Girona to Host Global Ayahuasca Forum: A Landmark Convergence of Spirituality, Science, and Policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2025

From September 9 to 13, 2026, Indigenous leaders, researchers, legal experts and activists from around the world will gather in Girona to chart a global roadmap for the future of traditional medicines.

Barcelona — The Global Ayahuasca Forum will mark a historic milestone in dialogue between Indigenous peoples and international institutions. For the first time, an event of this nature will be co-organized from its conception by representatives of the Council of Indigenous Spiritual Leaders — through the Yorenka Tasorentsi Institute — together with ICEERS, the Barcelona-based ethnobotanical research and support organization.

Unlike previous conferences, the forum represents a paradigm shift toward true co-management and collaborative design in all aspects of the event, from content to expected outcomes. This international gathering emerges from the need to articulate a collective response to the challenges of ayahuasca’s globalization. At a time of worldwide expansion of its practices — in therapeutic, religious and scientific contexts — the forum seeks to build consensus and proposals around ethics, regulation, research and biocultural rights.

 

A Global Agenda with Indigenous Vision

Among the priority objectives are strengthening the global movement around traditional medicines, building intercultural regulatory frameworks, consolidating legal support networks, and promoting new forms of research that respect the epistemological sovereignty of Indigenous peoples.

The event will bring together in Girona a wide diversity of participants: Indigenous elders from different biocultures, Western scientists, public institution representatives, legal professionals, researchers, activists and communicators. All will be invited to reflect on the legal, cultural, scientific and spiritual implications of contemporary uses of ayahuasca and other Indigenous traditional plants, both in the Amazon and outside their countries of origin.

Additionally, the forum will open dialogue with other traditional biocultures like peyote, iboga, bufo, mushrooms and jurema, which face similar challenges of extractivism, biomedicalization and cultural appropriation.

The Global Ayahuasca Forum will not be a ceremonial gathering nor a space where ayahuasca or other master plants are sold. Instead, the forum proposes an experiential learning space with cultural and scientific presentations, audiovisual content, artistic exhibitions and roundtables that allow engagement with Indigenous worldviews and the complexity of psychoactive plant globalization from an ethical and pedagogical perspective. All content will be carefully designed in collaboration with participating spiritual leaders, ensuring cultural integrity and mutual respect.

 

Girona as Symbol

The choice of Girona as the forum venue carries strong symbolic meaning. For Indigenous peoples of the Americas, holding this gathering in Europe represents an opportunity to redefine colonial routes and bring their messages directly to the heart of political, academic and media power centers in the Global North.

According to organizers, this strategic gesture aims to expand the forum’s reach, facilitate participation of key international stakeholders, and plant awareness in a broader context than that of originating Amazonian communities.

 

Next Steps and Participation

The event will feature simultaneous interpretation in multiple languages (Spanish, English and Portuguese), universal accessibility measures, limited virtual access options, and solidarity tickets for low-income participants. Scholarships will be offered and there will be a volunteer system.

The final program, registration forms and participation channels will be announced soon through the event’s official website.

 

Press contact:  press@ayahuasca2026.com  |  Tel. +34 930 430 284