Leuphana
Law Lab
for Sustainability Transformation
What we do:
As the Law Lab at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, we are working to integrate legal design into university education and to open up new, creative approaches to law for students.
What we want:
We want to make the law accessible and understandable to everyone. To that end, we invite you to rethink the law as a force for shaping a just and sustainable future. The law should thus be used as a lever for transformation.
The way we work:
Law as a lever for transformation
We explore the potential of the legal system, which permeates our entire society, to drive positive change through legal design.
Exploring new Design Spaces
We explore creative approaches to how existing law can be used and interpreted to bring about greater justice.
Transdisciplinary and Co-Creative Work
We collaborate with various academic disciplines and non-academic perspectives to find solutions through this exchange that prioritize practical action.
Classes & Practical Projects
Summer Semester
2026
Regenerative Law
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How can law not only limit harm but also actively contribute to the renewal and development of ecological and social systems? In the summer semester of 2026, the concept of regenerative law was the central focus. The starting point was the observation that existing legal systems are often geared towards stabilization and damage control, while the challenges of our time demand more profound, renewal-oriented approaches.
In the LawLab, students explored how legal frameworks can be designed to enable regeneration: from resilient ecosystems to sustainable social structures. Law was understood as a malleable system that can promote viability.
Winter Semester
2025
Artificial Intelligence and Law
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How is artificial intelligence changing access to justice? And who is actually shaping this change? In the winter semester of 2025/26, the LawLab explored the impact of AI and legal tech on legal processes. The focus was on how technological developments are shifting power dynamics, access to justice, and perceptions of fairness within the legal system.
Students analyzed and developed approaches for using AI as a tool for more accessible and effective legal design. It became clear that technology alone is not enough. The crucial factor is how it is designed and embedded within legal and societal contexts.
Summer Semester
2025
Ecological Sustainability & Law
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How can law act as a lever for addressing societal challenges such as climate change, social inequality, or biodiversity loss?
Through dialogue and collaboration with practitioners, students developed transformative solutions by engaging with the discipline and practice of transformative legal design.
Winter Semester
2024
Series: Transformative Legal Design
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How is law created? And what possibilities exist for shaping it differently?
As the inaugural event of the LawLab in the winter semester of 2024/25, the discipline of transformative legal design was introduced into the curriculum for the first time. Students explored the limitations of existing legal structures and identified opportunities for shaping a more accessible and effective practice. The focus was on developing a fundamental understanding that law is not given, but rather is shaped—and therefore remains subject to change. This semester laid the foundation for all subsequent work in the LawLab: a shared understanding of law as a malleable, socially embedded system.
Practice Partners
