ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AT THE FRONTIER: EMERGING DOCTRINE, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND THE FUTURE OF LEGAL EDUCATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
INTRODUCTION
The Environmental Law Units at Midlands State University (MSU), the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), Great Zimbabwe University (GZU), and Africa University (AU), in partnership with the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Organisation (ZELO), through its research arm, the African Institute of Environmental Law (AIEL), are pleased to issue this Call for Abstracts (hereinafter “Call”) for the Joint Environmental Law Research Symposium to be held during the week of 20 October 2026 at venue to be confirmed.
This Call invites the submission of abstracts that engage with the core focus of the Symposium, which seeks to examine critically the emerging frontiers of environmental law, the accountability of states, corporations, and other actors for environmental harm, and the future of environmental legal education and practice in Southern Africa.
“Environmental Law at the Frontier: Emerging Doctrine, Accountability, and the Future of Legal Education in Southern Africa”
Selected abstracts will be invited for presentation at the Symposium. Only an abstract is required at this stage. Following the Symposium, selected presenters will be invited to develop their presentations into full papers or policy briefs, which will subsequently be published. This Call is directed primarily at law students from Zimbabwe’s five law faculties, namely: Midlands State University, University of Zimbabwe, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University, and Africa University. Contributions are also welcome from academics, practitioners, civil society organisations, researchers, and policy actors working in environmental governance.
The deadline for submitting abstracts under this Call is 07 October 2026.
OBJECTIVES OF THE CALL
This Call aims to support the development and dissemination of research, reflections, and case studies that engage with emerging developments and contemporary challenges in environmental law and governance, in line with the thematic focus of the Symposium.
The objectives of the Call are to:
- Promote critical and practice-oriented research on emerging developments in environmental law, including ecocide, the rights of nature, and the environmental implications of artificial intelligence.
- Interrogate accountability for environmental harm at state, corporate, and community levels, including the effectiveness of existing legal and institutional mechanisms for securing accountability and remedies.
- Examine the gendered dimensions of environmental harm, environmental governance, and access to environmental justice.
- Strengthen Environmental Law Clinics (ELCs) as platforms for experiential learning, community legal empowerment, and public interest litigation.
- Facilitate academic and professional exchange between students, lecturers, legal practitioners, researchers, civil society organisations, and policy actors across Zimbabwe and the region.
- Generate policy-relevant scholarship capable of informing the reform of environmental law and policy in Zimbabwe and the wider region.
THEMATIC AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PRESENTATION
The Call is anchored in the Symposium’s concern with the frontier of environmental law: doctrines that are still taking shape, accountability mechanisms that are being tested against the scale of contemporary environmental harm, and legal education that must prepare lawyers for both. Submissions should explore how emerging doctrine, accountability frameworks, clinical work, or public interest law can respond to the ecological and legal challenges facing Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, and the Global South.
Papers are invited under the following thematic areas:
1. Environmental Law Clinics and Experiential Legal Education
This theme explores the role of Environmental Law Clinics in practical legal education, community engagement, and access to justice, and in the development of practice-oriented environmental lawyers.
Submissions may address:
- Comparative models of Environmental Law Clinics (e.g., Yale, Duke, Ottawa, Maryland)
- Supervisory structures, student roles, and case selection models
- Curriculum integration of environmental law and experiential methodologies
- Strategic partnerships with civil society and regulatory institutions
- Monitoring, evaluation, and sustainability frameworks for clinics in the Global South
2. Ecocide: Legal Foundations, Recognition, and Admissibility
This theme examines emerging developments concerning ecocide as an international crime, including its legal foundations, the prospects for its incorporation into international and domestic legal frameworks, and the questions of jurisdiction and admissibility that its recognition would raise.
Submissions may address:
- Proposed definitions of ecocide and their legal elements
- Proposals for the recognition of ecocide as an international crime
- Questions of jurisdiction and admissibility in the prosecution of ecocide
- African regional approaches to environmental crimes
- Prospects for the domestic criminalisation of ecocide in Zimbabwe and the region, including individual and corporate criminal liability
3. Rights of Nature and Their Practicality
This theme explores the legal recognition of the rights of nature, its theoretical foundations, and the practical questions of application and enforcement that arise when natural entities are treated as bearers of rights.
Submissions may address:
- Theoretical foundations of the rights of nature, including African philosophical perspectives
- Comparative constitutional, legislative, and judicial recognition of the rights of nature
- The rights of nature and section 73 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe
- Standing, guardianship, and representation of natural entities before courts and administrative bodies
- Customary law, sacred sites, and indigenous knowledge systems as sources of ecological protection
- Tensions between the rights of nature, extractive development, and community livelihoods
4. Gender and Environmental Law
This theme examines the gendered dimensions of environmental harm, environmental governance, climate change, natural resource management, and access to environmental justice.
