Academic activities
Transboundary Water Ressources and International Law
Seminar offered in the fall semester of 2016 at the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva.
Mara Tignino teaches this seminar.
Distance Learning Course on International Water Law & The Law of Transboundary Aquifers (Geneva Water Hub and DiploFoundation)
The online course on International Water and the Law of Transboundary Aquifers is supported by the Geneva Water Hub, and implemented in partnership with DiploFoundation. The course is composed of 7 modules and corresponds to 4 ECTS credits.
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Makane Mbengue and Mara Tignino are co-directors of the online course.
Online courses on international water law and the law of transboundary aquifers (United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) (2012-2015))
Between 2012-2015, In collaboration with UNITAR, and with the financial support of SDC, the Platform for International Water Law has developed an online course on International Water Law in English and French. A course on the law of transboundary aquifers was also offered in English.
Mara Tignino, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law and Coordinator of the Platform, has been the faculty member responsible for these courses.
Dispute Resolution Concerning Freshwater Resources
Seminar offered annually in the fall semester at the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva
The course profits from the University’s proximity to a large number of United Nations’ Offices and other international governmental and non-governmental organizations. It offers students the opportunity to participate in high profile international meetings and to interact with international officials. In the fall semester of 2009, students participated in the Fifth Session of the Meeting of the Parties of the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. In the fall semester of 2010, Mrs Francesca Bernardini, Secretary of the UNECE Convention, and Professor Raymond Laffite, Neutral Expert in the case concerning the construction of the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River, were invited as guest speakers. In the fall semester of 2011, Dr. Gabriel Los Cobos, hydrogeologist at the Department of geology , soil and waste at the canton of Geneva, was invited as guest speaker.
Seminars and courses upon request
Additional seminars and courses for government representatives, stakeholders and researchers are offered upon request.
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Makane Mbengue and Mara Tignino were invited to teach a course on international environmental law to officials from different ministries in Algeria in March 2014. In November 2013, Mara Tignino also taught a course on international environmental law to Palestinian officials.
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes was invited to teach courses on international water law to riparian representatives of the Himalayan Rivers in May 2007. She also trained representatives of Nile riparian countries from 2003 to 2005 at the request of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and representatives of Senegal River Basin states in 2005 at the request of the Organisation de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal (OMVS).
Makane Mbengue was also invited to train representatives from Nile riparian countries at the request of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) from 2003 to 2005 and representatives of Senegal River Basin states in 2005 at the request of the Organisation de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal (OMVS).
The Hague Academy Session on Water Resources and International Law
Session conducted by L. Boisson de Chazournes and S. Salman, August/September, 2001, The Hague
Research results of this session have been published by in L. Boisson de Chazournes and S. Salman “Les Ressources en eau et le droit international - Water Resources and International Law”, Leiden/Boston, Hague Academy of International Law, Nijhoff, 2005, 798 p.
Dispute Resolution Concerning Freshwater Resources
Seminar offered from 2006 to 2008 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, University Paul Cézanne (Aix-Marseille III). Laurence Boisson de Chazournes taught this seminar.
