Nature is the oldest pharmacy in the world. For many centuries plant remedies were the main medicines used to treat diseases throughout Europe. Herb medicine can be traced back to prominent physicians such as Dioscorides, Hippocrates and Aelius/Claudius Galenus (Galen). Hildegard of Bingen combined the Greek and Roman based knowledge about diseases and plants with folk medicine. The knowledge about plants and their possible usage was often passed down from generation to generation. But for different reasons a lot of this knowledge got lost in the past century.
The Healing Herbs project plans to reinvoke the exchange of traditional Folk knowledge about herbal and plant medicine between the generations as well as between different European cultures. Intergenerational learning and dialogue and European knowledge transfer and cohesion will be fostered through this project. Many countries know the same herbs and use them in similar ways, but the contemporary use of medicinal herbs and plants may vary, by realizing this common European cultural heritage and sharing the newly gained and enriching knowledge European cohesion will be fostered. Senior citizens will be involved and asked to contribute to the collection of traditional knowledge as well as to share their knowledge with youngsters.
The traditional and contemporary usages of herbs and medicinal plants from the different partner countries will be compared and shared. The knowledge gained will be presented online in form of an interactive webpage, at workshops in all partner countries and during a European Herbs Festival which will be organised by the end of the project.
The P.L.A.N.T. project is funded by the European Comission under the Life Long Programme – Grundtvig with identifying project code: 2013-1-DE2-GRU06-16233-1.
