FERS Summer School
20-25 July 2026 | Villa Vigoni – Menaggio (CO), Lake Como
More information

Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to legal systems, governance structures, and the production and use of scientific knowledge. As these challenges cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries, addressing climate change requires sustained interdisciplinary dialogue between legal scholarship and climate science.

This summer school offers an in-depth, research-focused exploration of the evolving relationship between climate change law and climate science. The course examines how scientific knowledge is generated, assessed, and translated into legal reasoning, regulatory frameworks, and litigation strategies.

Core topics

Production and Assessment of Climate Science: the processes through which climate knowledge is generated, including scientific methods, modelling tools and assessment frameworks, as well as the current state of climate science and the role of uncertainty in projecting future climate scenarios. Science in Law and Policy: the ways in which climate science informs legal norms and policy frameworks. This topic analyses how scientific knowledge is integrated into regulatory instruments and policy responses at international, regional and domestic levels.Use of Scientific Evidence in Legal and Regulatory Contexts: how courts, regulators, and policymakers engage with scientific evidence. Participants will examine how legal and regulatory institutions interpret and apply climate-related scientific knowledge, with particular attention to evidentiary standards, accountability mechanisms, and climate litigation.Climate Litigation, Attribution, and Causation: the role  climate science plays in climate litigation, particularly regarding causation, standards of proof and evidentiary challenges. This topic analyses the interaction between climate science – especially attribution science – and legal systems, focusing on how scientific findings are used to establish responsibility and causation within evolving frameworks of climate governance.

This initiative is part of the Future Earth Research School (FERS), an international school entirely focused on environmental sustainability and climate change coordinated by CMCC Foundation, Advanced Training and Education Center (ATEC). FERS will offer a strategic overview on how to model our climate system and deal with future global challenges, building a fertile ground for innovation and new research pathways.