People Plants and the Law

Presented by Courtney Fullilove from Wesleyan University. This talk aims to unite diverse insights in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences by theorizing seeds as deep time technologies.  Regarding the seed as a technology allows us to understand actors and processes of improvement that constitute the material form of the seed and its demarcation according to commercial and scientific

Presented by Graham Dutfield from the University of Leeds. In 1996, a book called “Beyond Intellectual Property” was published by International Development Research Centre. A law book written by two people entirely unschooled in law, of whom one is the present speaker, this was hardly a world-changing event. The book was very much of its time, being published soon after

Presented by Dr. Kelly Bannister, Co-Director, POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria. “Variety is the spice of life” is a well known phrase that can be traced back to a poem called The Task published in 1785 by William Cowper. Little did Cowper know that he was onto something bigger than just pleasure! A

Presented by Rachel Wynberg, DST/NRF Bio-Economy Chair and Professor in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, the University of Cape Town and Dr. Sarah Laird, Co-Director, People and Plants International, the University of Kent. Rachel Wynberg and Sarah Laird presently co-direct a process of "rethinking" the relationship between conservation and equity, and the biodiversity-based economy, including access and benefit-sharing. https://rethinking-abs.org/

Presented by Uma Suthersanen, Professor of Global Intellectual Property Law at the Queen Mary University of London In May 2024, a new international treaty was adopted which introduced a new, and hitherto controversial, norm namely the international obligation for applicants to disclose the source or origin of genetic resources (GR) and/or the associated traditional knowledge (TK) in patent applications (Article

Presented by Daniela Soleri, Alma Piñeyro, and Emmanuel Carlos González Ortega. In situ conserved crop genetic resources (CGRs) occur in the form of native or local crop varieties, developed and cultivated by peasant/farming communities, including indigenous communities across North America. The global significance of these CGRs has led to the construction of legal frameworks regarding core issues of access, use,

Presented by Susannah Chapman. Over the past several decades, many fruit breeding programs have begun to commercialize new varieties via the strategic use to two legal techniques: the use of plant variety protection—coupled with contracts to create small “clubs” of select growers—and the use of branding to foster ready consumer demand for the protected fruit that the club would produce.

Presented by Rosemary Coombe and David Jefferson. Much socio-legal research on intellectual property in relation to food and agriculture focuses on the influence of global policy norms on domestic law-making and the expansion of new international trade opportunities for small-scale producers. Other studies have examined controversies and contestations around government actors claiming foods as manifestations of their national heritage. We

Presented by Claudia Irene Calderón, Jean-Michel Ané and Jorge L. Contreras. Seeds represent more than just genetic material. They are gifts that embody community stories, cultural memory, and ecological adaptation, serving as the foundation of our food systems. This talk will delve into how we can honor these gifts through ethical frameworks and collaborative practices that safeguard free access and

Presented by Gary Nabhan. Indigenous communities and other traditional ethnic enclaves have long integrated sacred and ceremonial plants into their spiritual traditions, but the affirmation of their legal rights to protect and maintain cultural access to such plants has been fraught with outdated conceptions of what "religion" and "legitimate practice of spiritual traditions" entails, especially with respect to plants and