Immersive International Program on Climate Change Governance
Organized by IDP – Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa, Maastricht University, and University College London
Organizer
International Partners
Location
Brasília, Brazil (in person)
Field Trip: Manaus, Amazonas
Overview
The accelerating impacts of climate change have prompted unprecedented demands on global governance systems. Understanding the complex interplay between international law, political institutions, and economic frameworks is essential for crafting effective responses to the climate crisis.
The course offers a multidisciplinary and practice-oriented approach to the global climate governance agenda. Designed for postgraduate students, professionals, and policy practitioners, the course bridges theory and field-based learning, engaging leading scholars and decision-makers from Brazil and abroad.
All classes will be conducted exclusively in English.
Objectives
To examine the institutional frameworks and policy instruments at the international and national levels for climate governance.
To assess the socio-economic effects of climate change and evaluate integrated solutions, such as the circular economy and sustainable infrastructure.
Course Topics
What is Climate Governance?
Conceptual foundations and emerging paradigms in global environmental governance.
Sustainable Infrastructure: Planning and Development
Integrating sustainability into infrastructure investment and regional development strategies.
Social and Economic Effects of Climate Change
Climate-induced inequalities, migration, and development challenges.
Circular Economy Transition for Future Sustainability
Models and practices for reducing environmental impact and fostering sustainable production systems.
Environmental Impact and Risk Management
Political and policy challenges in assessing and mitigating environmental risks.
International Institutional Architecture for Climate Change
Legal, political, and business perspectives on multilateral climate frameworks and transnational governance mechanisms.
Field Trip
- Official reception by the Brazilian Navy Command of the North, focusing on maritime security and environmental protection.
- Day trip to the Amazon River and the Rainforest, highlighting biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- Seminar with representatives of the Amazonas State Government on regional climate governance.
- Dialogue with civil society organizations, including leading environmental institutes.
- Visit to local “comunidades ribeirinhas”, learning from traditional knowledge and adaptation practices.
Expected Outcomes
- A robust theoretical and practical understanding of climate governance;
- Firsthand experience of climate challenges and solutions in one of the world’s most important ecosystems;
- A network of international scholars, practitioners, and policymakers committed to sustainability and climate justice.
Dates
The classes will take place over two weeks:
(Applications will be reviewed on a weekly basis. Candidates will be notified of the outcome by email every Monday until all available places have been filled)
(Lectures, institutional visits, and policy dialogues)
(Amazon Field Immersion)
Registration Includes
As stated in the official call, the registration includes accommodation in Manaus throughout the program period, as well as domestic round-trip flights.
Accommodation in Brasília
For your convenience, we have selected a few hotel options in Brasília:
Kubitschek Plaza Hotel - Setor Hoteleiro Norte Quadra 2, Bloco E, Brasília.
Windsor Brasília Hotel - SHN, Quadra 1, Conjunto A, Bloco A, Asa Norte, Brasília.
Tryp by Wyndham Brasília Nações - SHS Quadra 4, Bloco I, S/N, Asa Sul, Brasília.
About IDP
5000+ students
in undergrad and graduate programs
3 Campi
Asa Norte, Asa Sul (Brasília)
Faria Lima (São Paulo)
2 Cities
Brasília and São Paulo
4 Continents
Partners around the world
Faculty
André Nunes Chaib
He has also served as a work package leader in the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Making Agricultural Trade Sustainable (MATS) and as a senior researcher in a WHO-supported scoping review on the health of Indigenous Peoples. He recently received a grant from the Maastricht University Faculty of Law to complete the project “Law and Various Natures: Redesigning the World for the Climate Crisis.” He has been part of the organizing committees of major academic events, including the Decolonial Property Law Workshop, the Spring School on Decolonial Comparative Law, events of the Max Planck Institute for Private International Law in Brazil (Brasília and Salvador), and the II Law and the Amazon Conference (Belém-PA), co-organized with the Max Planck Latin American Forum.
Marijn van der Sluis
Marijn van der Sluis is an Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at Maastricht University. His research focuses on the economic dimensions of constitutional law, particularly the law of the euro and the European Central Bank, European and national climate law, and the relationship between Dutch constitutional law and EU law.
He obtained his PhD in 2017 from the European University Institute (EUI), where he wrote a dissertation on the role of constitutional law in European monetary integration. Before joining Maastricht University in 2020, he worked as an Assistant Professor of EU law at Erasmus School of Law (Rotterdam, the Netherlands).
Paulo Castro
Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Brasília. Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Comparative Studies of the Americas from the same institution. His research focuses on the limits of the legitimacy of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court and on the electoral spending strategies of mayoral candidates in Brazil. He has experience in the fields of political analysis, elections, public policy, and judicial studies.
He served as a public policy consultant at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), at the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, and at the Ministry of Justice, where he also worked as General Coordinator at the National Consumer Secretariat. Between 2017 and 2018, he was a Research Fellow at American University under the PDSE/CAPES scholarship program.
