The Challenges of Teaching Environmental Law – Short Analysis

Abstract

Environmental law, in the current context of society's evolution, is a highly topical discipline. The study of this discipline is not easy, being made difficult by the great diversity of environmental protection fields and implicitly the legislation. Also, the teaching of this discipline is challenging, requiring the adaptation of classic teaching methods but also the finding of new tools. The present paper, starting from the presentation of some technical aspects of the discipline that produce barriers in the teaching-learning process, presents the author's experience in using (i) the project, as a personalized teaching method and (ii) complementary online information resources.

Full text

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov
Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 15(64) No. 2 – 2022
https://doi.org/10.31926/but.ssl.2022.15.64.2.20
THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW – SHORT ANALYSIS
Cristina M. SALCĂ ROTARU1
Abstract: Environmental law, in the current context of society's evolution,
is a highly topical discipline. The study of this discipline is not easy, being
made difficult by the great diversity of environmental protection fields and
implicitly the legislation. Also, the teaching of this discipline is challenging,
requiring the adaptation of classic teaching methods but also the finding of
new tools. The present paper, starting from the presentation of some
technical aspects of the discipline that produce barriers in the teaching-
learning process, presents the author's experience in using (i) the project, as
a personalized teaching method and (ii) complementary online information
resources.
Key words: environmental law, teaching methods, project, complementary
resources, TED
1. Introduction
Legal sciences are constantly developing. The emergence of new branches of law and
the development of classic ones, constitute a challenge for law faculties to establish a
complex educational program that prepares the future graduate for the practice of legal
professions.
One of the disciplines that has a not very distant origin, but that has evolved
significantly in its social importance is Environmental Law.
The purpose of the teaching act is the effective transmission of information,
knowledge, for the achievement of learning.
The success of learning is not only the student's but also the teacher's and is largely
due to the teaching method(s). It is obvious that teaching methods in higher education,
but not only, have evolved (Justice & al., 2007; Sajjad, 2010; Yakovleva & Yakovlev,
2014) and a great influence in recent years has been the obligation to adapt to an online
based environment, following the Covid-19 pandemic (Ewing, 2021; García-Morales &
al., 2021; Rapanta & al., 2021; Vlădoiu & al., 2021).
This paper presents the challenges encountered in teaching Environmental Law
determined by the technical aspects of the discipline and the methods used by the
author to overcome these barriers.
1 Transilvania University of Braşov, rotaruc@unitbv.ro, corresponding author

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2. Technical aspects regarding the "environmental law" discipline
2.1. The complexity of the discipline
As Professor Mircea Duțu (2007, p.142) shows, the environment knows no borders, so
that even the branch of law called to protect the environment is not confined within
rigid limits, but, on the contrary, it can be found both in the branches belonging to
private law (civil law, agrarian law, consumer protection), as well as in those belonging
to public law (constitutional law, criminal law or administrative law).
We thus agree that this branch of law is not so much a border branch between
different other branches of law, but rather a globalizing branch, whose rules are found
in other branches of law (Dușca, 2014, p. 8).
Both European Union and international regulations are of particular importance in
environmental protection.
Therefore, in order to better understand the set of environmental obligations, the
knowledge acquired within the disciplines in which European Union law and
international law (public and private) are studied is necessary.
The complexity of real cases even requires knowledge of the rules before national or
European Union courts.
Environmental law is linked to the fundamental human right to a healthy environment,
so that beyond the constitutional area, knowledge of fundamental rights from the
perspective of the ECHR is welcome.
The technical part of environmental law, covering all regulatory chapters, at least from
the perspective of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 195 of 2005 on environmental
protection, namely 15 regulatory chapters for distinct fields, requires a sustained effort
both on the part of the teaching staff from the perspective of teaching, and on the part
of the student, from the perspective of knowledge accumulation.
2.2. Teaching period
The discipline through which the study of environmental legislation, obligations and
correlative rights is carried out, within the Faculty of Law of Transilvania University of
Brașov, is Integrated Environmental Law, within the II semester of the IV year of studies.
The localization of the discipline in the last year of studies is precisely due to the complexity
of the subject and its connection with the various disciplines studied until then.
However, the concrete establishment of the 14 weeks in the second semester brings a
new challenge due to the increased attention of students to the final graduation exam
and to the subjects that are part of the license exam syllabus.
An importance on the student's perception of the importance of the subject is also its
establishment within the mandatory or optional subjects and the number of credits.
A research on the education plans of the main law faculties in Romania (Table 1)
revealed differences in the approach to the integration of the discipline in the study
program, this being included as a subject related to either the second or the third year
of studies, in both its forms possible: mandatory or optional. There are also differences
in the granting of credits, ranging from 3 to 5.

