Green Mirror: A Look at our Sustainable Future

First International Conference on Environment, Energy, Sustainability and the Law

The first international conference on the environment, energy, sustainability and the law, titled ‘Green Mirror: A Look at our Sustainable Future’, is a collaboration between the Law Society of the College of Law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University and the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA Padova). The conference will include two half-days of keynote speeches and panel discussions, along with invited peer-reviewed presentations of selected papers from the conference proceedings. 

Read more

Dean Welcome Message

On behalf of Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Law, I am delighted to welcome you to our first student-initiated conference titled “Green Mirror: A Look at our Sustainable Future”. We are honored that our student Law Society has teamed up with the European Law Students’ Association at the University of Padua, Italy, to offer two days of engaging discussion on issues relevant to Qatar, the region, and the world. 

The conference enables HBKU’s College of Law to strengthen its ties with the University of Padua. Over the past four years, both schools have worked together with students from each school attending a co-sponsored summer workshop that included faculty from the College of Law and the University of Padua. We owe words of thanks to the College of Law’s Dr. Zachary Calo and the University of Padua’s Dr. Andreas Pin who established the foundation for cooperation between the two institutions. We also thank the College of Law’s Dr. Barry Solaiman who has helped support this event.

With this web-based event, we hope to engage a broader audience, both in terms of students and faculty as well as others outside of the College of Law and the University of Padua. The conference’s topic, sustainability, is a driving force behind Qatar’s National Vision 2030, which in turn guides the College of Law in its mission. Within Qatar Foundation, sustainability, including legal aspects associated with it, is a strategic research initiative. Our faculty are at the forefront of research in energy, the environment, sustainability, and the law, with Dr. Damilola Olawuyi (SAN) (the faculty advisor to this conference) having founded and now leading the Association of Environmental Law Lecturers in Middle East and North African Universities (ASSELLMU) in promoting the teaching of environmental law in the Middle East and North Africa region. We appreciate ASSELLMU’s support of this conference and Dr. Olawuyi’s guidance to the students in helping organize it.  

We are grateful to the Law Society of the College of Law at HBKU and ELSA Padua for their hard work in making this conference a reality. Let me also thank our partners and stakeholders, including the University of Padua, Gianni & Origoni Law Firm, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) as well as HBKU’s new Energy and Environment Club. And let me in advance thank all speakers, including our keynote presenters: H.E. Alessandro Prunas, the Ambassador of Italy to Qatar; and Mr. Vincenzo Pellegrini, Partner at BM&A Law Firm.

We wish we could meet you in person in Doha to show you our warm Qatari hospitality. We look forward to that opportunity when the pandemic recedes. In the meantime, we wish you all the best on a successful conference. 

Susan L. Karamanian
Dean, College of Law, HBKU

ELSA Padova Welcome Message

We look forward to welcoming you to our first joint conference with HBKU’s Law Society on March 16-17, 2022. 

‘Green Mirror: A Look at Our Sustainable Future’ was born out of the intention to highlight what unites our two jurisdictions, but mostly to discover what valuable insight is to be found in the ways they differ.

While this is a vision important for any area of the law, we wished to shine a light on the environment, energy and the concept of sustainability in Europe and the MENA region, and explore with our colleagues the legislation and policy that surround them.

We look forward to learning more about environmental law, and sustainability and how they interact with human rights from the accomplished array of academic, legal, and industry leaders who will join us as speakers. We are eager to learn what insights our fellow students have to offer during their essay presentations.

We will see you soon online, both in Doha, Qatar, and Padua, Italy. Next time, hopefully, even in person!

ELSA Padova Team
 

HBKU’s Law Society Welcome Message

We warmly welcome you to our inaugural international conference on environment, energy, sustainability and the law, titled ‘Green Mirror: A Look at our Sustainable Future’. The event is held in collaboration between the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA Padova), Italy, and the Law Society of the College of Law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar.

Our joint conference features two half-days of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and peer-reviewed presentations by top-tier academics, scholars, legal professionals, and students from around the world. The aim is to provide a rich forum for discussion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those relating to energy, climate change, human rights, sustainability, the environment, and the law.

We hope this collaborative forum between Italy and Qatar will enable participants from around the world to form friendships, exchange innovative ideas, and address environmental and sustainable issues and challenges in energy, environmental, and human rights in Europe and the MENA region today. 

Although this time it is an online conference, our team looks forward to welcoming you to our beautiful Doha, Qatar, one day!

HBKU’s Law Society