PhD Scholars - Radoslaw Stech
PhD Title
Access to justice in environmental matters in the UK
Career Experience and Qualifications
Radoslaw holds a Cert. HE from Oxford University, a BA (Hons) and a MA in Political Science (specialization in European Studies) from Poland, and an LLM (European Legal Studies) and MSc (Socio-Legal Methodology) from Cardiff. He is due to defend his PhD at the end of 2011.
Radoslaw conducted quantitative research for the Environmental Law Foundation (E.L.F.) which was published in a report with a foreword by Lord Woolf. The report (to which Professor Robert Lee and Deborah Tripley contributed) was officially presented at the House of Lords, and was subsequently cited by the Aarhus Convention’s Compliance Committee in its landmark ruling on the access to justice in the UK. Radoslaw's research was also cited by the Environmental Data Services (ENDS) Report, the Guardian, and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) magazine ‘Britain in 2011’. It is said to have influenced the European Commission which referred the UK government to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Radoslaw was a Research Assistant at the Cardiff Law School between January 2007 and July 2008. He was seconded to the European Union Committee of the Regions (CoR), where he wrote policy analyses on business and environment, and actively participated in negotiations between CoR and the European Commission.
He was a blind reviewer of a £50,000 CoR research project on sustainable development. He was also invited to review a £200,000 research proposal for the National Science Foundation, US. He is a news editor for Journal of Law and Society.
In addition to his landmark quantitative research, Radoslaw conducted qualitative inquiries: first, a comparative study on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Poland and the UK; second, a qualitative case study at a UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention, which highlighted the dynamic negotiations between the Member States, the European Union and civil society. Both pieces of research have been reviewed and published.
Radoslaw worked for ELF as a consultant on UK Equality and Human Rights Commission funding. He has also been an assisting consultant for Irvin Mitchel Solicitors and Marrons Solicitors (with dr Victoria Wass from Cardiff Business School). Currently, he is a consultant for Environmental Regulation and Information Centre and collaborates with the Institute for Eastern Studies, which annually organizes the International Economic Forum, bringing together top British and European businessmen, businesswomen, politicians and practitioners. Radoslaw possesses strong team-working skills, commercial awareness, and strong interpersonal skills. He has an excellent command of English and Polish, a good command of French and is learning Welsh, Italian and Chinese. He remains committed to ESRC knowledge exchange activities and has proven himself to be highly successful.
Current Research
Radoslaw is finishing his PhD on the ESRC 1+3 studentship
Research Interests
Environmental Policy and Regulation; EU law; Socio-legal methodology
Recent Conference Contribution
• Stech R “Access to environmental justice in England and Wales: Funding Representation for Court Reviews of Administrative Action” paper presented at the Annual Meeting, SLS, Cambridge University, (September, the 7th 2011)
• Stech R, Lee, R.G. “Access to environmental justice in England and Wales: Funding Representation for Court Reviews of Administrative Action” paper presented at the Annual Meeting, Law and Society Association, San Francisco, USA (June, the 4th 2011)
• Stech R. " NGOs’ Involvement in Developing the Aarhus Convention: A Case of a UNECE Conference" presented at the 9th Environmental Justice and Global Citizenship Conference, Mansfield College, Oxford (July, 11-13 2010)
• Stech R. "Empirical Evidence on Costs barriers to Environmental Justice in the UK", Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference 2010, Bristol Law School, UWE Bristol (March, 30 – April 1 2010)
• Stech R. "Costs Barriers to Environmental Justice", presented at Annual Welsh Law Student-Staff Conference, Gregynog, Wales (February, 26-28 2010)
• Stech R. “Access to Information in and Participation on Environmental Matters. Case Studies from Poland and the UK” presented at the Environmental Justice & Global Citizenship 2008 Conference, Mansfield College, Oxford (July, 9-12 2008)
Invited talks:
• Stech R. “Giving a presentation at an academic conference” Postgraduate Extravaganza Conference, Cardiff Law School, Cardiff (May, the 19th, 2011)
• Stech R. “Empowerment tools for disengaged communities” ELF Regional Volunteer Co-ordinator Third Training Day Sustainable Communities Project, Allen & Overy, London (October, the 15th 2009)
• Stech R. “Tools and Techniques for More Effective Participation in the Planning Process”, ELF Human Rights and Environment event, The Cameron Centre, Cameron Walk, Lockleaze, Bristol (November, the 12th 2010) (Keynote speaker – Charlotte Leslie, Member of Parliament for Bristol North West)
Publications
• Lee, R. G., Stech, R. (2011) “Access to environmental justice in England and Wales: Funding representation for court reviews of administrative action” in Van Boom, W., Steele, J. Mass Justice: Challenges of Representation and Distribution, Edward Elgar (ISBN: 1849805067)
• Stech, R, Lee, R.G. (2011) “Mediating sustainability: Constructivist approaches to sustainability research” in Blyton, P, Franklin, A. (eds.), Researching Sustainability, Earthscan (ISBN: 1849711224)
• Stech, R. (2011) “NGOs’ involvement in developing the Aarhus Convention: a case of a UNECE conference” in Cotton, M, & Motta, B.H. (eds.) Engaging with Environmental Justice. Governance, Education and Citizenship, Inter-Disciplinary Press (ISBN: 978-1-84888-062-7)
• Stech, R. (2011) “Trust in Environmental Participation” (forthcoming as a book chapter to be published by Rodopi, Amsterdam & New York in 2011/2012)
• Stech, R. (2009) “Environmental Information, Participation and Citizen Activity: Case Studies from Poland and the UK” in Vemuri, S. Connected Accountabilities: Environmental Justice and Global Citizenship, Inter-Disciplinary Press, Oxford (ISBN: 978-1-84888-014-6)
Reports and policy papers
• Stech, R (2010) ‘Human Rights and the Environment: Understanding Your Right to a Healthy Environment’ (Guide), Environmental Law Foundation, London (funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission)
•Stech, R, Lee, R.G., Tripley, D. (2010) ‘Costs Barriers to Environmental Justice’ (Report), Environmental Law Foundation, Allen & Overy, London (officially launched in the House of Lords)
• Stech, R, et. all. (2008) ‘A policy analysis on the European Commission' Proposal for the Revision of the Eco-Iabel and the EMAS (Eco Management and Audit Scheme) Regulations’ (Internal EU Policy Analysis), EU Committee of the Regions, Brussels (acknowledged)
• Stech, R, et. all. (2008) 'Green Paper on agricultural product quality: product standards, farming requirements and quality schemes' (Internal EU Policy Analysis), EU Committee of the Regions, Brussels (acknowledged)
Teaching
Radoslaw started teaching in the UK by becoming a Polish Teacher at St Edward's School, Oxford (private boarding school, 2005-2007). He is currently teaching the following undergraduate courses at Cardiff University: EU Law at the Cardiff Law School and Environmental Law at the School of Engineering, the School of City and Regional Planning, and the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences. He is also a Visiting Lecturer in EU Banking Law at City Law School, London.
Contact Details
Telephone: 02920 876562
Fax: 02920 876061
Email: stechr@cardiff.ac.uk
The ESRC Centre for Business Relationships,
Accountability,
Sustainability and Society,
Cardiff University,
55 Park Place,
Cardiff,
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