We at the Dandelion Seed Collective see community herbalism becoming an increasingly powerful social force. The Dandelion Seed Conference is intended to catalyze this work and contribute to the emerging conversation on social and ecological health by conducting workshops, sharing stories and experiences of community projects and programs, as well as offering a foundation of support to help move this work forward.
We see community herbal practice as something that empowers and inspires both social and ecological health. Community herbalists everywhere help people learn practical tools for self and family care, as well as help mobilize community health resources. In these times where many people are losing the social safety nets, this kind of community-based health care helps us take care of our own again. In this way, it strengthens the social fabric.
In addition to providing people with practical, accessible tools to maintain health and prevent disease, community herbal practice broadens our ecological awareness. When we learn about plants–be they in sidewalk cracks, our backyards, or an old growth forest–we learn to recognize diverse forms of life, their contributions to the planetary ecosystem, and the importance of biodiversity. Herbal education and practice reconnects us to our place, and calls us home.
This is what we intend to support with the conference: community-based action, social justice, and herbal education. But most of all, we empower herbalists to pursue positive, creative social change and bring herbal practice to the next level.
Originally featured at Poppyswap!
