotamäki works as a senior researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). Her expertise is in environmental impact assessments, particularly modelling the effects of human actions and climate change on aquatic ecosystems. She develops and applies probabilistic, data-driven assessment tools for assessing uncertainties and risks related to the implementation EU’s water policies, mainly the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Recently, Dr Kotamäki’s research focus has been on the integration of modelling, law and actions, and the examination of adaptive monitoring and modelling in the river basin management planning and environmental regulation. A prime example of Dr Kotamäki’s work crossing the law and science boundary is the collaboration with Dr Paloniitty and their recently published paper on the scientific uncertainties in judicial review which can be found here.

We are honoured to welcome Dr Kotamäki to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum at Bournemouth University, 8th-10th September 2021. 

Dr Tiina Paloniitty is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Erik Castrén Institute, University of Helsinki. Dr Paloniitty specialises in science and law, particularly within the themes of water law and governance and biodiversity law. Dr Paloniitty is also a governing board member ICUN Academy of Environmental Law. Having published and co- authored a number of significant works, she has also been a researcher in the 2035Legitimacy project, funded by the academy of Finland Strategic Research Council examining the role of Aarhus Convention in EU climate-related decision making.

We are honoured to welcome Dr Paloniitty to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum at Bournemouth University, 8th-10th September 2021. 

Dr Angus Nurse is Head of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Nottingham Trent University. He was Associate Professor, Environmental Justice at Middlesex University (2016 to 2021). Particularly interested in the enforcement of wildlife law and responses to criminality in wildlife crime, Dr Nurse has researched the illegal trade in wildlife, behaviours involved in wildlife crime and enforcement responses to the illegal wildlife trade and other wildlife crimes. His area of expertise spans wildlife crime & policing, criminality, critical criminal justice, and animal and human rights law. His book Animal Harm: Perspectives on Why People Harm and Kill Animals (2013) examines the reasoning behind environmental crimes and crimes against animals.

We are honoured to welcome Dr Nurse to Bournemouth University to present his fascinating work to the 8th European Environmental Law Forum Conference 2021 this September.

Aðalheiður Jóhannsdóttir is a Professor of Law and a specialist in Environmental Law (International, European Union and National) with the Faculty of Law, School of Social Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, and former Dean of the Faculty. She is the author of three books, and more than thirty articles and book chapters on environmental and natural resources-related issues, published both nationally and internationally. Her main research activities include publications in the field of environmental law methodology, biodiversity law, planning law, climate law, Arctic-related topics, and environmental democracy.

We are honoured to welcome her as one of our keynote speakers at the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum Conference at Bournemouth University.

Prof Valerie Fogleman is a Professor of Law at Cardiff University School of Law and Politics and a Consultant at Stevens & Bolton LLP. She specialises in environmental liability law, especially the Environmental Liability Directive, approaches to halt the loss of biodiversity, and environmental insurance law.

Valerie has written three books, co-authored and contributed to other books and written numerous articles on environmental law. She has given presentations on environmental law at numerous conferences in the UK, throughout continental Europe, and the US. 

We are honoured to welcome distinguished Professor Carolyn Roberts to Bournemouth University as one of the European Environmental Law Forum’s keynote speakers. Formerly Director of the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network at the University of Oxford and long-time water resource management specialist, her area of expertise is the management of direct impacts of development activities in water environment such as mining and water disposal. Her experience as a consultant in hydrological consultancy work is complemented by her work educating on the impacts of hydrological problems and human impacts on water environments. She has spoken globally on these issues and has authored several books and academic papers on various related topics.Professor Roberts’ contribution to EELF 2021 is much anticipated, and we very much look forward to welcoming her to Bournemouth University in September.  

Dr Lalanath de Silva is a Sri Lankan-born environmental lawyer and head of the Independent Redress Mechanism of the Green Climate Fund. His 40-year career in legal affairs spans consultancy roles with the Ministry of Environment and Forests in Sri Lanka, work with the Environmental Claims Unit of the UN Compensation Commission in Geneva, and directorship of the Environmental Democracy Practice at the World Resources Institute. Dr. de Silva has defended victims, communities, and NGOs in many high-profile environmental cases. He has led reviews in multiple compliance cases with the Compliance Review, developed reforms in environmental law as a part of the Sri Lanka Law Commission, and pioneered the growth of public interest litigation through his work with the Environmental Foundation and the Public Interest Law Foundation, organisations he has co-founded.

It is an honour for us to welcome Dr. de Silva to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum Conference at Bournemouth University.

