Call for Speakers

Psychedelic Culture 2027: Beyond Consensus

The Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines is excited to announce the Psychedelic Culture 2027: Beyond Consensus Conference.


On March 11-14th, we will gather for a 2-day conference at the Brava Theater for Women in the Arts in San Francisco, CA, a day of workshops and a day of integration.

We are currently accepting speaker abstract submissions for spots in panels with pre-selected topics for the 2 conference days (March 12 & 13) only. You can find all conference details here and submissions details below.


Important dates

  • Submission Deadline: October 10th, 2026, at 9:00pm PT

  • Notification of Acceptance: November 15th, 2026

  • Conference Dates: March 11-13, 2027

  • March 11th – Day of workshops (tickets for these offerings must be purchased separately if you would like to participate)

  • March 11th – Speakers and Sponsors Dinner in the evening

  • March 12th – Conference Day 1

  • March 13th – Conference Day 2

If your submission is selected for the conference, we recommend that you be in the Bay Area between March 11th-14th to attend the speakers' and sponsors' dinner, all conference days, workshops, afterparty, and integration day.

Submission guidelines


We are looking for speakers submissions related to:

  • Environment, Nature, and Ecology: i.e., bioconservation, climate change, ecopolitics & anthropocene critiques, nature-relatedness & multispecies kinship, ecological grief, climate anxiety, psychedelic-assisted processing, biopiracy & benefit sharing, psychedelic “eco”-tourism, psychedelics as a bridge for non-human perspectives, etc

  • Intergenerational Dialogues: i.e., youth and psychedelics, elders, cross-generational analysis, time-honored traditions & contemporary shifts, generational trauma and family systems work with psychedelics, grandmother medicines & matrilineal transmission of ceremonial knowledge, etc

  • Ethics, Risks, and Harm Reduction: i.e., ethical care, moral & cultural sensitivity, accountability & safety, screening protocols, challenging psychedelic experiences & de-escalation strategies, consent frameworks for altered states of consciousness, power dynamics in patient-facilitator relationships, etc

  • Grassroots and Community Resilience: i.e., traditional practices & knowledge, Indigenous advocacy, culturally specific spaces for BIPOC and underrepresented communities, biosocial relations, psychedelic tourism and commodification of psychoactive substances, Indigenous diasporas & psychedelic healing for migrants, etc

  • Religion, Spirituality, and Healing: i.e., psychedelic churches, shamanism, sensory experience, spiritual traditions & the sense of transcendence, traumatic stress, relief therapies, religious exercise, belief systems & political alignment, ontological perspectives, mental health, etc

  • AI and Technology: i.e., molecule design, brain mapping, patient tracking, custom dosing, tech-aided therapy, creation of educational material, integration & language models, etc

Abstracts should be between 150-250 words. Abstracts should be one paragraph only. They should summarize your work in this specific topic/field, perspective/lens, expertise, interest, and relevance to the topic, conference, and the current psychedelic plant medicine field.
Only 3-4 speakers will be selected for each panel (there will only be 5 CFS panels, so only 20 speakers max will be selected), making this a highly competitive selection process.
To support our mission of advancing psychedelic justice through curating critical conversations and uplifting the voices of women, queer people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and the Global South in the field of psychedelics, we welcome abstracts from folks from diverse fields, backgrounds, and career stages.

APPLY TO BE A SPEAKER

Apply here

Important parameters

  • Submissions are accepted through this Call for Speakers Application

  • You must provide at least one supporting document that demonstrates your expertise in the topic (i.e., published articles, journals, research papers, certifications, etc.)

  • You must complete the Speaker Form in addition to the Call for Speakers Application in order for your submission to be considered—the link to the Speaker Form is in the application form

  • Virtual participation is not possible; you must be physically present at the conference in order to speak on the panel if selected

  • We are only accepting single speaker submissions, no panel proposals

  • If selected, you will not be doing a solo presentation, but rather you will be placed into a panel with other selected speakers under the same topic who will speak on different perspectives, creating space for diverse and well-rounded dialogues

  • The final content/direction of the panel will be coordinated between all final panelists and the Chacruna Program Committee

  • The Chacruna Program Committee will determine the panel placement, duration, and track for selected speakers—these details will be subject to change as the conference date approaches

  • Chacruna has limited resources and venue constraints and does not have the capacity to carry out PowerPoint presentations, projected visual materials, and certain larger installations or specific elements

  • We are able to provide translation on panels for Spanish or Portuguese speakers


Funding


If selected, we are unable to offer you an honorarium, travel assistance, or lodging assistance at this time. However, we do offer all speakers:

  • Free access to the 2 conference days, with 2 tracks, exhibition space, and over 80 speakers

  • Free invitation to the speakers and sponsors dinner on Thursday night (March 11th)

  • Photo and bio published on the official Psychedelic Culture website and socials—our platform has 58.1k followers on Instagram and 49k followers on Facebook, and our site has around 30k views per month—in sum, a lot of visibility

  • Right to share your promotional materials in a collective table at the conference

  • Tracks 1 and 2 will be filmed

  • After 3-6 months, all materials will go online for free, for posterity, with continued exposure

About the 2-day conference


Psychedelic Culture 2027: Beyond Consensus strives to bridge the gaps between all sides of the spectrum, bringing together unlikely perspectives and pushing beyond the echo chamber of agreement without action. This is a gathering to practice the kind of dialogue that is less about healing and more about tending to each other, to the plants, to what we are collectively becoming.

At this 2-day in-person conference, with 2 simultaneous tracks, Chacruna will convene comprehensive panels, debates, and dialogues. Chacruna’s interdisciplinary conferences are well known for bringing diverse voices together, combining intellectual vision and rigor, community, activism, heart, and soul. Amid the so-called psychedelic renaissance, it is more important than ever to foster dialogue between scientists and the communities who have long stewarded these medicines, ensuring their respectful and responsible use.

Should you have any questions about the Call for Speakers or any speaker-related matters, please reach out to speakerspcu@chacruna.net.

Should you have any general questions about the conference, please contact pcu@chacruna.net.