Submissions may address:
- Gendered impacts of mining, pollution, water scarcity, and climate change
- Women’s participation in environmental decision-making, including environmental impact assessment and natural resource governance
- Gender, land tenure, and access to natural resources under customary and statutory law
- Regional human rights frameworks and the protection of women’s environmental rights
- Gender-responsive climate law and policy at national, regional, and international levels
- Gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, and environmental degradation in extractive and climate-stressed settings
5. Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on the Environment
This theme explores the environmental implications of artificial intelligence across its life cycle, from the extraction of the minerals on which its hardware depends to the energy and water demands of data infrastructure and the disposal of electronic waste, together with the regulatory questions these raise.
Submissions may address:
- Energy and water consumption of AI systems
- Electronic waste
- Resource extraction for AI hardware
- The environmental footprint of data infrastructure
- Emerging regulatory questions surrounding environmentally sustainable AI
6. Environmental Accountability, Corporate Responsibility, and Access to Environmental Remedies
This theme examines the responsibility of states, corporations, and other actors for environmental harm, and the effectiveness of existing legal and institutional mechanisms for securing accountability and remedies.
Submissions may address:
- Corporate liability for environmental degradation and pollution
- Environmental obligations of extractive industries
- State responsibility and regulatory failures
- Environmental impact assessment
- Community participation
- Access to compensation and restoration
- Strategic litigation for environmental accountability
Each submission must clearly indicate the thematic area under which it is being submitted. Authors may also suggest a cross-cutting theme or propose an interdisciplinary panel where appropriate. Additionally, contributors are encouraged to adopt intersectional approaches in their analysis, recognising how environmental harm and access to justice are shaped by overlapping factors such as gender, age, disability, and indigeneity.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
This Call is open to a diverse range of contributors whose work intersects with environmental law, legal education, public interest practice, and environmental governance.
Eligible applicants include:
- Undergraduate and postgraduate law students, particularly those engaged in Environmental Law Clinics or public interest legal education.
- Legal academics, lecturers, and clinical supervisors working in environmental law, human rights law, constitutional law, or related fields.
- Practising lawyers and legal practitioners, including those involved in environmental litigation, human rights advocacy, legal aid, or regulatory compliance.
- Civil society organisations (CSOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) working on environmental justice, natural resource governance, or legal empowerment.
- Policy researchers, interdisciplinary scholars, and development practitioners focusing on the environment, public health, gender, land rights, climate change, and related issues.
Joint submissions between students and faculty, universities and CSOs, or researchers and community representatives are strongly encouraged. Submissions from first-time presenters, young scholars, and individuals from underrepresented or historically marginalised groups are especially welcome.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Interested applicants are invited to submit abstracts of 250–300 words clearly aligned with one or more of the Symposium’s thematic areas. The abstract should clearly communicate the central issue or research question, the principal argument or focus of the presentation, and its anticipated contribution to environmental law, policy, practice, or scholarship.
Each submission must include the following:
- Title of the paper, presentation, or clinical reflection
- Full name(s) of author(s)
- Institutional affiliation(s) (e.g. university, organisation, clinic, or community group)
- Email address(es)
- 3–5 keywords
- Indication of the relevant thematic area
Additional notes:
- Only an abstract is required at this stage. A full paper or policy brief is not required for consideration.
- Selected presenters will be invited, after the Symposium, to develop their presentations into full papers or policy briefs for publication. These will be due three weeks after the Symposium, and guidance on format and the publication process will be provided at that stage.
- Submissions may be single-authored or co-authored (maximum of 2 authors).
- Collaborative or interdisciplinary submissions are encouraged.
- Abstracts must be submitted in Word or PDF format and written in English.
- Authors must ensure that the content of the abstract is original and has not been presented at another forum.
Evaluation Criteria
All submitted abstracts will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
Relevance to Symposium Themes
The extent to which the abstract aligns with one or more of the six thematic areas of the Symposium.
Originality and Innovation
The degree to which the abstract presents novel insights, approaches, arguments, or frameworks in environmental law and legal scholarship.
Clarity and Coherence
The clarity of the argument, structure, and writing, including the articulation of the research question, methodology (if applicable), and anticipated contribution.
Scholarly and Practical Contribution
The potential of the proposed presentation to contribute meaningfully to environmental law research, policy, advocacy, legal education, or practice.
Interdisciplinarity and Inclusiveness
Preference may be given to abstracts that engage diverse disciplines, perspectives, or communities, especially those historically underrepresented in environmental governance and legal scholarship.
All submissions should be sent via email to:
Babongile: mhlangab@staff.msu.ac.zw
Cc: Hazel: hazel@zela.org Tapiwa: tmoon@gzu.ac.zw Memory : mmakuyana@ajc.uz.ac.zw Chengetai: hamadziripic@africau.edu
Deadline for abstract submission: 07 October 2026
Notification of acceptance: 14 October 2026
Late submissions will not be considered unless a formal extension is announced.