C.M. SALCĂ ROTARU: The Challenges of Teaching Environmental Law – Short Analysis
299
Table 1
Evidence of the integration of environmental law in study programs
Nr.
crt
The university of which the
faculty of law is a part
Study year
and
semester
The type of
discipline
Class and
seminar hours
Credits
1 University of Bucharest III/I Compulsory 2/1 3
2 Ovidius University of
Constanța
III/II Compulsory 2/1 4
3 Ecological University of
Bucharest
II/I Compulsory 2/1 4
4 "Dunărea de Jos" University of
Galați
II/I Compulsory 2/1 5
5 Danubius University of Galați III/I Compulsory 2/1 4
6 Valahia University of
Târgoviște
II/II Compulsory 2/1 5
7 University of Craiova II/II Compulsory 2/1 4
8 ”1 Decembrie” University of
Alba Iulia
III/I Optional 2/1 4
9 Lucian Blaga University of
Sibiu
III/II Optional 1/1 3
10 ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
University of Iași
III/II Optional 2/1 3
11 University of Oradea II/I Optional 2/1 3
12 West University of Timișoara II/II Optional 2/1 3
13 Babeș Bolyai University of Cluj
Napoca
II/II Optional 2/1 3
I found a special situation in the curriculum of the Faculty of Law within the Academy
of Economic Studies in Bucharest, which does not have this subject but, in the third year,
second semester, Sustainable Development is found as an optional subject, which is held
by teaching staff from the department of agri-food and environmental economics
(https://drept.ase.ro/programe/programe-de-licenta/).
This raises the question of the student's ability to accumulate this knowledge, because
the ability to understand such a complex subject is different for the student from the
second year, the first semester, to that of the student from the third year, the second
semester and, moreover, to that of the student from year IV.
This differentiation in the inclusion of the discipline in the years of study leads to
challenges in finding teaching methods so that the discipline is accessible to students.
3. Adaptation of teaching methods to the specifics of the discipline
The specialized literature knows concerns regarding the effectiveness of different
teaching methods, including from the perspective of teaching law (Friedland, 1996;
Burridge & al., 2003).
Under this last aspect, both the classic methods of the field were researched, for
example the use of jurisprudence (Baldwin, 1900; Carter & Unklesbay, 1989; Lasso,

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2002) and modern approaches such as the use of the Microsoft Teams program (Martin
& Tapp, 2019) or new communication technologies (Sherwin & al., 2006).
Starting from the specificity of the Environmental Law discipline, part of the
specialized literature has researched different aspects of the challenges regarding
teaching in this field. Various teaching methods and tools are presented such as the
problem-based approach or the incorporation of current events or even what can be left
out of the course (Robertson, 2021). From the perspective of developing specific skills,
individual or group role play has also been studied (Coplan, 2016; Boer).
Kubasek (1998, p.19-20) shows that a critical thinking approach is especially
appropriate for an environmental law class because of the sheer numbers of
controversies that arise in this area. It is also shown that due to the large volume of
normative acts, constantly changing and developing, one of the goals of education in the
field of environmental law is to teach students how to manage environmental law
knowledge, by developing individual search, selection and acquisition skills of
information so that students reach the ultimate goal of the regulations, namely the spirit
of the law (Кобецка, 2020).
3.1. Personalizing the act of teaching - learning through projects
Starting from the reality of the complexity and size of environmental legislation, which
causes a negative reaction of students towards the discipline, and from the need to find
methods of increasing interest in learning, I used the project as a teaching method.
From an educational perspective, the project is a complex method of assessment,
which usually takes place at the end of a module or semester. Through this method,
students are put in a position to analyze and research information they have discovered
on their own, finally evaluating the progress they have made over time.
Personalizing the development of the project in the context of the discipline, I
transformed this evaluation method into a teaching method in the seminars.
3.1.1. Theme and purpose of the project
At the beginning of the semester, students are notified that they will have to carry out,
either individually or in a group of maximum 2 people, a project through which the
environmental normative acts applicable to the activity carried out in the university are
identified.
To understand what they have to do, the structure of an environmental management
system (ISO 1400 or EMAS) is presented, which includes the register of legal
requirements and other requirements.
It is specified that this register must be drawn up in such a way that any person from
the university would look at it, they would understand its structure and be able to use it
in identifying and complying with environmental obligations.
The purpose of the project is to determine the understanding, through searches and at
one's own pace, of the effective applicability of the normative acts that will be
presented and discussed during the semester and to improve the ability to identify,
acquire and manage environmental legal information.

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3.1.2. Working method
In the first weeks of the semester, when the course studies the general elements of
environmental law (principles, sources, links, the specifics of the legal norm of
environmental law, etc.), students must identify, during the seminar hours, the actions
that take place in university framework and their possible negative effects.
This activity is a challenging one for them, because most of them have never made the
concrete connection between activities and pollution.
The answers to the initial searches may be funny, but they show that anchoring young
people in the reality of environmental legislation is really difficult, they make the
connection between heating buildings and air pollution, the use of photocopiers and the
existence of hazardous waste, building maintenance and water pollution, etc.
The guidance method is one by one and step by step. The students are not given a
model for the realization of the project, they are free to think in their own logic, the
teaching staff having the obligation of personalized guidance for each student, starting
from the aspects identified by each one.
Such an activity requires a greater effort both on the part of the teaching staff, who
must identify each student's own logic and create a personalized guidance for it, but
also on the part of the student who, not benefiting from a model of achievement, must
leave his comfort area of classic didactic activities.
During the course hours, when presenting the areas of regulation and specific
normative acts, students begin to make concrete connections between environmental
legislation and polluting activities and their actual impact.
Thus, we move on to a new stage of the project, the concrete identification of the
applicable legislation, issued both at the national level and at the level of the European
Union or at international level. This is where the students who resonate most with
environmental protection are differentiated from those who have a marginal interest,
the former making complex searches for normative acts.
With free access to official legislative platforms and thus to a large volume of
information, students learn to structure their information and integrate it into the
project in such a way that it is comprehensible to everyone.
The project also has the role of training future lawyers in adapting to the realities of
legal situations, which go far beyond the possible training framework through the four
years of studies related to undergraduate legal studies.
3.2. Use of complementary sources of information
The application of environmental legislation can sometimes be abstract, if we consider
the diffuse and complementary nature of pollution due to human activities. That is why
we found it useful to present the concrete negative effects of human activities on the
environment by referring to complementary online information sources, which can be
generically included in OER sources (Perniu & al., 2021).
Of these, the ideas and concerns of specialists on the TED platform - Ideas worth
spreading - had a particularly positive resonance (https://www.ted.com/).
TED (technology, entertainment and design) is a:

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- a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful
talks (18 minutes or less).
- global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a
deeper understanding of the world. Founders believe passionately in the power
of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. On TED.com, they
are building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world's most inspired
thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each
other, both online and at TED and TEDx events around the world, all year long
(https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization).
Among the topics related to this paper we find environment, biodiversity, climate
change, conservation, ecology, global issue, natural resources, ocean, plastic, pollution,
renewable energy, sustainability, water.
The great variety of information, the accessible way of presentation, the translation of
information into several languages, including Romanian, the permanent connection of
the information presented to current environmental problems (and not only), makes
this complementary source a particularly useful one for teachers.
The students who were presented with this resource particularly appreciated the
interesting interdisciplinary approach to environmental issues, including their novelty.
4. Conclusion
The previously presented methods brought improvements in the quality of the
didactic act but also in the final assessment of the students, the students understanding
better and easily accepting the assessment requirements.
Among the advantages of the respective methods, we can identify:
 an important part of the training tends to become individual, taking into
account the personality characteristics but also the interests of each student;
 the possibility of concise and interesting presentation of environmental legal
information;
 the combination of several methods of transmitting information, each of which
aims at a specific learning method.
Modern teaching methods can improve the didactic act and students' perception of a
subject, but from the perspective of the complexity of the subject Environmental Law,
they cannot replace the student's ability to have a complex and applied vision, which
develops through at least two years of university studies.
Therefore, we believe that the place of the Environmental Law discipline in the
education plan is, at least, in the third year of studies, and within it, in the second
semester.
From the perspective of years of teaching environmental law, in which the described
methods were used, some of the students' thoughts gave me great pleasure. I would
remember those moments when the students, although they claimed that they had
never worked so hard on any other subject, said at the end that it gave them the
greatest pleasure to complete the project.
In particular, I would like to mention the transformation of a student's perception of

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the subject, who, even at the beginning of the project, stated that he was coming and
doing it to secure the points allocated to the grading, showing a total marginal interest
in the subject, at the end he requested to be accepted in order to prepare his bachelor's
thesis in the field of environmental law.
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