Project summary

The "Contemporary Issues in Animal Rights Law" course offered by the International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE) is a pioneering online education initiative providing participants with comprehensive knowledge and practical skills to address real-life challenges in Animal Rights Law.

By covering the ethical, legal, and practical aspects of advocating for animal rights, it fosters societal respect for animals and catalyses systemic change through strategic litigation and law reform strategies, policy drafting, and corporate outreach. It addresses the urgent need for specialised training in Animal Rights Law, filling an educational gap and empowering individuals to initiate meaningful societal and legal changes.

The first course will run from January to March 2025 on Google Classroom. It will be taught in English (3 hours per week, 9 weeks of class, with the last week consisting of a final evaluation) by an international team of leading academics. It is open to students, legal professionals, researchers, animal advocates and NGO workers looking to expand their knowledge and impact.

Our website and social media will be available soon, and registration for the course will open shortly.

Outline of the course content: This course offers a comprehensive overview of animal rights law, providing insights from an interdisciplinary, comparative, and global perspective. Over 9 weeks, learners will acquire a solid knowledge of the key concepts, model laws, and landmark rulings of this emerging discipline.

Structure: The course will explore key themes relating to animal rights law: starting with an introduction to the topic and key concepts; exploring the origins and history of modern animal protection laws and contemporary animal welfare and rights law; the philosophical foundations of animal rights; studying continental animal law vs. common law and the legal status of animals in positive law; learning about the legal theory of animal rights; analysing animal rights jurisprudence and developing effective legal arguments in favour of animals, as well as examining the issue of animal standing; considering what animal rights law might look like and how to advocate and effectively lobby for the creation of animal rights law legislation; tackling the issue of the legal and political representation of animals and political animal rights, within the framework of multispecies theories of justice; concluding with a reflection on animal rights as a social justice movement and its evolution.

Course Duration: The course lasts nine weeks, with three hours per week (including classroom activities) for eight weeks and a final assignment during the ninth week. The final evaluation will be divided into three two-hour sessions, and the students will be assigned a mandatory session to present and attend.

Coursework: The coursework is 4—5 hours per week (including weekly assignments), or approximately 39 hours, and between 46,5 and 54 hours in total (including the final assignment).

Target audience: Law students, PhD students, academics and researchers, legal practitioners, policymakers and government officials, animal rights advocates and NGO workers, activists, and individuals considering a career change.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

1. Vision and expected impact

Starting in January 2025, we aim to train 30 advocates for animal rights per course, creating a ripple effect of advocacy and legal action for animal rights across the globe. This can benefit both, directly and indirectly, countless human and non-human animals (and the environment) by equipping individuals and possibly the organisations and bodies (legislative, governmental, judicial) to which they belong with the potential to effect systemic, policy and legal change.

Our long-term vision is to effect change through the mentoring offered through our animal rights alums network. We will support their initiatives, collaborate with them, and encourage cooperation between them, putting into practice what they have learned during the course. We will also connect them with academics, industry experts, and animal rights organisations to support their litigation and law reform initiatives and strategies, which has the potential to bring about positive change for animals through the law.

The indirect impact of this project is far-reaching. Training an estimated 30 individuals per course, with plans for at least two editions in 2025 and four in three different languages in 2026, potentially affects laws and policies that benefit millions of animals globally by advocating for their rights and substantially improving their welfare through legal reform and litigation gradually conducted by our alums, as well as inspiring and leading change. This education-driven and hands-on advocacy approach seeks to create a long-term and lasting, widespread improvement in how animals are treated legally and culturally by teaching animal rights law and advocacy and research techniques beyond mere animal welfare laws.

2. SMART Objectives

• Enroll at least 30 students for the first edition of the "Contemporary Issues in Animal Rights Law" course by the end of December 2024.

• Achieve a student satisfaction rate of at least 80%, measured through post-course surveys conducted in April-May 2025.

