green unfolding - inge kuijper

Inge Kuijper is an independent ethnobotanist and educator with a passion for plants, human cultures and indigenous and local knowledge. She supports the protection of traditional knowledge and wants to see a world where biodiversity and cultural diversity flourish.

Inge visited and studied many grassroots Nature based Solutions in Europe and South America, such as ecovillages and ecosystem restoration projects, as well as learning about natural medicine. In 2019 she returned to academia to completed an MSc in ethnobotany at the University of Kent. Her thesis explored the significance of the sedge waste (Cyperus spp.) in Shipibo-Konibo culture.

Today she continues to pursue independent ethnobotanical research. In 2025 and 2026 she traveled to biodiversity hotspot and cultural marvel Madagascar to study the rich culture and medicinal plant knowledge of the Sakalava tribe. She also recently joined the advisory committee of SCHIA, a diagnostic tool to assess how intensifying heat will affect cultural practices and traditional health systems, with a focus on the Peruvian Amazon.

Inge will speak about the importance of our connection with the plant world, the study of ethnobotany, indigenous science, and how we can be inspired by indigenous values to create a flourishing and diverse future.

On her online platform Green Unfolding you can find explore the topic of plants, people and human cultures. She offers a 6-week People and Plants course, a self-paced introduction course, as well as other talks and workshops. 
Inge lives in East-Sussex, where she enjoys the Ashdown Forest and the coast, the seasonal celebrations, and the local ethnobotany.

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