Harnessing the collective energy of law students

Photos: Julia Farkasch and Llana Arreza

by: Emily Nickerson, Business and Law Librarian

On February 12, UVic Libraries proudly co-sponsored the 8th annual ELC Research-a-Thon, an event organized by UVic’s Environmental Law Club in support of the Environmental Law Centre’s public interest work. The Research-a-Thon is a one-day event with a powerful goal: to harness the collective energy of law students to produce high-quality research in a short time frame, contributing to real-world environmental law issues in British Columbia.

Students gained hands-on experience with legal research while developing their skills in a collaborative, low-pressure setting. This year’s topic, The Power of Restraint: Exploring Provincial Injunctions as Legal Responses to Environmental Challenges, focused on researching injunction policies and cases across Canada. In the environmental law context, injunctions can be used to remove land defenders from sites of proposed industrial or natural resource developments—an area of increasing legal and social significance.

Law librarians were involved throughout the day, offering research help and contributing sources and strategies in advance via a research guide created for participants. The scope of the Research-A-Thon did not allow for looking at archival documents, however there were several fonds related to the topic identified by Special Collections & University Archives for continuing to deepen research in this area.

This year’s Research-a-Thon saw 28 students participate in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online attendance via Zoom. Over the lunch break—catered by Dosa Paragon—Patrick Canning delivered a talk that further enriched the day’s learning on injunctions.

The research produced at the event will contribute to the development of a reference table outlining the features of injunctions across provinces and territories. This resource will support the ELC’s ongoing clinic work, helping to inform and empower Indigenous communities, environmental organizations, and legal practitioners across Canada in their efforts to address pressing environmental challenges.