The urgency of addressing climate change necessitates a transformation in legal education to ensure future lawyers are equipped to deliver legal services and promote climate justice to a wide range of clients in a climate transformed world. This presentation argues that it is “about time” we use this narrow window to promote climate-conscious pedagogy by integrating open educational resources (OER) into the law education curriculum. The innovative and strategic use of such technologies will enable the mastery of climate-conscious generalist and discipline-specific knowledges, as well as climate-conscious skills, attributes and capabilities in law graduates.
Climate conscious pedagogy will require challenging conventional boundaries and ways of doing things, including changing how we represent diverse communities impacted by climate change and delivering on the kind of recognition justice highlighted by Lambert & Fadel (2022). We outline why and how OER are uniquely crucial for equipping students to navigate a fast-paced and rapidly changing legal environment.
Drawing on a survey of subject coordinators and teachers from across all Australian law schools, this presentation will shine a light on the extent to which climate change is currently being incorporated into the teaching of both compulsory law subjects and electives. While the majority of law school academics emphasised their support for incorporating of climate change considerations into teaching practices, this presentation will delve into individual and institutional factors that limit current capacities, including: perceived knowledge gaps about climate change and climate law, uncertainties about how best to integrate climate change into the existing curriculum, and the lack of space and time in the curriculum to add additional material.
With this background, the presentation will identify opportunities for developing responsive and accessible pedagogical materials and teaching practices to prepare students for their professional lives in light of the global challenge of climate change. To this end, this presentation will introduce the forthcoming open-access textbook, Becoming a Climate Conscious Lawyer: Climate Change and the Australian Legal System. This textbook aims to be an open and zero-cost resource allow students and teachers alike to stay up-to-date with rapid advancements in law related to climate change.
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[Session 2B]: SustainabilityReferencesLambert, S. R., & Fadel, H. (2022). Open textbooks and social justice: a national scoping study. Perth, Australia, available at:
https://www.acses.edu.au/research-policies/15394-2-2/Author KeywordsOpen education resources, Climate change, Legal education, Open access textbook
