Marrakech, Morocco; 15-19 May, 2024

In May 2024, we are gathering academics, activists, practitioners and visionaries from over 60 countries who are engaged with diverse communities and environments. The 18th International Society of Ethnobiology* Congress (ISE Congress 2024) juxtaposes biodiversity and cultural landscapes, evoking the intimate relationships of animals, plants and other forms of life that are embedded in environments shaped by people. The meeting will be hosted in Marrakech, nestled in a broad arc of High Atlas landscapes, which has been a crossroads of biological and cultural diversity for centuries.

The variety and variability of life known as biodiversity and the symbiosis of human activity and environment expressed in cultural landscapes are nourishing fare for global conferences. With definitions carefully negotiated for international conventions ratified by hundreds of nations – and celebrated in events such as the International Day for Biological Diversity and World Heritage Day – these contemporary concepts inspire high-profile multidisciplinary research across continents. The 18th ISE Congress provides a safe space for conventional exploration and debate of these compelling topics in oral presentations, panels and posters.

From the selection of diverse keynote speakers to the choice of a liberating un-conference format, our deeper intention is to venture beyond the prosaic to embrace the poetic. Featuring sessions that are innovative and interactive, the congress will delve into biodiversity and cultural landscapes as conceptualised and contested by decolonial, indigenous and local practitioners and scholars. Along the way, we aspire to extend meanings, challenge designations and ground perceptions in specific cultures and histories.

This inclusive and expansive approach honours the legacy and vision of the founder of the International Society of Ethnobiology, academic and activist Darrel Posey (1947 – 2001), who sought to explore biocultural diversity in all its dimensions and whose spirit remains among us.

*The International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE), founded in 1988, is a global, collaborative network of individuals and organisations working to preserve vital links between human societies and the natural world.