Rights and Remedies Graduation 2025
26 May 2026
Applications open for the 2026 Rights & Remedies course for activists
20 March 2026
Published: 20 March 2026
Applications close: 1 May 2026
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) is calling for nominations and applications for the 2026 edition of the Rights & Remedies (R&R) Course for Environmental Justice Activists.
R&R is CER’s flagship three-week residential training programme designed to strengthen and support community activists on the frontlines of environmental and climate justice struggles.
The course runs from 29 September to 15 October 2026 and will be hosted at Ocean Breeze Hotel & Conference Centre in Strand, Cape Town.
This year’s theme is “Law in our hands: Activist power”. South African environmental law is a powerful instrument — and it belongs to ordinary people.
This is the spirit of R&R. The law is not only for lawyers or for big courtroom battles. It is a tool for everyday victories — and it’s through those victories, repeated and built upon, that real long-term change takes root. This year, we put that power squarely in the hands of the activists who need it most.
Since 2017, more than 120 activists from communities across South Africa have come through the R&R course. They have returned to their communities with legal knowledge, stronger organisational skills, and a solidarity network of people working in the environmental justice space.
Through the intervention of the school, graduates have demonstrated greater resolve; and we have witnessed them starting their own community-based organisations that orchestrate and mobilise within their communities to advocate for environmental justice.
Some have gone on to lead campaigns, challenge corporations in court, engage government in public participation processes, and win.
This year, CER is building on previous R&R’s momentum with a curriculum that is sharper and more responsive than ever — refined through a full year of monitoring, community visits, and honest conversations with graduates about what they needed and did not always get, in order to make their activism more effective and impact based.
About Rights & Remedies
R&R is a three-week residential programme that combines legal literacy, community organising, and popular education. It is practical, participatory, and deliberately challenging. We do not just teach the law — we practise it, debate it, and apply it to real situations in participants’ own communities’ realities.
By the end of the course, participants will:
- Understand the South African Environmental Legal Framework and the remedies available to communities facing environmental violations
- Know how to write complaint and objection letters, navigate public participation processes, and use access-to-information laws
- Be equipped to facilitate community engagements, hold meetings, and engage media and government
- Have developed a Project Action Plan — a concrete plan for tackling a specific environmental issue in their community
- Be part of a growing network of more than 130 trained environmental justice activists across South Africa
The course is fully residential. CER covers accommodation, meals, and travel for all participants.
Who should apply
We are inviting nominations and applications from community-based organisations, civil society, and individuals working in the environmental and climate justice movement. We particularly encourage applications from:
- Activists from mining, pollution, or climate-affected communities
- Youth
- People from provinces and communities that are underrepresented in the movement, particularly the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Limpopo, Western Cape
- Grassroots formations who are doing environmental justice work but may not identify primarily as environmentalists, or environmental justice activists.
You do not need a law degree. You do not need to be affiliated with a formal organisation. You need to be rooted in your community, committed to the work, and ready to spend three weeks learning hard alongside others who are doing the same.
How to apply
To apply or nominate someone for the 2026 R&R course:
- Download the nomination form here : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2f699yRVih4auajOu1ELv2a-1QV7O5xmmh-aGvMuZZck7XA/viewform
- Submit completed forms to: [email protected]
Deadline: Friday, 1 May 2026
- Shortlisted candidates will be contacted directly. If you have questions about the application process or want to discuss whether this course is right for someone you have in mind, please contact the AS&T team at [email protected].
About the R&R Alumni Network
Graduating from R&R is not the end of the journey — it is the beginning of something larger. All R&R graduates are part of a growing Alumni Network of activists who continue to support each other, collaborate on campaigns, and shape the future of the programme. As the network grows, so does its power. The 2026 cohort will join a community with real reach.
https://rightsremedies.org.za/
