Master in Law and Sustainable Development

The LL.M. in Law and Sustainable Development, entirely taught in English, aims at educating professionals capable of using their advanced legal knowledge and skills, integrated with an understanding of the underlying socio-economic issues, to further the realization of the SDGs in the activities of public and private organizations, at the international, national, and local level.

The programme provides students with an advanced understanding of contemporary legal and socio-economic dynamics, characterised by interdependence, increasing complexity, rapid evolution, and integration between different fields of knowledge, as well as by a pluralist legal landscape, in which the traditional boundaries between levels (international, supranational, and domestic) and sources (public/private) of regulation are blurring.

In this context, students will develop an advanced understanding of the theoretical foundations of sustainability processes and the ethical implications of the choices made in this field by policy-makers and regulators, as well as by economic and social actors. They will also acquire an in-depth knowledge of the international and European legal framework applicable to the design and implementation of sustainability policies by international and supranational organisations, national and local public authorities, corporations (both in the domestic and transnational dimension), and organisations of the civil society (including NGOs).

Students will be educated and trained for the following professional profiles:

1) Legal expert in SD for the public institutions (Public Administration, supranational and international institutions).

Job function: The course aims at training professionals capable of developing and implementing public policies in the field of sustainable development, declined it in its threefold, economic, social and environmental, dimensions. Graduates are assigned functions of high responsibility and organisational, management and control tasks, with particular reference to legal profiles related to sustainability, within Public Administrations, independent authorities and national agencies, as well as within organizations and agencies supranational (such as those established within the European Union) and international.

Job skills: The legal skills, also of a comparative and international nature, concerning the discipline of sustainability and the knowledge of the main tools of the social sciences, economics and management disciplines, provide the graduate with a holistic approach useful for identifying the most effective strategies for promote and implement sustainable development. As legal expert in sustainable development, graduates are able to develop, guide and evaluate the policies adopted by public, national, supranational and international institutions. In particular, he preparation offered by the course finds application, in the public procurement sector, where the jurist expert in sustainable development is able to manage the partnership between the public and private sectors. Furthermore, the course intends to create new expert, to be employed in regional and local administrations, which can contribute to the sustainable development of the urban environment and its improvement, proposing legal solutions to the phenomenon of growing global urbanization. The course prepares graduates to use the aforementioned skills in public institutions by using the English language fluently, in written and oral form.

Job opportunities: The legal expert in SD for public institutions can find an adequate professional position, after passing any competition tests where applicable, within the territorial administrations (state, regional and local), public bodies, publicly-owned companies, as well as within the organizational structure of independent authorities and administrations operating, for example, in the sectors of the environment, cultural heritage and immigration. In addition to addressing the traditional actors operating in the panorama of international development cooperation, primarily international organizations, the course intends to respond to the request for new professional skills that can be employed in the public sector, able to grasp every relevant legal and economic aspect in the implementation of sustainable development.

2) Legal expert in SD for business (sustainability managers in enterprises, national and multi-national corporations).

Job function: Graduates of the course are able to carry out professional consultancy and research activities in private companies as an expert in sustainable development, with particular regard to the relevant legal issues in the field. It is not only a question of supporting the participation of private companies in development projects, but also of encouraging, improving and supporting company strategies which integrate social and ecological concerns in business operations of enterprises and in their relations with stakeholders.

Job skills: Economic, sustainable and inclusive growth requires specific professional figures who know how to manage the legal aspects connected to sustainability in the corporate context, also in an international dimension, with particular reference to the issues of 'corporate social responsibility'. In companies, graduates are trained to cover the role of 'sustainability' area manager, a figure capable of working across the board with all the company sectors involved, interacting proactively with internal stakeholders and external to the company, interpreting and tackling the challenges associated with the social, environmental and economic sustainability of production.

Job opportunities: The course contributes to the training of new business lawyers and sustainable development experts capable, with their behaviour, of overcoming the logic of mere profit maximisation. In addition to the legal, commercial, administrative and communication offices of companies, the expert in sustainable development can also find an adequate placement in trade union and professional organizations, including international ones.

3) Legal expert in SD in consulting (consultancy-firms and law-firms).

Job function: Graduates specializing in the legal aspects of sustainable development will find opportunities in the professional and consultancy sector. The course prepares graduates to perform consultancy or support functions for professionals, conducting research and preparing reports in relation to applicable legislation, in particular, in the field of human rights and the environment.

Job skills: The course provides graduates with advanced legal skills in the field of contracts relating to economic, social and environmental standards that promote sustainable development, in the field of intellectual property, privacy protection, access to funds for research and innovation.

Job opportunities: The skills imparted by the course allow graduates to carry out research and consultancy activities in law and consultancy firms, as a legal operator specialized in sustainability issues and legislation elaborated at a national level (also of foreign legal systems), European and international.

4) Legal expert in SD for the third sector (non-profit organizations, NGOs, think-tanks, research institutes).

Job function: The course aims to train jurists who can operate in non-profit organizations (including ONLUS, NGOs, associations and social cooperatives), established at local, national, European and international level, as well as in public and private research institutions, in particular, with development cooperation and environmental and human rights protection. Graduates will carry out legal consultancy functions, with particular reference to activities aimed at influencing public policies and strategies of large multinational companies and to undertake targeted legal actions. Graduates are also trained to carry out scientific research, fundraising activities (also as regards Euro-planning), as well as organizational, management and control tasks, such as the preparation and monitoring of projects, including development and cooperation established in Italy or abroad.

Job skills: Thanks to the skills acquired in the path offered by the course, graduates are able to conduct legal research and prepare reports in relation to applicable legislation, among others, in the field of human rights and the environment. The skills imparted by the course allow graduates to participate in international negotiation activities, with particular regard to environmental and human rights issues, and to conduct advocacy and strategic litigation activities. Graduates also have the skills to interact with local communities by intercepting their needs, expectations and capabilities, in order to promote virtuous policies that aim to achieve sustainable development.

Job opportunities: That legal expert can find his or her professional position within non-profit organizations, including ONLUS, NGOs established at local, national, European and international level, within associations and social cooperatives, as well as in public and private research institutes, in think-tanks, as well as in associations that carry out 'advocacy' and 'strategic litigation' activities.

The University of Milan is a public teaching and research university, which - with 8 faculties and 2 schools and a teaching staff of more than 2000 professors - is distinguished by its wide variety of disciplinary fields. A leading institute in Italy and Europe for scientific productivity, the University of Milan is the largest university in the region, with approximately 64,000 students; it is also an important resource for the socio-economic context of which it is a part. Milan is, in fact, the capital of Lombardy, one of the most dynamic and international regions in the European Union, a leader in the national economy that stands at the Italian forefront of research and development investments and commitment to technological innovation.

The University of Milan also possesses a remarkable artistic and cultural heritage that includes important historic buildings, inherited and acquired collections, archives, botanical gardens and the old Brera Observatory commissioned by Maria Teresa of Austria. The University’s departments are housed in important historic edifices in the center of Milan and in modern buildings in the area known as Città Studi (the City of Studies). Among the palazzos that house the University’s facilities are the old Ca' Granda (the big house) – a monumental complex from the 15th-century in the heart of the historical city centre - the 18th-century Palazzo Greppi designed by Giuseppe Piermarini – who built the Scala Theatre in Milan – and the 17th-century Sant’Alessandro College commissioned by the Arcimboldi family. The book collection , which is one of the richest in the region, is preserved in 47 libraries, while the APICE Centre collects rare and valuable book stocks and archives. The University also has a Choir and its own Orchestra, which actively contributes to the cultural life of the city and receives international acknowledgments on an increasingly frequent basis.