• Successfully reinvest revenues from student registrations to fund the course's second edition by September 2025.

• Develop and launch an additional specialisation course in Animal Rights Law by the end of 2025, funded by the revenues from the initial and subsequent editions.

• Train at least 60 students through two editions of the "Contemporary Issues in Animal Rights Law" course by the end of the first year of operation (January 2025 - December 2025).

• Offer the "Contemporary Issues in Animal Rights Law" course in French and Spanish by 2026 to reach a more global audience.

• Train at least 120 students per year by 2026 through the CIARL courses in English, French and Spanish (i.e. three languages) to increase our impact on animal rights through the law.

3. Steps

• Quarter 1 (July-September 2024): Pre-course setup involves hiring lecturers and jury members for the final evaluation (this phase is currently in progress) and setting up Google Classroom and the NGO's website.
  
  Our NGO has just been registered in France, and we can set up our Google Workspace for the course. Our website is under construction, and we are waiting for the finalisation of our logo to launch our website and social media officially, announce the creation of our NGO, and open registration for the course.

• Quarter 2 (October- December 2024): Course preparation includes developing and uploading course materials, promotional activities, and students' registration process.

• Quarter 3 (January-March 2025): Course Duration - The course will be delivered over eight weeks, featuring online lectures, an interactive forum, classroom activities, and weekly assignments to hone the participants' practical skills in real-world scenarios, including an online moot court. It will culminate with a final assignment in the ninth week, during which students present their research to their peers and a jury in groups.

• Quarter 4 (April-June 2025): Post-course activities involve awarding a certificate upon course completion and collecting participant feedback through a questionnaire to assess short-term results, course satisfaction and impact aimed at course improvement. They will also include a yearly survey of alums and their advocacy as a long-term assessment of our results and impact.

If this first course is successful and meets our expectations (i.e. training 30 advocates with an 80% satisfaction rate and a fully-financed course), we plan to:

1. reinvest the funds to repeat it for a second edition by the end of 2025,

2. offer it in French and Spanish from 2026 and

3. expand the curriculum to cover a broader range of, and more specialised, topics in Animal Rights Law.

How will this funding be used?

It will be used to:

• hire lecturers for 3 hours of lecture during 8 weeks, considering that one class will be delivered by two lecturers (unexpectedly doubling the lecture costs for that week, yet in the interest of students)

• hire a final jury to evaluate students's final presentations,

• hire evaluators to assess the weekly assignments of 30 students over 8 weeks.

The funding goal includes a 15% contingency, notably given the variability of exchange rates, the number of individuals to be paid, and the number of transfers to be made in a different currency abroad.

Total project costs: 5456,75€ ($6,070.88)
Total project costs still to be funded: 4556,45€ ($5,069.26)

Any amount over the fundraising goal would enable us to offer scholarships to cover registration fees (albeit reduced to a minimum) for individuals with financial hardship. You can also contact me if you would like to donate or sponsor a scholarship within the programme!

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

Confirmed lecturers and prospective jury members include leading academics in animal rights law, global animal law, animal ethics and social justice. They will be announced shortly.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

This project could fail if we do not get enough funding or minimum registrations for the course, either because of a lack of interest or an ineffective promotion and communication strategy, and hence, if we cannot cover the project costs.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

I received a $1,000 grant from the Pollination Project and am getting support from Vegan Hacktivists to build ICARE's website. Our logo is currently being designed pro bono through a referral by Violet Studios of a vegan designer.

If we do not get more funding for this project, we will depend on students' registration fees and won't be able to offer scholarships based on students' financial needs. This would also mean that the chances of reinvesting any revenues to offer a second edition of the course, developing the course in other languages, and expanding the course offer are lower.

Any amount over the fundraising goal would enable us to offer scholarships to cover registration fees (albeit reduced to a minimum) for individuals with financial hardship. You can also contact me if you would like to donate or sponsor a scholarship within the programme!