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Undisciplined Ethnobotany | Call for Workshops

Society for Ethnobotany Conference 2026 

Montpellier, France

31/05-04/06/2026


We invite you to submit a workshop proposal for the 2026 Society for Ethnobotany congress meeting, taking place in various locations across Montpellier between 31 May and 4 June 2026.

Under the title of Undisciplined Ethnobotany, the event explores ethnobotany not only as an academic field but as a living, relational practice — one that listens across species, languages, practices, and epistemologies.

Suggested topics are provided below but all workshop ideas linked to the teaching and practice of ethnobotany will be considered. Workshops are informal, interactive gatherings of people with similar interests. We welcome all creative ideas – especially those that challenge the traditional understanding of workshop format. Weather allowing, some workshops may take place outdoors in the Montpellier botanical garden. 

The general themes of this year’s congress are:
– Transdisciplinary groundings across cultural, historical and ecological contexts

– Indigenous intellectual sovereignty and decolonial research ethics

– Situated approaches to ethnopharmacology and traditional medicine

– Diversity and resilience in agroecology and food systems transformation 

– Plants as craft, design, and architecture: towards regenerative material cultures

– The role of art and aesthetics in expanding ethnobotanical imagination

– Linguistic diversity and pluriversal dimensions of knowledge exchange
– Collective stewardship and community participation towards planetary health

We are especially interested in organizers proposing novel topics on emerging themes but will also consider proposals for workshop topics like those of previous years. 

Examples of topics that were successful in the past are:
– Knowing nature: Pedagogic approaches and methods
– (Ethno-)Botanical drawing and printing
– Nature journaling
– Multisensory ethnobotany for plant identification
– Interviewing techniques
– Publishing and peer review in Economic Botany and Ethnobotany
– Engaging students & Indigenous Communities in ethnobotanical research
– Grocery store ethnobotany

We also welcome workshop proposals on the following topics :

– Transdisciplinary research in practice: a beginner's guide – Art & science collaborations for diversified impact – Communicating ethnobotany online and on social media – Establishing and curating biocultural collections – Biodesign: democratising design through naturally biodegradable, locally sourced, plant-based materials – Exploring local medicinal herbs and aromatic plants –Writing successful grant applications – Promises and pitfalls of large language models (e.g. ChatGPT) for effective research

Each proposal should include the following information (in 300 words or less):

– Why this topic is important for the SEB community – Proposed presentation title and description, including learning objectives and method of delivery – Organizers, and their relevant experience and expertise
Please, be aware that we have a limited number of slots and that we may need to make a selection of proposed workshops.
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Submission:
Please send your workshop proposal by February 1, 2026 via the form below.

Name

E-mail

Affiliation

Predicted number of attendees

Preferred workshop venue

Preferred workshop venue

Preferred workshop duration

Preferred workshop duration

Costs or materials required

Have you already secured funding to cover the above costs?

Have you already secured funding to cover the above costs?

Please upload your proposal (max 300 words) here.