Wild Law: Earth Jurisprudence in Practice

Online Course in collaboration with the Wild Law Institute

3rd March - 21 April 2027

Online

What if the law recognised that humans are not separate from the living world, but part of a wider community of life?

Around the world, a shift is taking place in how we understand our relationship with the Earth. From rivers being recognised as living beings with legal rights, to constitutional recognition of the Rights of Nature, Indigenous legal traditions informing contemporary governance, and new forms of Earth-centred law emerging across continents, a growing movement is reimagining the relationship between humans, law and the living world.

As this movement grows, so too do the many branches, approaches, organisations and areas of practice emerging within it. This introductory course offers an opportunity to explore the foundations of Earth Jurisprudence and the global Rights of Nature movement, while gaining an understanding of the diverse directions this work is taking around the world.

Through conversations with leading practitioners, thinkers and change-makers from around the world, participants in this course will explore the philosophical foundations, cultural traditions, legal innovations and practical approaches emerging within this field. Together, we will explore how Earth-centred ways of thinking and governing are being imagined and put into practice across different contexts.

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Key Information

  • This is an online course

  • 3rd March - 21 April 2027

  • The full cost of the course is £480

  • This course is structured across eight (2 hour long) live online sessions.

What This Course Offers

Across eight live online sessions, this introductory course provides a broad exploration of the foundations, movements and emerging practices of Earth Jurisprudence and the Rights of Nature.

Participants will explore:

  • Philosophical foundations: Earth Jurisprudence and the shift from human-centred to Earth-centred ways of thinking and being.

  • Ecology and governance: Why the ecological crisis is also a crisis of governance, and the limitations of existing environmental law.

  • Indigenous and ancestral law: Legal traditions grounded in relationship, reciprocity, responsibility and belonging within the community of life.

  • The global Rights of Nature movement: Its history, development, key ideas and contemporary legal and international developments.

  • Rights of Nature in practice: Examples of Earth Jurisprudence in action, including Rights of Rivers, river guardianship, legal personhood and developments in Ecuador and Antarctica.

  • Culture and transformation: The role of art, story, imagination and culture in shaping new relationships with the Earth.

  • A diverse and evolving field: The different organisations, initiatives, campaigns and areas of work contributing to Earth-centred futures, and opportunities to engage with them.

  • From learning to practice: How participants might connect these ideas to their own lives, places, interests and professional or community contexts.

The course is designed to build a foundational understanding of this diverse and evolving field, rather than specialise in any one area. It offers participants an opportunity to discover the different approaches and possibilities within Earth Jurisprudence, connect with people working across the movement, and identify the areas they may wish to pursue further.

No prior legal knowledge or professional experience is required. The course is open to anyone with an interest in exploring new ways of understanding law, society and our place within the living world.

Course Structure

Course sessions run every Wednesday from 3rd March to 21st April 2027 at 17:00 - 19:00 UK Time (18:00 - 20:00 CET), across eight live online sessions, combining expert contributions, discussion, practical exercises and smaller breakout conversations. Each session will last two hours, and will take place online via Zoom. Presenters will share slides and additional resources will be provided throughout the course.

Session 1(3rd Mar) - Shifting How We Experience Life - From Human-Centred to Earth-Centred Thinking and Being

Session 2 (10th Mar) - How Did We Get Here and Where Do We Want to Go Now? The Ecological Crisis as a Crisis of Governance

Session 3 (17th Mar) - Indigenous and Ancestral Law and Legal Thought

Session 4 (24th Mar) - The Global Rights of Nature Movement

Session 5 (31st Mar) - Rivers as Living Beings

Session 6 (7th Apr) - Rights of Nature in Practice: Ecuador & Antarctica

Session 7 (14th Apr) - Beyond the Law: Culture, Imagination & Social Change

Session 8 (21st Apr) - What's Mine to Do?

A Personal Earth-Centred Practice

Alongside the weekly sessions, participants will be invited to cultivate a personal Earth-centred practice to deepen and integrate their learning.

Why Join This Course

This course brings together philosophy, law, Indigenous and ancestral knowledge, activism, governance, art and lived practice to explore what these transformations look like in practice.

Participants will encounter real-world examples, meet people working across different areas of the movement, and have space to consider how these ideas might connect with their own lives, places and work.

