Corporate Responsibility and Multilevel Governance/Intensive Course (5cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Objective

The aim of the study unit is for students to understand the legal, social, and other forms of corporate responsibility and the multilevel governance of issues pertaining to corporate activities.

Execution methods

How the study unit is organized depends on the academic year: please see Implementations.

Accomplishment methods

How the study unit is organized depends on the academic year: please see Implementations.

Location and time

The tentative program is as follows:

31st March 2023
14.30 - 16.30 Finnish time
Online meeting
instructions, presentation of materials
Patrick Jacob UVSQ and Mikko Huttunen ULap

Sunday 23rd April 2023
Arrival at Rovaniemi

Monday 24th April 2023 University of Lapland

9:30 - 10 Welcoming speeches
10-12 Workshop on cross-cultural communication/ Lecturer Jörn Severidt, University of Lapland (NOTE: the workshop takes place in LS12)
12-13 Lunch
13 – 15 Sámi culture and Sámi rights in Finland /Researcher Anni-Kristiina Juuso and Senior Lecturer Markku Kiikeri

Tuesday 25th April University of Lapland

9:15- 10:45 Corporate Responsibility, French legislation and case law/ Prof. Sandrine Clavel, UVSQ
11:00 – 12:45 Corporate Responsibility, Development in the EU, Prof. Patrick Jacob, USVQ
12:45 – 13:30 Lunch break
13:30 – 14:45 Corporate responsibility in the Arctic, legislation or private governance/ Prof. Soili Nysten-Haarala, ULap

15-19 bus trip to Inari
19:00 – 20:00 dinner in Inari

Wednesday 26th April, Inari

8-9 breakfast in the hotel
9:30 – 11:30 Sajos (Sami Parliament)
12-13 lunch in Siida museum
13-15 Siida Museum
15-19 bus trip back to Rovaniemi

Thursday 27th April, University of

8-9 breakfast in the hotel
10- 12 Business and Human Rights at the Inter-American System of Human Rights: Corporate Social Responsibility and Beyond/ Prof. Rene Urueña, ULap
12-13 lunch
13–14.15 Environmental damages in a bankruptcy – recent developments toward stronger environmental protection/ Senior Lecturer Anssi Kärki ULap
14.15– 15:45 Parent company’s liability for environmental damages caused by a subsidiary/ Senior Lecturer Anssi Kärki ULap

Friday 28th April University of Lapland
9 - 14
seminars based on topics, chosen by the students
Students present their papers.

Materials

See Programmes (Opetussuunnitelmat).

Teaching methods

In spring 2023, the study unit is organized as an intensive course called Transnational Corporations, Corporate Responsibility and Indigenous Rights.

NOTE: the organization of the study unit depends on that at least 15 students from outside Ulapland participate. This mininum number does not include our basic students nor exchange students, and is not visible on the Peppi sign-up.

NOTE: the program below is subject to changes due to the availability of services such as hotels and restaurants.

Transnational Corporations, Corporate Responsibility and Indigenous Rights features a six-day long experience of lectures and on-site visits to the Finnish Lapland, exploring the legal challenges that emerge from the interaction between transnational corporate activity and indigenous rights. Organized jointly by the University of Lapland and University of Versailles (Paris Saclay), the intensive course will be taught in English by international experts, covering issues of corporate responsibility, cross-cultural communication, and indigenous rights, among others.

The course builds on the University of Versailles’ (Paris Saclay) resources on international commercial law, international law and dispute settlement, and the University of Lapland’s Faculty of Law expertise in corporate social responsibility, indigenous rights, and Arctic governance, to create a unique joint program that allows students to engage in a process of experiential learning in interaction with stakeholders in Lapland that is not available elsewhere.

Following the course, students will be able to:
1. Appraise the overall legal framework of corporate social responsibility, and some of its current challenges.
2. Identify the central legal tensions between transnational corporate activity and indigenous rights, and provide an overview of possible solutions.
3. Map relevant regulatory developments in the EU aiming to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains.
4. Recognize socio-economic challenges emerging from transnational corporate activity in areas such as Lapland, and acknowledge the viewpoint of diverse stakeholders.

The course consists of in-person lectures, workshops, and on-site visits in the Finnish Lapland. NOTE: This is a 3 ECTS course, requiring teamwork in preparation of a presentation on relevant topics, chosen by the students, in a seminar at the end of the intensive week. Extra 2 ECTS can be earned by delivering a paper on the basis of the seminar. Language of instruction and presentations is English.

The course will include a prior collaborative online learning process, including a preparatory online meeting of participants with faculty of both the University of Lapland and the University of Versailles (Paris Saclay), and an assignment of mandatory literature in preparation of the intensive week.

International connections

The intensive course is organized jointly by the University of Lapland and University of Versailles (Paris Saclay). Students from other institutions will also participate.

Completion alternatives

How the study unit is organized depends on the academic year: please see Implementations.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

1-5

Further information

The maximum number of participants from the University of Lapland, including both regular and exchange students, is 20. If the amount of students who sign up exceeds 20, the students will be chosen on the intensive course based on the following criteria (not necessarily in the given order):
-- amount of ECTS
-- stage of studies: bachelor vs master
-- fair distribution of both regular and exchange students
-- student's interest in the topic. The students are kindly asked to shortly describe their interest in the topic when signing up for this Implementation.

On expenses: basic and exchange students' expenses for the following ARE covered by the Faculty.
- Bus trips to, around and back from Inari
- Hotel accommodation in Inari in 2 person rooms
- Dinner, breakfast and lunch in Inari (water is complimentary; other beverages at the participants' expense)
- Tickets to museum and Sajos tour

All other expenses (for example accommodation and food in Rovaniemi) are to be paid by the students themselves.