From 4 to 6 June 2026, Pavia hosts the 9th National Conference of the Italian Society for Research in Comparative Law (SIRD), dedicated to the theme “Property in the Third Millennium.”
Jointly organized by the IUSS School for Advanced Studies Pavia, Ghislieri College and the University of Pavia, the conference brings together leading scholars from Italy and abroad to examine how one of the foundational concepts of legal systems is being reshaped by the major economic, social, technological and environmental transformations of the twenty-first century.
The conference will take place across several venues in the city. The opening session will be held on 4 June at the Great Hall of Ghislieri College, the parallel sessions on 5 June at the University of Pavia, and the closing plenary session on 6 June at Palazzo Broletto, headquarters of the IUSS School.
The event will open with institutional addresses by Alessandro Maranesi, Rector of Ghislieri College; Alessandro Reali, Rector of the University of Pavia; Mario Lloyd Virgilio Martina, Rector of the IUSS School for Advanced Studies Pavia; Michele Madonna, Director of the Department of Law at the University of Pavia; and Barbara Pozzo, President of SIRD and Professor at the University of Insubria.
The conference aims to foster a critical reflection on property as a legal institution facing unprecedented challenges. Globalization, ecological crises, growing inequalities, cultural pluralism, digitalization and the emergence of new categories of assets are reshaping traditional understandings of ownership, its theoretical foundations and its legal regulation.
Among the topics to be discussed are intellectual property and new forms of ownership, urban planning and environmental challenges, property law beyond the Western legal tradition, ownership and control in commercial law, cultural heritage property, property rights in European courts’ jurisprudence, and shared forms of ownership and stewardship.
Particular attention will be devoted to the relationship between property rights, environmental protection and sustainable development, themes that closely align with the research interests of the IUSS School.
The opening session also coincides with the eightieth birthday of Prof. Antonio Gambaro, Fellow of the Accademia dei Lincei, Emeritus Professor at the University of Milan and one of the foremost living scholars of comparative law.
Among the speakers in the closing plenary session on 6 June will be Prof. Alberto Monti of the IUSS School, who will deliver a lecture entitled “Property and Risk.”
SIRD promotes comparative legal scholarship and international cooperation among legal scholars. It serves as the Italian National Committee of the International Academy of Comparative Law and the International Association of Legal Science and is an institutional member of the European Law Institute.