Conversations with Lichen
Collaboration between Andrea Gilly
and Eloise Smith-Foster
Hosted at WAVES Gathering, Helsinki, 2025
And Sheffield Social Enterprise Festival, 2026
Lichens grow in some of the harshest environments on Earth - and have even survived in space. They are signs of ecosystem health and powerful examples of how new relationships can help life endure and adapt.
Conversations with Lichen is a guided session exploring what lichen - a living partnership between fungi and algae formed over millions of years - can teach us about cooperation, interdependence and thriving in times of crisis and changing conditions.
Through nature-connection, deep time meditation and contemplative dialogue, we invite our lichen kin into conversation to learn and process challenges together.
GET IN TOUCH TO DISCUSS OR BOOK AN IN-PERSON OR HYBRID SESSION FOR YOUR ORGANISATION OR EVENT →
"Their session on bioindicators as guides for a world in crisis was truly beautiful [...]
Afterwards, we were already imagining how similar sessions could become a central part of future gatherings."
- Aly Noyola Cabrera, WAVES
Facilitation and dialogue is adapted to the thematic focus of the session. Previous sessions have included explorations on questions such as:
• What do you need to ask the lichen?
• What can our lichen elders teach us about interdependence?
• How do we find different ways of relating in times of transition?
• What can resilience look like when it emerges through cooperation?
• What can we learn about our own role and responsibility in times of change and crisis?
Learning from our Lichen (Pl)antcestors
Lichen is ancient. Scientists believe they first formed 400-600 million years ago, around the time plants were just starting to transition onto land. In fact, they may have helped prepare the Earth for forests by breaking down rock into soil on a timescale hard for humans to contemplate. They have survived through much more change and challenging transitions than us young humans, so there is a lot we can learn from them.
We make time to learn from the world of relatives and the more-than-human that is always there, but sometimes only becomes present for us when we slow down and pay attention.
