Organiser: Heather Alberro (heather.alberro@manchester.ac.uk)

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses across the US and UK such as the online store Patch reported a 500% increase in live plant sales – especially medicinal plants. The Royal Horticultural Society reported a 533% increase in visits to their website, particularly amongst 18-24-year-olds, over the same period (Marsh 2020). Virtually overnight, a new wave of ‘plant influencers’ (Sullivan 2021) took social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat by storm, gathering thousands of followers eager for inspiration and tips on how to properly care for their new plant companions. This interactive workshop will explore some of the potential key drivers underlying the ‘pandemic plant craze’, and what this curious biophilic phenomenon might suggest about contemporary human-other-than-human relations against the backdrop of socio-ecological perturbations such as rapid urbanisation and the accelerating sixth mass extinction.

(Please note: Events in this series are open to University of Manchester staff and PGRs only)