As part of the Humboldt-Scholarship “Sustainability and Global Justice”, an interdisciplinary group of students spent a year working on the topic of “Rights of Nature”. Their final report has now been published.

Is the current legal framework sufficient for effective nature and climate protection? Do we need to change our Eurocentric understanding of nature and to what extent is it necessary to put nature on an equal legal footing with humans? These questions formed the starting point for the students.

In a total of five research projects, the scholarship holders examined various aspects of the debate: the spectrum ranges from legal approaches and their justifications to the referendum “Rights of Nature” in Bavaria, the future of the Spree, the influence of films on audience attitudes, and art-science practices for reconnecting with nature.

The results can be downloaded here:
Rechte der Natur. zwischen realität und utopie

About the scholarship

The Humboldt-Scholarship / Themenklasse ‘Sustainability and Global Justice’ was established in 2013 and is funded by Stiftung Humboldt-Universität. Throughout the course of one year, fifteen Bachelor and Master students are given the opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary research project with the support of IRI THESys. Progressive and innovative approaches are central to this program, as the students from different HU institutes work at the interface of social science, natural science and the humanities.

More information: Humboldt-Scholarship / Themenklasse at IRI THESys