Every year, the MOTH Project hosts an interdisciplinary gathering which brings together leading thinkers and doers from diverse fields, from environmental and human rights law to philosophy to biological sciences to Indigenous advocacy to storytelling and communications. In building bridges across disciplines, the gathering cuts across the traditional silos that limit the exchange of ideas and perspectives, promotes new and creative ways of thinking, and facilitates the development of the substantive details that will put more-than-human (MOTH) rights on firmer ground.
As a truly interdisciplinary convening, it cuts across the traditional silos that limit the exchange of ideas and perspectives.
The inaugural MOTH Conference was held in September 2022 in Tarrytown, New York. The insight forged through this gathering made clear the need for a break from anthropocentrism and a sustained effort to mainstream ways of being and doing that respect and synchronize with the more-than-human world. The 2022 gathering laid the groundwork for the next year of work of the MOTH Project, including the production of a collective volume on MOTH rights. In early October 2023, the MOTH Project hosted, along with the Fungi Foundation, the second MOTH gathering in Curarrehue, Chile. This time, the gathering delved into MOTH rights in action, highlighting and engaging with initiatives that seek to understand, communicate, and protect the complexity and richness of the more-than-human world.
The gatherings feed into the long-term project, which includes legal actions and publications, collaborations between scientists and Indigenous peoples, arts and storytelling projects, and an annual global course on MOTH rights.