Professor Dr Ludwig Krämer was head of the Legal Unit of DG Environment, European Commission between 1987 and 1994, and then moved to head the Waste Management Unit. In 2001 Dr Kramer became head of the unit on Environmental Governance, retiring from the Commission 2004. He is currently a Senior Counsel to ClientEarth and a board member of the Advisory Board of Justice and Environment. He has written extensively in the field of environmental law, authoring some 20 books and handbooks and around 150 articles on EC environmental law. As well as being Visiting Professor at University College London, Ludwig is a Professor in European and German environmental law at the University of Bremen. 

Professor Steve Fletcher is a Professor of Ocean Policy and Economy, and Director of the Sustainability and the Environment theme at the University of Portsmouth. Professor Fletcher is one of the top 10 most cited scientists in the field of Marine Policy, with more than 100 peer reviewed publications and research reports. He is an advocate for global ocean conservation and a sustainable future and leads the Portsmouth University’s Revolution Plastics initiative.

We are honoured to welcome Professor Fletcher to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum at Bournemouth University, 8th-10th September 2021.

Neil has worked with the natural world for the last 46 years and seahorses have been a major part of that work throughout, however he has also worked with dolphins, sharks, seals, other sea creatures, plus elephants, wolves, chimpanzees, tigers and many other land species.

Through his work he has designed aquariums and zoos and large-scale land conservation projects. He also set up and owned a wildlife landscape company for 8 years to fund his seahorse research and specialised in building natural ponds, lakes and woodlands, using traditional methods used in the countryside.

In 2000 he set up The Seahorse Trust which has become known throughout the world for its seahorse work; at government and local level, especially with British Seahorses; that he got recognised as a native species and fully protected in 2008.

Since 2008 he has concentrated, amongst other sites on Studland Bay in Dorset, which he achieved Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) status for in 2019 and at present is working with a group, including Boatfolk marina and boating services and Southampton University to install ecomoorings into the site to preserve the seagrass from further damage and to protect the Spiny Seahorses, that go there to breed. The first 10 Ecomoorings were installed in August 2021.

Amongst his legal successes have been winning a Judicial review against the British government over illegal activity when placing oil rigs in the sea. He has also had a lot of success stemming the illegal trade in seahorses through social media and online platforms such as Facebook, Amazon, Etsy and so many others where it is now policy to not allow the sale of seahorses per se.

Throughout his life he striven to conserve and preserve our natural world for the future and every project he has set up has tried to look at large landscape scale conservation, which has driven his passion for complete rewilding of the natural world. As a Rewilder, he believes that we need to look at landscape scale conservation as it is the only way humanity will survive, alongside our natural cousins. 

We are honoured to welcome Neil to the 8th Annual European Environmental Law Forum at Bournemouth University, 8th-10th September 2021.

Piotr Chmielewski is PhD student at the Faculty of Artes Liberales, University of Warsaw. He graduated from the Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań and holds Master's degree in Environmental Sciences. His PhD dissertation is entitled "Human dimensions of conflicts between wolf (Canis lupus) and local communities in Poland".

His research interests focus on human dimensions of wildlife (especially large carnivores) and wildlife crime.

Piotr Chmielewski has over 10 years of experience in environmental non-governmental organizations. In his practical work Piotr Chmielewski works as Nature Conservation Specialist in WWF Poland and he is the national coordinator of the projects "LIFE EURO LARGE CARNIVORES: Improving human coexistence with large carnivores in Europe through communication and transboundary cooperation” and “LIFE SWiPE: Successful Wildlife Crime Prosecution in Europe.”

Dr Ricardo Pereira is a Reader (Associate Professor) at Cardiff University, UK, and is currently an Adjunct Research Associate Professor at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law, National University of Singapore.

He is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law; and regularly gives advice to international and national organisations and NGOs. He has published widely in the fields of environmental law, criminal law, international law and human rights.

His most recent work includes acting as Guest Editor of a Special Issue on ‘The Amazon Rainforest’ published in the Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law (RECIEL) in July 2021; and Editor of a book on ‘The Governance of Criminal Justice in the European Union’ (Edward Elgar, 2020).

Professor Luca S. D'Acci is an Associate Professor at the Polytechnic of Turin with a synergistic path covering Engineering, Architecture-Science of Cities, Economic Assessments (Polytechnic of Turin), Urbanism (University of Campinas), Anthropology (University of Oxford), with two degrees cum laude, a PhD and a Post-PhD. 