As an introduction to a broad and rapidly evolving field, the course also offers an opportunity to discover the different pathways within Earth Jurisprudence and the Rights of Nature movement. Whether participants are interested in legal innovation, community organising, Indigenous knowledge, education, cultural transformation or Earth-centred governance, the course provides a foundation from which to continue learning, build connections and explore their own areas of interest.

Cost: £ 480

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Facilitated by:

Cormac Cullinan

Cormac, author of Wild Law (the book), is the founder and managing director of the Wild Law Institute.

Cormac attributes his love of the wild to the many hours he spent wandering the hills and forests around his family home in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and to the influence of his parents. He became an environmental lawyer and drafted environmental policies, laws and treaties in many countries, in the belief that better laws could prevent the accelerating destruction of Nature.

However he began to realize that most legal systems are designed to legitimize the exploitation of the community of life and that the destruction will continue while we define all of Nature as the property of humans instead of recognizing that every member of the community of life has the right to exist and flourish.  

After meeting Thomas Berry and hearing his call for the development of a new jurisprudence (philosophy of law), in 2002 Cormac wrote Wild Law: A manifesto for Earth Justice which expresses a vision of Earth Jurisprudence based on the understanding that the purpose of legal systems must be to guide humans to nurture mutually beneficial relationships with the other members of the Earth Community instead of exploiting them. Since writing Wild Law he has been active in building a global movement strong enough to drive system change. He lead the drafting of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth (proclaimed in Bolivia in 2010), is a founder and executive committee member of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) and a judge of the International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature.

Georgina Campbell

Georgina is a designer, facilitator, and researcher whose work is rooted in emergent processes, exploring how mindsets shape the worlds we create. A graduate of Schumacher College with an MA in Ecological Design Thinking, brings a deeply sensitive approach to working with complexity – acknowledging the invisible, tending to relationships, and fostering more inclusive, care-focused realities. Alongside her work with Schumacher College, and the Schumacher Magazine Project, she is currently working with the Wild Law Institute in reimaging the law to account for the whole community of life.

Her background spans Engineering, Architecture, Environmental Design, Art, and Small Business Management, allowing her to navigate the intersections of design, group dynamics, and ecological paradigm shifts. She is particularly interested in how we cultivate resilient and adaptive collective nervous systems to meet the uncertainty of our times, as well as the role of play and imagination in the healing of society and the transformative potential of education.

Collaborating with an inspiring network of practitioners and organizations, her work (whether consulting, designing, or engaging in thought-provoking conversations) is guided by a commitment to regenerative and relational ways of being.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • This introductory course is designed for anyone curious about the Rights of Nature movement, Earth Jurisprudence and emerging approaches to Earth-centred law and governance.

    Whether you are encountering these ideas for the first time, work in a related field, or are looking to broaden your understanding of the wider movement, the course offers an opportunity to explore its foundations, meet practitioners and discover the different areas of work emerging around the world.

    It may be particularly relevant to:

    • Anyone curious about the Rights of Nature movement and Earth-centred futures

    • Environmental and social justice activists

    • Educators, researchers and students

    • Environmental lawyers and legal practitioners

    • Policymakers and governance professionals

    • Conservation practitioners and NGO professionals

    • Artists, storytellers and cultural practitioners

    • Community leaders and organisers

    No prior legal knowledge or professional experience is required. The course is an invitation to learn, ask questions, make connections and discover the areas of Earth Jurisprudence you may wish to explore further.professionals

    ●      Conservation practitioners and NGO professionals

    ●      Artists, storytellers and cultural practitioners

    ●      Community leaders and organisers

    No prior legal knowledge is required, only a curiosity, an openness to new ways of thinking, and a desire to contribute to a more just and thriving relationship between humans and the living world.

  • Everyone is welcome to join this course.

    No prior legal knowledge or professional experience is required. Participants are invited to bring curiosity, openness and a willingness to explore different ways of understanding law, governance and our relationship with the more-than-human world.

  • Participants are expected to attend the weekly live online sessions.

    Each session will last two hours.

    Alongside the live sessions, participants will be invited to undertake a small amount of personal reflection and practice each week, including time in Nature, journalling and engagement with the shared course map.

    Additional readings, resources and references will be provided for those who wish to explore the topics more deeply.

  • No specific materials needed.

"The universe is a communion of subjects,

not a collection of objects.“

- Thomas Berry