June 30, 2015

LC law students travel to Ecuador for summer practicum

The two-week intensive course explores international environmental law issues

Professor Erica Lyman is in Cuenca, Ecuador teaching a two week summer Legal Practicum on International Environmental Law issues with 9 Lewis & Clark law students. This two-week intensive field placement is exploring international environmental legal and policy themes through the lens of environmental issues in Ecuador.

Ecuador - a biodiverse country, with an extraordinarily diverse landscape and an equally diverse population- is at a crossroads on environmental issues. With one of the few constitutions that recognizes both the right to a healthy environment and the rights of nature, Ecuador offers a unique case study of the some of the most pressing international environmental law and policy issues, including biodiversity conservation, climate change, urban sustainability, landscape protection, human rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Recently the group enjoyed a lecture on the role of indigenous people in international law and politics from Manuela Picq, a professor at the University of San Francisco in Quito, and visited the Judicial Building in Cuenca.

Learn more about Lewis & Clark Law School’s summer courses and environmental law program.