From 2019 to 2025, he coordinated the Professional Master’s and Doctoral programs in Public Administration at the Brazilian Institute of Education, Development and Research (IDP). He currently coordinates the Graduate Program in Political Science and International Relations at IDP and serves as the institution’s Coordinator for International Cooperation. Since 2022, he has also been a visiting professor at the Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ISCSP/ULisboa).
Karin Kässmayer
Her doctoral thesis, titled “City, Risks and Urban Socio-Environmental Conflicts: Challenges for Legal Regulation from a Socio-Environmental Justice Perspective,” was awarded distinction and received the ANPPAS Best Doctoral Thesis Award in 2010.
From 2005 to 2014, she was a professor at Centro Universitário UniFAE. In 2010, she ranked first in the public competition for Professor of Environmental Law at UFPR, where she taught until 2014. She currently works as an environmental lawyer and legal consultant. Since June 2014, she has served as a Legislative Consultant to the Brazilian Federal Senate in the field of Environmental Law and is also a professor in the Professional Master’s Program at IDP (Brasília). She is a member of the Environmental Law Commission of the Paraná Bar Association (OAB/PR).
Mariana Barbosa Cirne
Mariana Barbosa Cirne is a professor in the Stricto Sensu Graduate Program in Constitutional Law at IDP. She is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (GRI) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She holds a Master’s and a PhD in Law, State and Constitution from the University of Brasília (UnB).
She teaches Constitutional Law, Environmental Law, Research Methods, and Collective and Diffuse Rights at the University Center of Brasília (CEUB). She holds a law degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), as well as specializations in Constitutional Law (UNP) and Civil Procedure (IDP).
She currently serves as a Federal Attorney at the Office of the Attorney General of the Union (AGU). She is a member of the Brazilian Association of Environmental Law Professors and coordinates the Research Group on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. She is also a professor in the Professional Master’s Program in Law and Public Advocacy at the AGU School and a member of the Research Laboratory on Data and Methodologies in Public Advocacy.
She leads the Climate, Argumentation and Separation of Powers research group (CASP) and the project “Socio-Environmental Emergencies in Brazil,” which examines the interconnections between climate change, disasters, collective rights, and structural litigation. Her research focuses on social participation, separation of powers, legal argumentation, transparency, the Forest Code, and climate change.
She has held positions such as Coordinator of the Legal Studies Center of the Presidency of the Republic, Chief Attorney of IBAMA, and Head of the National Climate and Environment Legal Office.
Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho
He joined King’s College London in 2014. Prior to that, he was Associate Professor of Brazilian Studies at Aarhus University (Denmark) from 2008 to 2014, where he also served as Director of the Latin American Centre (2012–2014). He served as a Lieutenant in the Brazilian Army (2007–2008), within the Military Technical Corps.
At King’s, he has served as Vice Dean (International) for the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy and as Director of the King’s Brazil Institute (2020–2022). In the Department of War Studies, he convenes the MA in Strategic Communications and teaches undergraduate modules on Latin American issues.
He is currently the Coordinator of the Circle U. Academic Chair Programme. He has made significant contributions to Brazilian Studies, founding and editing Brasiliana – Journal for Brazilian Studies and serving as editor of the Anthem Brazilian Studies Series.
In 2022, he founded the King’s Observatory of Democracy in Latin America (KODLA). He is also an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Strategic Studies of the Brazilian Navy. In parallel to his academic career, he is a music conductor and currently directs the King’s Brazil Ensemble.
Eleonora Natale
Dr Eleonora Natale is a Lecturer in Environmental Security at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. An expert on the militarisation of Latin American politics, her research focuses on the environmental, defence, and civil-military relations dimensions of this phenomenon. Dr Natale has conducted extensive ethnographic research in Argentina and Brazil, and she is currently exploring the military’s role in public and environmental policy, particularly in the Amazon region.
Dr Natale was a Visiting Researcher at both the Brazilian Army Command and General Staff College (2023) and the Superior War College (2022) in Rio de Janeiro. Her doctoral research, completed at Keele University, explored the experiences of military families during Argentina’s last dictatorship (1976–83), focusing on their involvement in political violence and transitional justice. Prior to joining King’s College London, she held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín in Buenos Aires, where she investigated Argentina’s involvement in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War.
André Nunes Chaib
He has also served as a work package leader in the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Making Agricultural Trade Sustainable (MATS) and as a senior researcher in a WHO-supported scoping review on the health of Indigenous Peoples. He recently received a grant from the Maastricht University Faculty of Law to complete the project “Law and Various Natures: Redesigning the World for the Climate Crisis.” He has been part of the organizing committees of major academic events, including the Decolonial Property Law Workshop, the Spring School on Decolonial Comparative Law, events of the Max Planck Institute for Private International Law in Brazil (Brasília and Salvador), and the II Law and the Amazon Conference (Belém-PA), co-organized with the Max Planck Latin American Forum.
Marijn van der Sluis
Marijn van der Sluis is an Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at Maastricht University. His research focuses on the economic dimensions of constitutional law, particularly the law of the euro and the European Central Bank, European and national climate law, and the relationship between Dutch constitutional law and EU law.
