EcoLAWgy: the University of Liège inaugurates a new centre dedicated to ecological governance
On Tuesday, December 9, 2025, the University of Liège inaugurated EcoLAWgy, an innovative research center dedicated to transforming environmental law and policy. The event took place under the patronage of HRH Princess Esmeralda of Belgium, in the presence of leading figures such as Françoise Tulkens and Philippe Marion, major figures in international law and human rights.
In an international context marked by the semi-failure of the Climate COP in Belém and the failure of the COP on agrobiodiversity in Lima last November, the urgent need for a renewed approach to environmental governance is clear. The limits of multilateralism, the failure of environmental treaties and the fact that seven of the nine planetary limits have been exceeded call for a thorough rethinking of our legal tools.
EcoLAWgy responds to this need by developing an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to ecological law. The center mobilizes scientific knowledge, the knowledge of local and indigenous communities, and a critical analysis of international power relations, in order to promote a truly ecological law, centered on the protection of living beings.
Created by Dr. Christine Frison within the Faculty of Law, Political Science and Criminology at the University of Liège in 2024, the mission of this new research center is to fundamentally rethink environmental law. Rather than simply regulating human activities to mitigate damage to nature, EcoLAWgy seeks to build a truly ecological legal framework to generatively support life.
This new legal paradigm places the protection of ecological balance at the heart of its approach. It integrates scientific, ethical and indigenous knowledge into the development of legal norms, and challenges the anthropocentric vision of law.
The center draws inspiration from movements such as biocentrism, the rights of future generations and the rights of nature, illustrated by a generative approach to the legal recognition of natural entities such as rivers or forests, but also from movements contesting power and oppression (decolonial, feminist, anti-capitalist, etc.). Thanks to its innovative, interdisciplinary approach, EcoLAWgy aims to make an active contribution to the transformation of law in response to today's ecological challenges.
The inauguration of this new center marks a turning point in environmental research in Belgium and Europe, and aims to open up new perspectives for tackling climate crises, biodiversity erosion and the systemic challenges they entail.
"EcoLAWgy responds to an urgent need for research and education. We can no longer consider the environment as a resource that can simply be exploited “sustainably”. For 50 years, this has only led to its destruction and today it is jeopardising our survival. We need to change the legal paradigm in order to change our relationship with the environment, because we are an integral part of the planet's ecosystems. Ecological law brings about this paradigm shift: it recognises and protects our relationship with the environment, it generates life. EcoLAWgy, Belgium's first centre for ecological law, responds to this urgent need." - Christine Frison, director of the EcoLaWgy laboratory.
Crédit photos : ©ULiège S.Seyen
