ENGAGE.EU Winter School 2025 in Tilburg
Topic: Law & Policy for the Anthropocene
Dates: 10-17 January 2025
- 9 December 2024: Online introductory meeting for all participants
- 12/13 December 2024 : Preparatory policy memo group online meetings
- 10-17 January 2025: Winter Academy at Tilburg University
- 31 January 2025: Final online presentation of policy memos
Location: Online and at Tilburg University (The Netherlands)
Language of instruction: English
Transcripts: After successful completion of the programme incl. exam, 3 ECTS and a certificate will be awarded
Application deadline: 15 October 2024, (13:00 CET)
About ENGAGE.EU Winter Schools
ENGAGE.EU Winter Schools are intensive programmes taught by professors and lecturers from ENGAGE.EU universities. In line with the general ENGAGE.EU goals, these programmes aim to provide a forum for interdisciplinary academic exchange and learning on current societal challenges. Winter Schools aim to equip students with hard and soft skills needed to tackle these challenges and act as responsible future leaders. Additionally, a social programme will be offered to foster networking opportunities and intercultural competencies.
Academic programme
The ENGAGE.EU Winter School Law & Policy for the Anthropocene is an intensive 10-days winter programme for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in law, public administration, political science, public policy, and international relations, hosted by Tilburg University in January 2025.
The overall aim of the Winter School on Law & Policy for the Anthropocene is to train students in the multiple and overlapping socio-ecological challenges of the Anthropocene, including: the climate crisis and corresponding energy transition; global patterns of deforestation and the rapid decline in biodiversity; the accumulation of and pollutive harm associated with plastics, pesticides and ‘forever chemicals’; economic priorities, demanding holistic analyses of both the obstacles preventing sufficient action and the question of distributive justice associated with potential solutions. Students will be introduced to the state of the art of governance proposals for tackling these challenges, including climate reparations or Loss & Damage funds, genetic and geo-engineering technologies, and 30×30 global conservation targets.
Combining substantive knowledge and skills from legal and policy sciences, participants will be challenged to develop ambitious proposals for how various actor groups could – and should – respond to the challenges of the Anthropocene. Student participants will be placed into work groups devoted to particular governance actor groups (e.g. local and regional authorities, national governments, industry, financial institutions, the European Union, public infrastructure administrators) to evaluate the capacities and responsibilities that each actor group holds in the development and implementation of law and policy for the Anthropocene.
The Winter School includes:
- 10 Masterclasses on contemporary developments in law & policy of climate change, the energy transition and nature conservation
- Taught by researchers from renowned academic institutions: Tilburg University, LUISS, Universitat Ramon Llull, WU Vienna, University of Mannheim, FSU Jena, and the University of Amsterdam
- Hands-on coaching through the development of policy memos proposing strategic action for key governance actor groups
- A field-study excursion to engage with the law & policy of the Anthropocene in action
- Two preliminary online meetings to introduce the academy’s framework and to meet in policy memo groups
- Social activities in and around Tilburg during the evenings and weekend
Dates and additional details
The Winter School on Law & Policy for the Anthropocene will take place from 10 to 17 January 2025. Furthermore, an online introductory meeting will be held on 9 December 2024. Students will also have an online preparatory policy memo group meeting on either 12 or 13 December 2024. To finalize the Winter School the students will present their policy memos on 31 January 2025. These presentations will also be done online.
Date | Masterclass / Activity | Lecturer |
Friday 10 January | Official Welcoming #1: Green Deals for Green Transformations? #2: Anthropocene Politics: The democratic legitimacy of law and policies of the Anthropocene | Dr. Tobias Arnoldussen, Tilburg University, & Dr. Michiel Stapper, University of Amsterdam Prof. Dr. Gianfranco Pellegrino, LUISS |
Saturday 11 January | Preparatory work & social activities | |
Sunday 12 January | Preparatory work & social activities | |
Monday 13 January | #3: Why does economics matter for law and policy-making in the Anthropocene (Part 1) #4: Why does economics matter for law and policy-making in the Anthropocene (Part 2) | Prof. Dr. Sabine Frerichs, WU Vienna, & Verena Wolf, FSU Jena Prof. Dr. Sabine Frerichs, WU Wien, & Verena Wolf, FSU Jena |
Tuesday 14 January | #5: Corrective taxation approaches to environmental externalities #6: Energy Transition Governance Evening social activity | Nico Kasparetz, University of Mannheim Dr. Wessel Ganzevoort, Tilburg University & Prof. Dr. Martijn Groenleer, Tilburg University |
Wednesday 15 January | Field-study excursion | |
Thursday 16 January | #7: Navigating the Nexus: Climate crisis, armed violence and international peacebuilding #8: Climate finance and the banking sector Evening social activity | Prof. Dr. Óscar Mateos Martín, Universidad Ramon Llull Dr. Laura Mai, Tilburg University |
Friday 17 January | #9: Conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of bears, bison, lions, elephants, and other megafauna: taking biodiversity law, policy, and science seriously. #10: Global value chains in the Anthropocene: how the liability and responsibilities of powerful economic actors are shifting. Concluding meeting | Prof. Dr. Arie Trouwborst, Tilburg University Prof. Dr. Philip Paiement, Tilburg University |
Click here to find more information about the masterclasses
Practical information
Accommodation:
Accommodation is not included. However, accommodation has been reserved at hostel Roots for all participants. Click here to go to the website of hostel Roots.
Scholarship Support:
Successful applicants may be eligible to receive financial support (Erasmus or other) from their home university. Please contact your university’s ENGAGE.EU coordinator to learn more about this.
Application
Your profile
This ENGAGE.EU Winter School is open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students in law, public administration, political science, public policy, and international relations. Any citizenship is welcome as long as you are enrolled at one of the ENGAGE.EU alliance universities (University of Mannheim, LUISS University, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Tilburg University, University of National and World Economy, Université Toulouse Capitole, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Hanken School of Economics, Ramon Llull University). In short:
- You must be enrolled in a study programme at one of the EU partner universities.
- Undergraduate applicants must have completed at least 90 ECTS credits by the time of application to the Winter School, i.e., by 15 October 2024. There is no minimum ECTS requirement for graduate applicants.
- You should have a strong interest in the topic of the Winter School, i.e. law and policy for the Anthropocene through masterclasses and policy memo groups.
Application procedure
In order to apply for the ENGAGE.EU Winter School, you need to fill in the online application form below, and upload all necessary supporting documents, including:
- Motivation statement: a digital file (video, text, slides, …) explaining your background (education, work experience, language skills, study/work abroad experience, other relevant skills and experiences), as well as your interest and motivation for the topic of the Winter School. You are free to decide on the specific format of the statement, bearing in mind that creativity and innovativeness are welcome. Please note that this document needs to be in English, and, depending on the format, needs to have a limited scope:
- for text files: 1 page
- for videos or similar: 2 minutes
- for other visuals or similar: 10 slides (or comparable files).
- Academic transcript of records (in the official language of the applicant’s home university or in English).
The deadline for applications is 15 October 2024 (13:00 CET).
All applicants who submit their complete application on time will be informed about the status of their applications via e-mail by the end of October.
Selection procedure
Candidates that meet the selection criteria will be evaluated based on their motivation statement, academic progression and academic performance. A limited number of students per partner university will be accepted to the Winter School.
**If you are a student encountering challenges, such as parental responsibilities or financial hardship, we kindly encourage you to include this information in your motivation letter.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at: summerschool@tilburguniversity.edu