New Tour Dates: College Speaking Tour

Thomas Linzey, CDER’s senior legal counsel, is hitting the road again (virtually), for CDER’s Fall ’20 College Speaking Tour. Linzey’s presentation, “Who Speaks for the Trees? The Movement for the Rights of Nature” will be delivered to university audiences in both presentations and speeches on virtual platforms, from September 15 - December 15 of this year.

Linzey’s talks will focus on the growing international movement to recognize legal rights of ecosystems and nature, in the United States and around the world. He will speak about his role in drafting “rights of nature” laws for cities, towns, and counties across the U.S., and his involvement with the Ecuadorian constitutional assembly in 2008 as it wrote a new national constitution (the first in the world) recognizing the rights of nature, Pachamama.

Linzey will also speak about recent developments, as courts in India, Bangladesh, Colombia, and elsewhere have begun to establish legal precedent recognizing the rights of nature. During the Tour, Linzey will also speak about an initiative appearing on the Orange County, Florida, ballot this November, which would recognize legal rights of rivers within the County. As the thirtieth largest county in the United States, the adoption of the initiative would be a watershed moment for the rights of nature movement in the U.S.

The following tour dates have been scheduled:

Friday, September 18th – Bard College at Simon’s Rock (Mass.)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by Geography and Asian Studies

Monday, September 21st – Pachamama Alliance, Rights of Nature

12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. (Pacific)

Monday, September 28th – University of Dayton, Ohio

Afternoon Presentation (TBD)

Hosted by University of Dayton Sustainability Club

Wednesday, October 14th – West Chester University (Pennsylvania)

9:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by the West Chester University Offices of Sustainability, Research and Sponsored Programs

Thursday, October 15th – University of Toledo College of Law (Ohio)

Time TBD

Hosted by the Environmental Law Society

Tuesday, October 20th – University of Pennsylvania

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by UPenn’s Transdisciplinary Environmental Humanities Class

Tuesday, October 20th – Bucknell University (Pennsylvania)

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by the Bucknell Environmental Club

Wednesday, November 4th – George Mason University (Virginia)

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by the Mason Environmental Justice Alliance

Thursday, November 5th – University of Akron (Ohio)

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by Environmental Action at the University of Akron

Wednesday, November 11th – Ohio State University

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by Sierra Club Student Coalition at Ohio State University

Friday, January 29th, 2021 – Gonzaga University

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Pacific)

Hosted by Gonzaga University

For those wishing to schedule a Tour date, please contact us.