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“Climate justice is a moral imperative, essential for making the world a better place for all its inhabitants, and embodies the principle of equity, requiring everyone to contribute according to their abilities”.  Hewan Tonini, School participant The “1st European Cross-Regional School in Climate Justice and Human Rights” took place from May 20 to 25 in the village of Burcuta, in the outskirts of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. The School is the flagship activity of the ongoing EU-funded project “Development of Climate Justice and Human Rights Education at the Moldova State University (MSU)“ focused on setting up an Interdisciplinary Lab between the Faculties of Law and Biology by July 2025. This innovative academic activity, the first of its kind in the region, was envisioned for students, human rights defenders, and civil servants from Moldova and the EU enlargement countries. Jointly organized by the Global Campus and the Moldova State University – a member of the network since September 2023, the School was implemented under the umbrella of the GC Caucasus, and in a special collaboration with the two neighbouring regional hubs of GC Europe (Venice) and GC South East Europe (Sarajevo/Bologna). The School gathered a highly heterogeneous and motivated group of 18 students, with different backgrounds and approaches to climate justice. They participated in a rich programme of events, classes, practical exercises, field and social activities led by academics, experts, practitioners and alumni from the GC participating universities and partners, among them Manfred Nowak, Zoi Aliozi, Rodica Iordanov, Justina Grigaraviciene, Pim Martens, Alma Midzic and Samentha Goethals. An important highlight of the programme was the special session “Mobilizing for the Climate: a conversation with Vladimir Slivyak” which allowed participants to meet and discuss with the renowned activist, co-chairman of Ecodefense and 2021 Right Livelihood Laureate. All students have successfully and actively attended the School receiving a joint diploma by the Global Campus, GC Caucasus and the Moldova State University, while five of them have also opted to gain 5 ECTS after passing a final written exam. The Spring School is an ambitious format that aims to create a legacy as an annual activity and incubator for innovative ideas, with the final goal of contributing solidly to a sustainable green transition in Moldova and the region. The School was organized as part of the events for the celebration of the 2024 EU Day in Moldova. Consult the programme here. This project is part of the GC Capacity Development programme. For more information contact the project manager Adriano Remiddi at adriano.remiddi@gchumanrights.or

The Global Campus and the GC Caucasus hub are glad to announce a new capacity development project with the Moldova State University, thanks to the support of the EU Delegation in Chisinau. Over the next 18 months, the action “Development of Climate Justice and Human Rights Education at the Moldova State University (MSU)” will focus on the setting up of an interdisciplinary Lab on climate justice and human rights between the Faculties of Law and Biology, which flagship activity will be a credit-based cross-regional summer school that involves lecturers and students from Moldova and universities/countries of the EU enlargement Eastward. The project will allow for the State University, as a new GC member, to contribute to the promotion and protection of environmental rights and climate justice by producing and disseminating critical knowledge for policy change, in the context of the EU enlargement. This will be achieved through curriculum and teaching tools development, teachers training in theory and practical skills, including specialized language training, refurbishment of teaching spaces and outreach activities. In the project logic, a follow-up phase shall later transform the Lab into a Centre, and the School into the first post-graduate MA in this subject for this region. The innovation of the project lays in its interdisciplinarity, evidenced by the exceptional cooperation with the faculties of Law and Biology, but also in the cross-regional approach: for the first time, three GC hubs, namely GC Caucasus/CES, GC Europe/EMA and GC South East Europe/ERMA will join forces to implement a collaborative human rights education initiative of universities from the Western Balkans, Caucasus, and the Eastern Partnership countries. This new sub-regional project is the result of the ongoing cooperation with the MSU, initiated in early 2023 after a comprehensive mapping, consultation and needs assessment process, and under the backing of the government of the Republic of Moldova. A multi-year MoU was hence signed by MSU, GC and GC Caucasus with the goal of supporting the MSU’s integration within the regional network, through the newly established GC Capacity Development programme.  A first project funded by Right Livelihood was then kick-started in January 2023 and after intensive work has already allowed for the creation of skills and tools to set-up new human rights education courses at the Law Faculty in Chisinau (European Standards of child rights protection; IT and human rights). These two courses are being piloted during this semester, also enabling the mobility of GC Caucasus students. Given these encouraging outcomes, the MSU was already accepted as a new GC member by the General Assembly in September 2023.  The GC was later proposed to extend the cooperation to develop a thematic specialization in environmental rights and climate justice with a human rights perspective, in the context of the EU integration process. Such perspective was welcomed both at the GC and in talks with the EU, hence an extensive preparation process has later led to the awarding of a grant for its implementation.  Eventually, the project was inaugurated in a public event held at the Faculty of Law in Chisinau on March 1st, with the participation of Minister of the Environment Ms Iordanca-Rodica Iordanov, the University leadership, representatives of the EU Delegation, delegates of the Global Campus and the project team.  Currently, environmental rights and climate justice education are thematic pillars of the GC action. Understanding the systemic and structural factors contributing to both climate change and social injustice is the initial step toward envisioning and advocating for solutions that address these root causes. This is particularly true in the developing countries of South-eastern and Caucasian Europe, such as Moldova, which lag behind in terms of effective and right-based environmental policies.  “This initiative could be a first step towards making substantial progress of the MSU in providing expertise at the national and regional on subjects that have been neglected, but which are vital”.  Ms. Iordanca-Rodica Iordanov, Minister of Environment  This project is part of the GC Capacity Development programme. For more information contact adriano.remiddi@gchumanrights.org