WorldWild Podcast
Episode 44 8th May 2020
Back Into the Wild with Lukasz Luczaj
Ethnobotany seeks to investigate our relationship with plants, in the wider sense it is how we relate to the earth as a living planet. How we turn to it when we are met with frightening prospectives, and how we turn away from it in our quest for control. By tapping into humanity's exceptional potential, but not turning exceptionalist, we aim to seek ways to bring ourselves back into the complexity. Discussing this with us this week is returning guest Lukasz Luczaj, ethnobotanist and author of the book On The Wild Side.
In this week's episode of the WorldWild Podcast we discuss finding your own limits in the wild, famine foods through time, eco-designing cities, chaos, order, and fractal complexity...
'When you design land to look like a fractal, it’s very resilient to catastrophe and changes because it has different levels of complexity'
- Lukasz Luczaj / ep.44
About Lukasz Luczaj
Łukasz Łuczaj is a botanist, forager, and academic. He lives in the Carpathian Mountains of South-Eastern Poland where has his ‘wild garden’ aimed at maximising biodiversity, including a field for endangered weed species. He travels extensively to document fast-fading knowledge, folklore, and uses of plants. He conducts archival and first-hand research in many Eastern European countries as well as field research in China, Laos, the Caucasus, and the Balkans. He has taught Biology at the University of Rzeszów since 2011 and is the head of the Botany Department. He recently published 'On the Wild Side' in English.
Further reading
> See more from Łukasz at The Wild Food.
> Get a copy of 'On the Wild Side' by Łukasz Łuczaj.
> Mentioned in episode: 'Siege of Sarajevo and wild edible plants'
> Watch Łukasz's YouTube channel
> Polish: Watch Łukasz's YouTube channel
> Foraging for Kids! Facebook Group...
About the show
We offer a series of conversations to tap into the wildness within ourselves and to uncover what is possible when we do. It is our hope that through the WorldWild Podcast we can contribute to the revitalisation of wild food culture and conversation around the world.
Through people who know their landscapes intimately, we gather the threads to weave a rich tapestry. Piece by piece the vision of a wilder world comes into view. The wild embrace of nature welcomes us back and offers us a seat at the table. A feast, no less!