The Summer Academy is open and free of charge to passionate people who want to leave a positive mark on the world by driving implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in their sectors and organizations and helping others to understand what is needed to ensure greater respect for human rights on the part of business organisations.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? 

Participants of the Summer Academy will obtain the knowledge, skills and competences that will allow them to support the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in their respective countries, which will contribute to improvement in the respect for human rights in the context of business operations across the region. Growing number of legislation around the world requiring increased transparency on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues as well as pressure from investor and large multinationals already falling under various regulations, will increase demand not only for business professionals able to set up human rights due diligence processes but also public administration officials required to monitor and enforce the regulations as well as civil society activists that will be able to monitor and verify level of respect by companies in their operations and supply chains.

The CEE&CA Summer Academy aims:

• to raise participant awareness on the business and human rights (BHR) agenda and standards with the goal to enhance respect for human rights by business and the effective functioning of legal and non-legal remedies for human rights in cases of business caused violations;
• to provide a systematic knowledge and understanding of the impact of business on human rights, the role of the state and non-state actors in the process of the proper implementation of business and human rights standards; good practices will be provided;
• to form skills to monitor (benchmark) human rights risks in business operations;
• to raise awareness as to the process of developing National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights and other policy and legislation developments;
• to create and develop a network of BHR experts and to raise awareness of business and human rights in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Participants will also gain the opportunity to become members of the CEE&CA BHR Summer Academy Alumni Network (CEECA BHR Alumni Network) and those who obtain the Diploma – subject to their consent – will be listed as BHR Contact Points for their respective country on the CEECA BHR Resource Hub.

SUMMER ACADEMY FORMAT AND PROGRAMME

The (Full) Summer Academy will be held online via Zoom and Big Blue Button online platform and will consist of two parts:

• Core Summer Academy – 21-27 September 2022 (5 working days i.e. 21-23 September and 26-27 September with weekend break in between)
• Four webinars held between October and December 2022.

The first three days of the Summer Academy dedicated to BHR core knowledge and theory (Part I), will follow the polycentric governance system underpinning the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, i.e. respectively the division into (I) the State duty to protect human rights, (II) the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and (III) access to remedy pillars.

Knowledge gained during those days will lay the groundwork and prepare the participants for two practice-oriented days of workshop sessions and meetings with practitioners (Part II).

CERTIFICATES, DIPLOMAS & CONFERENCE

Upon completion of the Core Summer Academy, participants will be issued with a Certificate of Participation.

Those participants who also take part in a minimum three out of four webinars and write a short paper for the e-publication will be issued the Diploma of the Summer Academy. 

Finally, a minimum of three participants who write the best papers for the e-publication will be invited to present those papers at the BHR conference in spring 2023 in Poland, with the organizers covering the full flight and accommodation costs during the conference.

 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IS NOW CLOSED.