18th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology

In this section you will find listed additional activities proposed as part of the Congress, such as:
- Special sessions taking place outside of the Cadi Ayyad University and with limited capacity (i.e. pre-registration required);
- Field trips organised by our partner organisers Global Diversity Foundation & Moroccan Biodiversity & Livelihood Association;
- The Gathering Dinner and Party.

This section will be updated regularly as programmes get confirmed.
Information on parallel events and suggested activities are also available on the ISE Congress 2024 website.

NB - How to book Special Events:
1) make sure to be logged into this platform with your participant account-in into;
2) go in the "fees & additional bookings" section and click "register now";
3) under the summary status of your registration, you will find a link allowing to "add items" to your additional services. Select any you want to book and proceed to check-out.

SPECIAL EVENTS: GATHERING DINNER & PARTY

FRI 17 May, 8 pm - 1 am
Location: DaDa (Jemaa el Fna square - medina)

The ISE Congress 2024 Organising Committee is happy to invite you to join a collective meal and festive gathering starting at 8 pm at DaDa, a multipurpose venue located in the Jemaa El Fna square, the very heart of the medina of Marrakech.
The evening's programme offers:

8 - 10 pm: Buffet dinner* designed by DaDa's chefs, offering multiple tastings of typical Moroccan cuisine revisited with a contemporary and innovative twist hosted on the roof-top terrasse of DaDa overlooking the Jemaa el Fna square;

Cultural activities co-curated with the Harvest Festival (Global Diversity Foundation initiative):

10 - 11 pm: Performance by Studio Noujoum;
11 pm - 1 am: DJ set by DJ Guedra Guedra;
8 pm - 1 am: Running throughout the evening, an installation of short video artworks.

Price for dinner, performances & DJ set: 50 EUR

NB: The menu, available here, includes both vegan and gluten-free options.
The price includes water and a welcome drink served between 8 and 8:20 pm.
Alcoholic drinks can be purchased independently at the bar.

BOOK YOUR SEAT:
Book your seat for the dinner event by 3 May 2024 at the latest on the Congress platform.

NBB: If you wish to join us after dinner, limited tickets are NOW AVAILABLE for the 10pm - 1am programme.

Price for performances & DJ set entry: 12 EUR

Get the vibe at DaDa here.

SPECIAL EVENTS: FIELD TRIPS

SAT 18 May, 9 am - 5:30 pm
OUKAIMEDEN'S FIELD TRIP with MBLA 
GENERAL INFORMATION: 
This field trip is a day-long activity scheduled for Saturday 18 May, 9AM - 5:30PM.
Working hand in hand with the local community of Ait L'kak through the HACL program (the High Atlas Cultural Landscapes), the Moroccan Biodiversity & Livelihoods Association and the Global Diversity Foundation are inviting you to a day of discovery of the bio-cultural richness of the Ait L'kak mountains. Join our team as it takes you into the heart of the Atlas Mountains vibrant ecosystem, uncovering its treasures and connecting with its people. 

Here's a peek into the details of our itinerary for the day:
Departure from the Faculty of Sciences Semlalia (Cadi Ayyad University) at 9am;
Breakfast at Dar Taliba's botanical garden;
Departure to Agdal Oukaimeden;
Discovery walk at Agdal Oukaimeden;
Departure to Ait Lkak village;
Visit of the transhumance eco-museum;
Tour in the community's plant nursery;
Traditional lunch at the plant nursery;
Return to Marrakech approximately at 5:30 pm.

PROVIDED SERVICES: Transportation, Breakfast & Lunch
TRIP FEES: 50€ per person.
HOW TO BOOK:
1) Fill out the form available at this link;
2) Complete the trip fee payment in this platform.
Please note that there are limited seats for this field trip and bookings will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

[NEW]
SAT 18 May, 9 am - 3 pm
SNAKE TRACKING
GENERAL INFORMATION:
This field trip is a half day-long activity scheduled for Saturday 18 May, 9AM - 3PM.
SNAKE TRACKING is a field trip proposed by Juarez Pezzuti and Abderrahim Ouarghidi to Sidi Bou Outhmane (45' drive from Marrakech) to visit sites where snake catchers collect snakes. The trip offers exploring different tracks and gain knowledge of more than 10 local varieties of snakes accompanied by a local expert. Departure is scheduled at 9AM from the university of Cadi Ayyad, Semllalia, Marrakech). The trip includes packed lunch and tea in a local village. Participants should be prepared to be in direct sun, walk 5 to 7 kilometers and must wear closed shoes and pants.

PROVIDED SERVICES: Transportation, packed lunch & Tea in local village
TRIP FEES: 50€ per person.
HOW TO BOOK: Complete the trip fee payment in this platform.
Please note that there are limited seats for this field trip and bookings will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

SPECIAL EVENTS: WORKSHOP SESSIONS IN THE CITY

SAT 18 May, 9 am - 12 pm
Edible Landscapes, Edible Bodies: Beyond Ethnobotanical Knowledge: The Contribution of Foraging to Healing and Socio-Ecological Change    
WORKSHOP @ Um Mami
Convened by F. Melina, G. Bertin (Malomodo Studio), F. Castagnetti & R.Toko 

Foraging is an effective method of both ethnobotanical knowledge transmission and embodied research. As a practice, it requires us to engage all our senses and get out on the land. It creates the ideal conditions for learning and connecting to plants and the land we share with them. Yet foraging is also a tool for social and ecological movement building and healing.
Edible Landscapes, Edible Bodies brings together artists, activists, fermentation explorers, growers, gastronomes and ethnobotanists to address questions around healing, justice and sympoiesis through a journey into outer and inner edible landscapes, from people to plants, from land to the microorganisms who make up our bodies and to which we owe our health and that of the soil. 
This session is an invitation to reach beyond the idea that well-being is a matter of individual health. Instead, it proposes healing as an all-encompassing act that requires us to feel beyond ourselves and to make space for complexity and diversity around us and within ourselves.
Hosted at Um Mami with its students, this session will be articulated through a participatory walk and talk to explore a range of diverse foraging and land-based practices, followed by a performance-lecture involving collective food making and tasting.

NB - this event is free of charge but booking is required as seats are limited.

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SAT 18 May, 2 - 5 pm
Elevating Cannabis: A Paradigm Shift in Global Perspectives
WORKSHOP @ LE 18
Convened by M. Krings (International Coalition of Drugs & Environment), J. M. Padouk (HARP - Human Application Research Program) & K. Mouna (Moulay Ismail University of Meknès)

Morocco ranks second in global cannabis exports, trailing Afghanistan, despite the trade's illicit nature. The Amazigh people in the Rif mountain region share a profound cultural connection with the plant. Our proposed open-format session aims to delve into cannabis's potential role in preserving humanity and fostering harmonious coexistence with the planet.
Jan Martin Padouk, cannabis researcher and founder of the Human Application Research Program in the Czech Republic, will make a link between the global ethnobotanical aspect of the plant and modern strategies in pharmaceutical development, presenting a blueprint for a local action plan based on his Czech NGO model. Anthropologist and cannabis expert Khalid Mouna, lecturer at the Moulay Ismail University of Meknès, will discuss the risks tied to the two-way trafficking of illicit substances, fueled by Morocco's 2021 cannabis legalisation. Maren Krings, German artist, climate impact storyteller, and founder of the Center for Art & Humanity, will lead the experimental artwork session using photo-sensitive cannabis-derived plant colours, to create a large-scale anthotype, exposed by sunlight, in collaboration with the participants. The image to be created will reflect the storytelling from Krings' "H is for HEMP" encyclopaedic book, emphasising industrial cannabis's role in addressing the socio-ecological crisis.
Post-presentations, participants will engage in discussions and knowledge exchange. An integrated assessment session will explore future scenarios for agriculture, nutrition, health, and human well-being, assuming global cannabis legalisation will transform cultivation into a universal human right. The open format session's results will be shared with all conference participants.

NB - this event is free of charge but booking is required as seats are limited.

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SAT 18 May, 5:30 - 7 pm
ALIMENTO: Exploring food systems based on reciprocity and circularity with the earth, with other humans and more-than-humans
READING GROUP @ LE 18
Convened by K. Benabderrazik (ETH Zürich, Switzerland), T. Lasrado, P. Ayala & A. Dominguez

ALIMENTO investigates the act of nourishing and brings forward the topic of anthropophagy to explore food systems that are based on reciprocity/circularity with the earth, other humans, and non-human entities, as well as to challenge extractivist, patriarchal, capitalist, and colonial models.
Through the prism of decolonial practices, stories, and approaches, ALIMENTO is bringing together a multiplicity of practitioners, sparking ongoing reflections on nourishment, nutrient cycling, agroecology, food system transformation, and interconnectedness. In this session, ALIMENTO will host a reading group in the cultural space LE 18 as a way to keep fostering continuous exchanges between scientific and artistic communities, to enrich reflections toward water as a pivotal conduit flowing through these interconnected bodies.
ALIMENTO emerged from collaboration among various entities: la_capsula, an independent and experimental curatorial project fostering dialogue between Latin American artistic and cultural productions and Swiss/local artists; the SAE Greenhouse of the Sustainable Agroecosystems research group at ETH Zürich, a teaching space fostering dialogues on agroecological transition; and arvae, a collective nurturing transdisciplinary collaborations.

NB - this event is free of charge but booking is required as seats are limited.

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NB - How to book Special Events:
1) make sure to be logged into this platform with your participant account-in into;
2) go in the "fees & additional bookings" section and click "register now";
3) under the summary status of your registration, you will find a link allowing to "add items" to your additional services. Select any you want to book and proceed to check-out.

Special Events summary: