European universities supporting legal and community capacities for Ukraine’s environmental recovery

The general objective of the project was to strengthen civic engagement in Ukrainian communities to integrate the legal dimensions of environmental recovery in Ukraine and for HE practice. Additio...

The general objective of the project was to strengthen civic engagement in Ukrainian communities to integrate the legal dimensions of environmental recovery in Ukraine and for HE practice. Additionally, two specific objectives were set. The first was to stimulate innovative educational practice and upskill staff and students in Ukraine and at other European HEIs. These efforts were primarily achieved through the activities in WP2 which brought to the fore war-related environmental issues in the Ukrainian context from a legal, CS and natural science perspective as well as from international, national and local perspectives. The second specific objective was to enable European HEIs to actively support environmental recovery in Ukraine by connecting CS, law, and environmental studies to diagnose environmental harm in war. This was achieved through capacity-building exercises, collaborative training formats, and strengthened cooperation between universities and students in WP3 and WP4. Achievements include the moot court and summer school, the hackathon, and the follow-up student-driven CS projects cemented the real life applications concerning CEM in Ukraine.

All activities outlined in the application across WP1-WP4 were implemented. WP1 established the overall management framework including the handbooks on project management, QA and risk management and dissemination and sustainability. In WP2, foundational knowledge of CS was built through a 16-lecture webinar series (deliverable 2) and two international workshops on environmental data ecosystems and legal accountability. Under WP3, capacity-building exercises were organised to build practical skills of students in the CS and law, including a 5-day summer school at Hamburg university. The summer school combined lectures, workshops, and talks, followed by a moot court which allowed participants to apply the knowledge they acquired during the summer school. GROMADA also hosted three Challenges related to environment and war in the 2024 DigiEduHack competition. Online preparatory crash-courses in CS and a webinar were organised prior to the competition. WP4 activities included the development of eight student-driven CS projects at ONU. An online-lecture on CS project design was organised prior to the launch of the student-driven projects at ONU. GROMADA concluded with a final conference in Copenhagen.

The landscape analysis report (deliverable 1), the “Handbook on the legal dimensions of environmental harm monitoring in war, with and by conflict-affected communities” (deliverable 3). The handbook was accompanied by synthesis available in SE, DE, IT, EL, UA, DK (deliverable 4). The publication on academia-civil society-policymaking collaboration (deliverable 5). An analysis, also translated into Ukrainian, that shed light into the digital and participatory dimensions of environmental CS actions in war-torn Ukraine (deliverable 6). Datasets, analyses and case examples generated by the student-led CS projects launched at ONU. The results from the CS projects were synthesised in an open-access report (deliverable 7). The production of the “Feasibility study for an environmental legal clinic” (deliverable 8). The Roadmap for European HEIs, a strategic guide which summarises insights from the GROMADA project and provides practical recommendations for universities to support environmental CS, accountability, and recovery in Ukraine and elsewhere (deliverable 9).