David Petrasek Memorial Forum 2021
From left to right, our speakers and our moderator: Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, John Knox, Olivia Lazard, Allan Rock and Lynda Collins.

Climate Change, Migration, Human Rights and Conflict: Vital Interdependence

David Petrasek was an esteemed professsor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa and beyond. He passed away on May 12, 2020 from cancer. This is the second annual forum organized as part of an initiative to carry his tremendous legacy forward, all with a focus on empowerment, education, connections, debate and change. Those activities are supported by the David Petrasek Legacy Fund, which was launched in June 2020.

Free and open to all

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Date and time
Nov 30, 2021
All day
Format and location
ONLINE | ZOOM Webinar
Language
Event in English
Audience
Organized by
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Our Speakers

  • Cecilia Jimenez-Damary | UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
  • John Knox | Henry C. Lauerman Professor of International Law, Wake Forest University School of Law, USA & former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment (2012-2018)
  • Olivia Lazard | Environmental Peacemaking and Mediation Practitioner, Researcher & Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Europe
  • Allan Rock | Full Professor, Common Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa; Former Canadian Minister of Justice, Ambassador to the UN and currently Advisor to the World Refugee & Migration Council

The panel will be moderated by Lynda Collins | Full Professor, Centre for Environmental Law & Global Sustainability, Common Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa.

About David Petrasek

David believed passionately in a world of universal human rights protection. And towards that essential, fundamental vision and goal, he was deeply committed to creating innovative opportunities for learning, opening up space for thoughtful debate, building partnerships and connections, crafting concrete strategies and advancing practical solutions.

Over the course of an impressive career spanning four decades, based in Ottawa, Geneva and London, David Petrasek worked for Amnesty International, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, the International Council for Human Rights Policy and Open Global Human Rights and was an instructor in the part-time LLM program at the University of Oxford. He had been an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa since 2010.

Never chasing the spotlight, David inspired, encouraged and challenged thousands of students, civil society colleagues, and UN and government officials to question, re-imagine and make change happen.

The Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) is celebrating its 40th anniversary during the academic year 2021-2022! This event is part of a diverse and rich programme developed to highlight this major milestone. #CREDP40HRREC