Introduction

In 2006, a group of public law lecturers at Rovira i Virgili University established an Environmental Law Clinic (ELC) with the aim of exploring new, cross-functional approaches to teaching environmental law to students at the master's and undergraduate levels. The ELC offers both high-quality teaching and an exciting, practice-oriented curriculum.

In terms of teaching, students gain diverse insights into environmental law, as they are taught by lecturers from a variety of disciplines within public law: international public law, administrative law, criminal law, constitutional law, and philosophy of law. In terms of the curriculum, the ELC is both a core subject in the syllabus of the master's degree in environmental law and an elective in the undergraduate course in law. The content of the course focuses on real-life examples of institutions that act in the public interest. In particular, cases are drawn from the public administration sector, such as the Vilaseca Borough Council, Reus Borough Council, Tarragona Provincial Government, and the General Council of the Valley of Aran; the administration of justice sector, for example, the Public Prosecutor's Office of Tarragona Provincial Court; and nongovernmental organizations or foundations, such as the Platforms Salvem els Muntanyan and Salvem la Platja Llarga, and the Foundations Nueva Cultura del Agua and La Red de Defensores Comunitarios in Chiapas, Mexico. In Spain, students are not permitted to act in court proceedings.