He is the former Head of Urban Environment at the Erasmus University Rotterdam where, after having resigned to return to Italy, he is still an associate. He was a visiting researcher at, among many, the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and ETH Zurich. 

He worked in projects for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Commission, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and for a Grand Challenges Small Grant (Future Urban Growth Lab) from University College London. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Portsmouth and an honorary fellow at the University of Birmingham. 

His works touch human societies and progress from different angles. 

Amanda Korstjens studies how animal behaviour and biogeography depend on the availability of (micro-)habitats within the 3D structure of tropical landscapes and how the synergistic effects of climate change and forest degradation limit species’ responses and survival. She has run fieldwork projects in the forests of Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Uganda, and Costa-Rica and visited many more places on shorter trips after falling in love with the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia more than 25 years ago.

Susan Ring is a solicitor advocate and partner in the firm of Harrison Grant.  She has worked in environmental law since 1997. Susan represents NGOs, individuals, residents' groups, parish councils, and local planning authorities in planning and environmental judicial reviews, planning inquiries, statutory nuisance and private nuisance claims and licensing matters.

Susan has fought, and won, many important cases including judicial reviews concerning planning law, environmental impact assessment (“EIA”), protection of the historic environment, village greens, pubs, nature conservation, local parks, nature conservation, public consultation, standards and probity.

Susan is one of the leading lawyers on EIA issues. Her notable cases have included the landmark R (Barker) v London Borough of Bromley [2006] UKHL 52 in the House of Lords (following a reference by the House of Lords to the European Court of Justice) and R (SAVE Britain’s Heritage) v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government [2011] EWCA Civ 334 in the Court of Appeal – a victory for SAVE Britain's Heritage in 2011 that demolition of buildings can be a project subject to the EIA Directive - something the UK Government had been vigorously resisting.

Most recently on EIA, Susan has acted for Neil Garrick-Maidment of The Seahorse Trust challenging the lawfulness of the UK’s transposition of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive to oil & gas exploration/extraction & decisions of Sec State for BEIS & OGA re drilling in Poole Bay. As a result of that case, and the subsequent challenge by Greenpeace to the public consultation for the Scottish Vorlich oil fields (for whom Susan also acted with Kate Harrison), the UK Government accepted that The Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999 (“the 1999 Regulations”)  did not fully transpose the EIA Directive 2011/92/EU (“the EIA Directive”), and in particular did not provide for fair and timely access to justice.  The UK Government therefore launched a review of the 1999 Regulations and agreed that new Regulations were required – now The Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration, Production, Unloading and Storage (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2020. As a result, the public is now able to access much more easily applications for permission for oil permits such as the controversial Cambo application and to take part in the consultation process and also to identify where oil developers are carrying out works without permission.

Susan has acted in many historic environment matters concerning listed buildings, conservation areas, listed buildings and scheduled monuments and cases including numerous cases for SAVE Britain’s Heritage, most recently on attempts to prevent the demolition of Lime Street heritage assets in the buffer zone of Liverpool’s world heritage site and successfully prevented demolition of the Welsh Streets in Liverpool including most of the street where Ringo Starr was born.

Other recent cases include acting for local residents who successfully challenged by judicial review the decision of Tower Hamlets Council to ‘relocate’ a veteran mulberry tree at the London Chest Hospital.

In village greens, she acted for residents in the Supreme Court in R (Barkas) v North Yorkshire CC [2014] UKSC 31 concerning whether local authority land is capable of being registered as a town green under the Commons Act 2006 and won the case of R (Goodman) v SEFRA [2015] EWHC 2576 for local resident Ms Goodman reducing the scope for local authorities to rely on ‘implied’ appropriation and implied permission for recreational use so as to defeat a town green application.

Susan’s other notable cases include R (Holder) v Gedling Borough Council [2014] EWCA Civ 599 in the Court of Appeal on wind turbines and very special circumstances in the green belt and R (Wright) v Forest of Dean District Council [2016] EWHC 1349 reaffirming the fundamental principle of planning law that “planning consent cannot be bought or sold”.

Susan also acted for the Friends of Finsbury Park in their challenge to Haringey Council’s decision to close the Park for the Wireless Festival, resulting in the closure of large parts of the park for long periods in the summer; and in relation to challenging the grant of a licence to the Wireless Festival.

Susan was The Times' ‘Lawyer of the Week' in January 2007 and has been named on the list of Women of Influence in Planning 2017 compiled by the Planner, which is the official monthly magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute.