Public Lecture – Is Environmental Law Hopeful?

📅 Date: Tuesday 28 July 2026
⏰ Time: 6.00 pm – 8.00 pm AEDT (registration from 5.30 pm)
📍 Venue: Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

After the lecture, please join us for light refreshments in the Monash University Law Chambers foyer.

RSVP: by COB Friday, 17 July

Join us for an engaging public lecture exploring one of the most pressing - and least examined questions in environmental law: Is Environmental Law Hopeful?

Professor Elen Stokes will discuss the significance of hope within environmental law. This may seem counterintuitive. After all, environmental law is not generally known for its good-news stories. The scale and urgency of the challenges at stake, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and persistent pollutants, often make it feel more appropriate to speak of environmental law in terms of frustration, disappointment or even despair.

Professor Elen Stokes will examine various ways in which the relationship between environmental law and hope can be framed. The discussion will focus in particular on the forms that hope takes within environmental law, as well as on the role of hope and hopefulness in environmental law teaching and research.

Join us for an evening of thoughtful reflection, critical insight, and renewed hope for the future of environmental law.

Elen is a Professor in Environmental Law at the University of Bristol Law School.  She has a long-standing interest in how legal rules and institutions relate to and shape particular futures.  She has carried out research projects on the regulation of emerging technologies for UK government departments and other public bodies.  Her current work focuses on the relationships between law and hope.

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