Course Syllabus
Sustainable Development Goals
Aims
The module 'Regulations for Fostering Biodiversity' aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the international and European legal frameworks governing biodiversity protection. By integrating legal and scientific perspectives, the course explores the regulatory challenges posed by globalization, trade, and environmental sustainability. Students will critically examine international treaties, trade-related legal disputes, and European Union policies to assess how law serves both as a tool and a challenge in biodiversity conservation. Special attention will be given to legal mechanisms for protecting endangered species, regulating international trade in wildlife and natural resources, and ensuring compliance with environmental and sustainability standards.
Students are invited to consult the syllabus of the entire course for details regarding learning- and skill-related objectives.
Contents
• Analysis of key legal instruments: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), CITES, and other relevant treaties.
• Relationship between trade, environmental regulation, and biodiversity conservation.
• The role of WTO agreements and environmental trade measures.
• Conflicts between biodiversity conservation and international trade liberalization.
• EU environmental policies and biodiversity conservation.
• EU trade regulations, animal welfare laws, and impact assessment frameworks.
• Interaction between international and regional legal regimes in biodiversity governance.
Detailed program
• The importance of sustainability and conservation measures at the international legal level.
• Key International Legal Instruments: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its objectives; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• Additional treaties: Ramsar Convention, UNCLOS, and other relevant agreements.
• International Trade and Environmental Protection: The WTO legal framework: trade rules and environmental exceptions.
• Challenges of Globalization and Biodiversity Protection: tensions between economic development and conservation.
• Case studies on endangered species trade and deforestation.
• WTO Dispute Settlement Cases on Trade and the Environment: analysis of landmark cases.
• The EU Regulations on Trade and Biodiversity Protection: EU policies on environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation.
• Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation: The interconnection between climate change policies and biodiversity protection.
• Future Trends and Policy Recommendations: The role of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in biodiversity protection.
• International and regional institutional responses to biodiversity challenges.
Prerequisites
• Basic notions of environmental sustainability.
Teaching form
2 CFUs of mixed theoretical and interactive lessons (20 hours):
• 7 two-hour lectures, in person, mostly frontal teaching and discussion in class, Delivered Didactics.
• 3 two-hour lectures, mixed didactics in the classroom, to collect information and critically analyse real-world case studies in common to other modules, Interactive Didactics.
Attendance to lectures and interactive exercises is highly recommended.
Textbook and teaching resource
• Slides.
• Notes shown during lectures and additional material on selected topics,i.e., scientific articles, caselaw, made available on the e-learning website of the course.
Semester
II semester (March - June)
Assessment method
The final exam consists of a critical dicsussion of a case study common to the three modules of the laboratory course, with the discussion covering various topics covered in the course, with an emphasis on the connections between concepts and processes, such as to arrive at a critical evaluation of the analyzed case study from the point of view of sustainability in biodiversity conservation. A single oral exam at the end of the course is facultative: it may be a supplementary test requested by teachers or students.
The final score will be between 18/30 and 30/30 cum laude, based on the overall assessment considering the following criteria:
(1) knowledge and understanding;
(2) ability to connect different concepts;
(3) autonomy of analysis and judgment;
(4) ability to correctly use scientific language.
Office hours
Always, after scheduling an appointment via phone or e-mail.
