Shillong, May 7: The North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, will host the 3rd International Conference on Global Plant Humanities: Botanical Life in Art, Science, and Imagination from May 8 to 10, 2026.
The conference will bring together scholars, artists, and researchers from across disciplines to discuss the relationship between plants and human society, with a focus on culture, ecology, and sustainability. Key themes include plant intelligence, biodiversity, climate change, food security, and plant-based cultural heritage.
The event is part of the ongoing initiatives of the Global Plant Humanities Network (GPHN), established during the first international conference at Sadhan Chandra Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal, in 2023. The second edition was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2025.
Keynote speakers include Juan Carlos Galeano (Florida State University, USA), Zilkia Janer (Hofstra University, USA), Patrycia Austin (University of Rzeszów, Poland), Judith Farkas (University of Pécs, Hungary), Soumyadeep Datta (Nature’s Beckon, Assam), and Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih (NEHU, Shillong).
The conference aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and global perspectives on plant humanities.
Co-hosts for the two-day event are the English and Foreign Languages University, Regional Campus, Shillong, Cotton University, Guwahati, University of Notre Dame, Australia, Global Plant Humanities Network and Sadhan Chandra Mahavidyalaya; with these institutions as partners are: Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Australia; de Cetaps and Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.
NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal; Sadhan Chandra Mahavidyalaya (affiliated with the University of Calcutta), India; Department of English, Cotton University, Guwahati, India, Gift From the Sentient Forest Project, Northern Finland.