He obtained his PhD in 2017 from the European University Institute (EUI), where he wrote a dissertation on the role of constitutional law in European monetary integration. Before joining Maastricht University in 2020, he worked as an Assistant Professor of EU law at Erasmus School of Law (Rotterdam, the Netherlands).
Paulo Castro
Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Brasília. Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Comparative Studies of the Americas from the same institution. His research focuses on the limits of the legitimacy of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court and on the electoral spending strategies of mayoral candidates in Brazil. He has experience in the fields of political analysis, elections, public policy, and judicial studies.
He served as a public policy consultant at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), at the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, and at the Ministry of Justice, where he also worked as General Coordinator at the National Consumer Secretariat. Between 2017 and 2018, he was a Research Fellow at American University under the PDSE/CAPES scholarship program.
From 2019 to 2025, he coordinated the Professional Master’s and Doctoral programs in Public Administration at the Brazilian Institute of Education, Development and Research (IDP). He currently coordinates the Graduate Program in Political Science and International Relations at IDP and serves as the institution’s Coordinator for International Cooperation. Since 2022, he has also been a visiting professor at the Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ISCSP/ULisboa).
Karin Kässmayer
Her doctoral thesis, titled “City, Risks and Urban Socio-Environmental Conflicts: Challenges for Legal Regulation from a Socio-Environmental Justice Perspective,” was awarded distinction and received the ANPPAS Best Doctoral Thesis Award in 2010.
From 2005 to 2014, she was a professor at Centro Universitário UniFAE. In 2010, she ranked first in the public competition for Professor of Environmental Law at UFPR, where she taught until 2014. She currently works as an environmental lawyer and legal consultant. Since June 2014, she has served as a Legislative Consultant to the Brazilian Federal Senate in the field of Environmental Law and is also a professor in the Professional Master’s Program at IDP (Brasília). She is a member of the Environmental Law Commission of the Paraná Bar Association (OAB/PR).
Mariana Barbosa Cirne
Mariana Barbosa Cirne is a professor in the Stricto Sensu Graduate Program in Constitutional Law at IDP. She is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (GRI) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She holds a Master’s and a PhD in Law, State and Constitution from the University of Brasília (UnB).
She teaches Constitutional Law, Environmental Law, Research Methods, and Collective and Diffuse Rights at the University Center of Brasília (CEUB). She holds a law degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), as well as specializations in Constitutional Law (UNP) and Civil Procedure (IDP).
She currently serves as a Federal Attorney at the Office of the Attorney General of the Union (AGU). She is a member of the Brazilian Association of Environmental Law Professors and coordinates the Research Group on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. She is also a professor in the Professional Master’s Program in Law and Public Advocacy at the AGU School and a member of the Research Laboratory on Data and Methodologies in Public Advocacy.
She leads the Climate, Argumentation and Separation of Powers research group (CASP) and the project “Socio-Environmental Emergencies in Brazil,” which examines the interconnections between climate change, disasters, collective rights, and structural litigation. Her research focuses on social participation, separation of powers, legal argumentation, transparency, the Forest Code, and climate change.
She has held positions such as Coordinator of the Legal Studies Center of the Presidency of the Republic, Chief Attorney of IBAMA, and Head of the National Climate and Environment Legal Office.
Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho
Dr. Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho was born in Barra Mansa, Brazil. He received his PhD from the University of Passau (Germany) and his undergraduate and Master’s degrees from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (Brazil).
He joined King’s College London in 2014. Prior to that, he was Associate Professor of Brazilian Studies at Aarhus University (Denmark) from 2008 to 2014, where he also served as Director of the Latin American Centre (2012–2014). He served as a Lieutenant in the Brazilian Army (2007–2008), within the Military Technical Corps.
At King’s, he has served as Vice Dean (International) for the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy and as Director of the King’s Brazil Institute (2020–2022). In the Department of War Studies, he convenes the MA in Strategic Communications and teaches undergraduate modules on Latin American issues.
He is currently the Coordinator of the Circle U. Academic Chair Programme. He has made significant contributions to Brazilian Studies, founding and editing Brasiliana – Journal for Brazilian Studies and serving as editor of the Anthem Brazilian Studies Series.
In 2022, he founded the King’s Observatory of Democracy in Latin America (KODLA). He is also an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Strategic Studies of the Brazilian Navy. In parallel to his academic career, he is a music conductor and currently directs the King’s Brazil Ensemble.
Eleonora Natale
Dr Eleonora Natale is a Lecturer in Environmental Security at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. An expert on the militarisation of Latin American politics, her research focuses on the environmental, defence, and civil-military relations dimensions of this phenomenon. Dr Natale has conducted extensive ethnographic research in Argentina and Brazil, and she is currently exploring the military’s role in public and environmental policy, particularly in the Amazon region.
Dr Natale was a Visiting Researcher at both the Brazilian Army Command and General Staff College (2023) and the Superior War College (2022) in Rio de Janeiro. Her doctoral research, completed at Keele University, explored the experiences of military families during Argentina’s last dictatorship (1976–83), focusing on their involvement in political violence and transitional justice. Prior to joining King’s College London, she held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín in Buenos Aires, where she investigated Argentina’s involvement in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War.