Speak4Nature

The Rachel Carson Center is a part of a new multi-year, international, and interdisciplinary project that focuses on understanding ecological interdependence and the rights of nature. Together with academic institutions (universities and research centers) and non-academic institutions (for-profit companies and NGOs) in the EU and Latin America, the RCC will contribute to generating knowledge and creating new socio-legal instruments as a basis for the transformation of human attitude towards the environment. Scholars and environmental experts from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Italy, and Spain will work together through staff exchanges and joint research projects.

The RCC is represented by its director, environmental historian Christof Mauch, as well as by the environmental anthropologist Eveline Dürr and legal scholar Jens Kersten. Lawyer and sociologist María Valeria Berros (National University of the Littoral, Santa Fe, Argentina), a member of the RCC's Society of Fellows, is a PI in this multi-year project.

For further information, please visit the project homepage.

Incoming Project-Related Scholars:

• Sebastián Figueroa Rubio (Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, 2025)
• Diego Zorita Arroyo (Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, 2024)
• Iasna Chaves Viana (Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil, 2024)
• Isabel Pinheiro de Paula Couto (Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil, 2024)
• Gonzalo Luis Corti (National University of the Littoral (UNL), Argentina, 2024)
• Dr. iuris Nicolás Santiago Cordini (National University of the Littoral (UNL), Argentina, 2024)
• Nuria del Viso Pabon (FUHEM. Educación + ecosocial, Spain, 2024)
• José Bellver Soroa (FUHEM. Educación + ecosocial, Spain, 2024 and 2025)
• Dr. Giorgio Cantino (University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy, 2024)
• Antonio Pulgar (University of Chile, 2024)
• Prof. Dr. Leticia Albuquerque (Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brasil, 2024)
• Prof. Dr. Carolina Yacamán Ochoa (Department of Geography, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, 2023)
• Prof. Dr. Sophia Simou (Faculty of Law, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, 2023)

Outgoing Project-Related Scholars:

• Dr. Anna Antonova (2025)
• Lena Engel (2025)
• Lotta Ortheil (2025)
• María del Pilar Peralta Ardila (2024)
• Franca Lorber (2024)
• Caroline Claussen (2024)
• Dr. Katherine Arnold (2024)
• Dr. des. Jonatan Palmblad (2024)

Events:

• 20 February 2025: “Ecological Justice in Theory and Practice,” RCC (Seminar)
• 21 November 2024: “Landraub und Widerstand: Gewalt gegen Indigene Völker aus Brasilien,” Pro REGENWALD (Talk)
• 30 October 2024: “Climate Litigation in Brazil: The Case of Lagoa da Conceição, SC,” RCC (Seminar)
• 9 October 2024: “Political Implementation of Nature's Inherent Value,” LMU Munich (Workshop)
• 7 October 2024: Steering Committee Meeting with Adam Walendzik (Project Advisor), University of Eastern Piedmont (Mid-Term Report)
• 24 September 2024: Dr. iuris Nicolás Cordini on “Harmonization, Cooperation, and Regional Courts: Towards a Comprehensive Legal Framework for Combating Transnational Environmental Crime,” RCC (Seminar)
• 19 September 2024: Gonzalo Luis Corti on “What Rights for Which Animals? Precedents and Horizons in Legal Status of Nonhuman Animals,” RCC (Seminar)
• 17 September 2024: Lena Köhn on “When Monkeys Rise Up,” RCC (Seminar)
• 29 May 2024: “Extractivism and Ecological Justice,” FUHEM. Educación + ecosocial (Talk)
• 8–14 April 2024: “Introduction to Ecological Justice,” Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) (Network School)
• 19 March 2024: Chiara Bertoldi (University of Eastern Piemont) on “From Inception to Impact: Tracing the Trajectory of Global Environmental Constitutionalism” and Riccardo Battistoni (University of Eastern Piemont) on “The EU Strategy from ‘Farm to Fork’: Reflections on Agri-Environmental Criminal Law,” Carlos III University of Madrid and online (Seminar)
• 14 March 2024: Digno Montalván Zambrano on “Colonialidad, eurocentrismo y la invención del otro” [Coloniality, Eurocentrism and the Invention of the Other], Carlos III University of Madrid (Seminar)
• 7 March 2024: Luis Lloredo Allix (Autonomous University of Madrid) on “Los bienes comunes: Más allá del estado” [The Commons: Beyond the State], Carlos III University of Madrid (Seminar)
• 1 March 2024: Katherine Arnold (RCC) on “Understanding the ‘Biodiversity’ of Southern African Flora in the Nineteenth Century,” Autonomous University of Madrid (Seminar)
• 23 February 2024: “Democracy and Nature,” University of Eastern Piedmont (Seminar)
• 19 February 2024: Amedeo Del Galdo (University of Eastern Piemont) on “Climate Change Litigation from a Civilistic Perspective: A New Hypothesis of Liability,” Autonomous University of Madrid and online (Seminar)
• 8 February 2024: Gastón Médici Colombo on “Platform to identify Environmental Setbacks of the Milei Government in Argentina: Articulation between Academia and Civil Society Organizations,” Carlos III University of Madrid (Seminar)
• 2 February 2024: Valeria Berros (National University of the Littoral) on “Between the Rights of Nature and the Right of Extractivism: A View from Latin America” and Dabel Leandro Franco (National University of the Littoral) on “Legal Strategies Aimed at the Decommodification of Nature,” Carlos III University of Madrid (Seminar)
• 25–26 January 2024: “Why Is Nature Valuable?: Course on Ecological Justice,” University Charles II of Madrid and online (Course)
• 16 November 2023: Lena Köhn, Dipl.-Jur. (LMU) on “Nebelwälder, Flüsse und Affen vor dem Verfassungsgericht,” EineWeltHaus München e.V. (Talk)
• 26 June 2023: Carolina Yacamán (Autonomous University of Madrid) on “Policy Labs to Improve the Integration of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Management,” Rachel Carson Center (Workshop)

Topically Related Articles:

To stay up-to date, you can also follow the project's social media channels: