History

Adapted with permission from the International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE) website> What is the International Congress of Ethnobiology?
The International Congress of Ethnobiology is the embodiment of the International Society of Ethnobiology's (ISE) core mandate to facilitate an ‘ethical space’ where different worldviews can interact and share information across geographical and cultural boundaries, creating an interactive forum for cross-cultural exchanges. The Congress is the official meeting of the Society that is held every two years. The Congress has a dual role in the life of the ISE. In addition to providing a time and place to formally gather its diverse membership for ethnobiology exchanges, the Congress is central in conducting the ISE’s business in at least three respects. It is the time for holding:

• the final meeting of the out-going Board of Directors (occurs on first day of Congress);
• the General Assembly for all ISE members, where the ISE Board Members report on their term, important society business is discussed and decided, and the new ISE Board Members are elected and begin their two-year term (occurs mid-Congress); and
• the combined transition meeting of the out-going and in-coming Board (occurs in latter part of Congress)

The biennial international Congresses continue to provide much-needed but increasingly rare opportunities for diverse actors to come together in person to share and learn, work through differences, and build understandings on difficult topics. In addition to the congresses, the ISE is also building complementary web-based tools and fora for ongoing virtual communications and sharing of information and resources in multi-media and multi-lingual forms. Please visit their website at www.ise.arts.ubc.ca.

Where has the Congress been held?
The First International Congress of Ethnobiology was held in Belém, Brazil in 1988. More than 600 delegates participated in the Congress from 35 countries, including representatives from 16 indigenous organizations. A major result of the First Congress was the founding of the International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE). At the close of the first congress, founding members joined together to forge a statement of guiding principles that represent the goals and ideals of ethnobiologists and ethnobiology in an international context. The result of these deliberations was The Declaration of Belém.

12th ICE 2010	Tofino, Canada	Chair:	Josie Osborne
11th ICE 2008	Cusco, Peru	Chair:	Alejandro Argumedo
10th ICE 2006	Chiang Rai, Thailand	Chair:	Chayan Picheansoonthon
9th ICE 2004	Canterbury, Kent, UK	Chair:	Roy Ellen
8th ICE 2002	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia	Chair:	Fassil Kebebew
7th ICE 2000	Athens, USA	Chair:	Elois Ann Berlin
6th ICE 1998	Whakatane, Aotearoa/New Zealand	Chair:	Aroha Mead
5th ICE 1996	Nairobi, Kenya	Chair:	Christine Kabuye
4th ICE 1994	Lucknow, India	Chair:	A. K. Jain
3rd ICE 1992	Mexico City, Mexico	Chair:	Javier Caballero
2nd ICE 1990	Kunming, China	Chair:	Pei Shengji
1st ICE 1988	Belem, Brazil	Chair:	Darrell Posey

Where will the 2012 Congress be held?
The ISE board is pleased to announce that the host of the 2012, XIII International Congress of Ethnobiology (ICE) will be held Montpelier, France. The Congress theme will be “Cultural diversity and biological diversity for sustainable development: Exploring the past to build up the future.”

Host Organization: Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE).
Click here to see the full proposal, which includes photos of the Congress site. This proposal was approved at the 11th ICE in Cusco, Peru on June 28th, 2008.