dr. EC (Edwin) Alblas, LLM

I am an Assistant Professor in Environmental Law at the Law Group of Wageningen University & Research. I study how environmental law works in practice within agricultural systems, and how it can support sustainability transitions. Using socio-legal methods, I examine how legal frameworks interact with real-world farming practices and governance challenges, with a particular focus on the EU and the Netherlands.

My research focuses in particular on soils, biodiversity, pesticides, and nitrogen pollution in agricultural contexts, and is supported by an NWO Veni grant (2026–2029). A key aspect of my work is its interdisciplinary character: I regularly collaborate with life scientists, such as soil scientists and ecologists, to better understand how law operates in practice and how it can be improved.

Alongside my research, I am programme coordinator of the MSc Governance of Sustainability Transformations (MME-E), coordinate the course Transnational Environmental Law & Regulation (LAW39206), and teach widely on environmental law, both at Wageningen and internationally. I am also deputy chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) Soil & Sustainable Agriculture Law Specialist Group, and a member of the WCEL Early Career Specialist Group. In addition, I am a member of the Wageningen Young Academy and a board member of the Dutch Empirical Legal Studies Academy.

I conducted my PhD in agri-environmental law and regulation at the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin (UCD) between 2017–2021. During this time, I also served as spokesperson for Climate Case Ireland and volunteered with an agri-environmental cooperative in the Netherlands. I subsequently held a postdoctoral position in environmental democracy at the University of Groningen. I hold degrees from Tilburg University (BA, LLM) and KU Leuven (LLM).

I can be reached via edwin.alblas@wur.nl.

My research output can be accessed via: https://research.wur.nl/en/persons/edwin-alblas

• IUCN (16-6-2025/31-12-2099)
  The IUCN WCEL Soil and Sustainable Agriculture Law Specialist Group focuses expertise around the world on the development of legal guidelines and explanatory material with special attention to the ecological function of soil, the prevention of desertification, and the role of sustainable agriculture systems for the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of human life.
• Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) (1-1-2026/31-12-2099)
  Support development of policy brief on Soils, Pollution & One Health