European Institute of Consciousness Research

The P2P Observatory for Ethnophenomenological Studies is an independent peer-to-peer community for the study of non-ordinary states of consciousness with a Commons-Based Peer Production approach. Without any official institutional affiliation, the observatory has been articulated as an independent and self-organized working unit.

Although not officially affiliated, the observatory was born in a collaborative effort with the former European Institute of Consciousness Research. The lack of organizational affiliation was intented to guarantee the independence, self-regulation and open exploration of the ethnophenomenological praxis within a communitary framework. The Department of Consciousness Research of SENSE-GARDEN (formerly the European Institute of Consciousness Research) will ellaborate academic research upon ethnophenomenological experiences and reported analysis within this peer-to-peer community.

The notion of ethnophenomenological praxis was proposed as methodological swift within the field of cognitive science, based on the appropriation of approaches and research tools from anthropology. It aims to enable an epistemological and ontological opening in cognitive scientists and researchers interested in consciosuness studies, through the integration of elements taken from cognitive anthropology, ethnobotany, and radical participation, and with a focus on the direct experiential approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness. The theoretical proposal of the ethnophenomenological praxis suggests that in order to articulate a "mode of being" in which "field work" can be performed within the domains of non-ordinary consciousness, implies also the development of a community of practitioners. In that regard, the idea of creating an independent observatory with a commons-based peer production approach implies not only enabling a catalizer for the emergence of a cultural context associated to this praxis, but also a lineage of experienced individuals in order to support newcomers into the field and minimize risks.

In that regard, the P2P Observatory for Ethnophenomenological Studies is peer-to-peer community oriented to the collective production of knowledge within the context of the ethnophenomenological praxis, that is, the direct study of the nature of consciousness through the experimentation of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness.

READ RESEARCH PAPER: The ethnophenomenological praxis