Ricard Faura, Andrea Langlois | April 2021
When ICEERS decided to begin the Iboga and Ibogaine Community Engagement Initiative, we were responding to a community request. Many people in the international community dedicated to iboga and ibogaine felt that the diverse threads that represent the diversity of people with relationships with this sacred plant needed to be knit together. It was time to take a step back, to tap into a broader perspective, and to weave together diverse points of view to inform the way forward.
The purpose of the Iboga and Ibogaine Community Engagement Initiative was to engage with the global community to crowdsource opinions and ideas about what an ideal future looks like for iboga and ibogaine in global society. We conducted the initiative in two phases, sharing visions from the communities we engaged with and findings that provided insights into the current state of iboga and ibogaine practices, as well as opportunities and challenges.
Phase 1 included a global engagement conducted primarily online and through video conferencing, engaging with 280 people from 34 countries, in order to assess current key issues and to develop a collective vision. This report also presented findings that provide insights into various aspects of iboga and ibogaine globally, yet because of digital limitations there were only a few perspectives from Central Africa.
Phase 2 included a more in-depth engagement in Gabon. Developing a collective vision required harnessing the knowledge that lives in various sectors of the Gabonese communities and we are grateful to all who participated. Desires for the future are aspirations, and to build these we draw on the perspectives of the 56 people interviewed and 13 communities we visited in Gabon. Among other questions, we asked, “What is the future you would like to see 10 years from now?”
Iboga Charting a Path Forward
In these reports we did not offer conclusions or recommendations. We waited, let what we heard settle, and came back to the findings with fresh eyes from which to offer consolidated perspectives and invitations for ways in which collectively we can act together to create a positive future for iboga from the perspective of bio-cultural sustainability grounded in reciprocity.
We’re pleased to now be sharing this final report from the initiative, “Iboga Charting a Path Forward,” in which we lay out a series of conclusions and recommendations for the community to engage with. Far from being the final word on the subject, we see this as a starting point from which to explore areas for further research, dialogue and action.
Reports from Phase I – Phase II
Categories:
NEWS
, Iboga and ibogaine