Project summary

The “Litigating & Legislating for Animal Rights” Seminar Series, organised by the International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE), provides a platform for in-depth discussion and dissemination of knowledge on the intersection of animal rights advocacy, strategic litigation, and legislative reform. This seminar series aims to bring together legal experts, practitioners, and academics to share their insights, experiences, and strategies for advancing animal rights through litigation and legislative reform with an online and global audience.

The seminar will be held monthly throughout 2025. It will consist of a discussion with a guest lasting approximately 60 minutes, followed by questions from the audience. A live illustrator will create a poster of the guest's contribution. The recording will be available on ICARE's YouTube channel, and a transcript of the event will be uploaded to the organisation's website.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

Project Goals:

1. Educational Outreach: To educate the public, legal professionals, and animal rights advocates about the role of strategic litigation and legislative reform in advancing animal rights.

2. Knowledge Sharing: To create a forum for sharing best practices, case studies, and innovative approaches in the field of animal rights law.

3. Networking and Collaboration: To foster networking opportunities and collaborations among participants, speakers, and organisations dedicated to protecting and advocating for animal rights.

4. Advocacy and Awareness: To raise awareness about the importance of animal rights and the potential for legal action and legislative mechanisms to effect change.

5. Resource Development: To develop a repository of recorded and transcripted seminars, along with posters, that can serve as an ongoing resource for education and advocacy in the field of animal rights.

Objectives:

• Develop and deliver 12 live-streamed seminars on strategic litigation and legislative reform for animal rights.

• Publish the seminar's transcripts on ICARE's website and the recordings of each seminar on ICARE's YouTube channel.

• Establish a network of at least 50 registered participants who regularly attend and engage with the seminar series.

• Achieve an average attendance of 100 live viewers per seminar and a total of 1,200 replay views on YouTube across all seminars.

Timeline by Quarters to Achieve these Goals:

-- Quarter 1 (Months 1-3: Sept-Nov 2024): Planning and Coordination
==> Activities: Identify and invite 12 speakers; Recruit the seminar interviewer; Set up a Zoom Pro account and YouTube channel; Conduct technical training; Develop marketing strategy and promotional materials; Create a detailed agenda for the seminars.

-- Quarter 2 (Months 4-6: Dec-Fev 2024/2025): Launch
==> Activities: Begin promotional campaigns on social media and newsletters; Open registration for the seminars; Host the first seminars; Record, edit, and publish seminars on YouTube as well as transcripts on the website; Collect feedback and conduct the first review.

-- Quarter 3 (Months 7-9: Mar-May 2025): Implementation
==> Activities: Host seminars monthly; Record, edit, and publish seminars on YouTube and transcripts on the website; Collect and analyse feedback.

-- Quarter 4 (Months 10-12 (Jun-Aug 2025): Mid-term Review
==> Activities: Host seminars monthly; Record, edit, and publish seminars on YouTube and transcripts on the website; Conduct mid-term review, assess progress and adjust based on monitoring, engagement metrics, and feedback collected.

-- Quarter 5 (Sep-Dec 2025): Project Completion, Evaluation and Reporting
==> Activities: Host seminars monthly; Record, edit, and publish seminars on YouTube and transcripts on the website; Complete the online repository of seminars, consisting of recorded seminars, transcripts, and illustrations; Conduct a project evaluation, including feedback from stakeholders; Draft the final project report and publish it.

How will this funding be used?

• Speakers: 12 speakers x 50€ (55,16$) x 1 hour = 600€ (661,89$)

• Interviewer: 12 seminars x 40€ (44,13$) x 1 hour = 480€ 529,51$

• Live Illustrator: 12 live illustrations x 50€ (55,16$) x 1 hour = 600€ (661,89$)

• Recording and Editing Services: 25€ (27,58$) per seminar x 12 seminars = 300€ (330,94$)

• Coordinator: 25€ (27,58$) per seminar x 12 seminars = 300€ (330,94$)

• Promotion: 25€ (27,58$) per seminar x 12 seminars = 300€ (330,94$)

• Zoom Pro Subscription: 149.90€/year (165,36$)

==> Total Project Costs without Equipment: 2729.90€ / 3,011.49$

• Equipment: one-time cost of 250€ (301.20$) (if needed)

==> Total Project Costs with Equipment: 2979.90€ (3287.28$)

• Contingency: 10% of the project costs: 297.99€ (328.73$)

==> Total Budget: 3277.89€ (3,616.00$)

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

Marine Lercier is the founder and director of the International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE). During the past years, I have organised several in-person and online academic and scientific events, conferences, seminars, and symposia, regularly gathering hundreds and up to thousands of live participants and viewers on YouTube, including at the Global Research Network Think Tank on Animals and Biodiversity.
I have experience in planning, coordinating and hosting live seminars and managing projects with academics and experts from the initial phase through their implementation, monitoring, review, evaluation and reporting. I have acquired experience in fundraising and accounting as the founder and director of ICARE, and also as the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Financial Manager of the newly established open-access Journal of Animal Rights Law, where I am also in charge of the organisation of conferences and symposia. I have experience in promoting academic events and my online presentations usually gather a fair amount of participants and viewers.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

There has been no other funding so far for this specific project. However, I received a Pollination Project grant to support the animal rights law course we are launching in January 2025 at ICARE.