Toward a New Way of Being with Plants
Learn. Share. Connect.
June 17 - 18, 2021 @ 12:45 - 5:00 pm CDT (US)
Online Conference
Free registration
Toward a New Way of Being with Plants
This free two-day online event explored human/plant connections, including ethics in human treatment of plants, plant sentience and communication, and opportunities for developing more respectful and reciprocal relationships between humans and plants.
The goals of this conference were to:
inspire people to change the ways in which they think about, interact with, and utilize plants so that their actions will be more respectful toward and collaborative with plants
advance the perspective that plants are much more complex, sentient, and intelligent than is commonly acknowledged
provide a forum for Indigenous and other perspectives that promote more respectful ways of relating with plants
help to connect people who are interested in working for more respectful treatment of plants
encourage and support the development of a network seeking to increase respectful treatment of plants that will continue after the event
inspire and encourage scholarly emphasis on plant-human relationships
Post-conference note:
The Plant Initiative, one of the conference sponsors, is continuing the event’s work to increase respectful treatment of plants and to support development of an effective movement toward this goal.
Most of the conference presentations were recorded and are available for viewing online after the event.
The conference was held on the Whova platform using Zoom to facilitate attendee participation and involvement.
Why attend Toward a New Way of Being with Plants?
Recent scientific findings have demonstrated that plants are aware and intelligent beings. Yet, plants typically continue to be treated as mere objects in agriculture and horticulture, industry, and research. While there is a growing and influential movement working to improve and transform ways of relating to animals, there is not yet such a movement for plants.
Toward a New Way of Being with Plants provides a forum for learning, discussion, and interaction to advance the status and treatment of plants. The conference will reach and connect a diverse, international audience, with the goal that these networks and collaborations will continue after the event. Scholars from the humanities, social sciences, and biological sciences will participate as speakers. Everyone with interest in new ways of being with plants is welcome to attend.
Artwork courtesy of Zachari Logan. Detail image of a portion of Esta Selva Selvaggia, No. 2, pastel on black paper, 47 x 94 inches, 2019.
Land Acknowledgment
The conference committee offers gratitude to the Earth for its support of all deeply interrelated life. We acknowledge Miní Sóta Makhóche – the original homelands of the Dakhóta Oyáte, the land that the University of Minnesota (UMN) is located on, and the land from which the conference is being hosted.
We invite conference participants to think of your connection to the land(s) you are associated with, the original inhabitants of those lands, the destructive colonial legacy that continues to impact Indigenous peoples, land, water, and nonhumans, and the resilience of all beings.
We join with UMN’s Department of American Indian Studies in their call to remember the sacredness of the breath of the waters and land of Miní Sóta Makhóčhe, everywhere on Earth, and in all our relations.
Photo of Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Minnehaha Park by Lucas Ludwig on Unsplash