Dr. Vandana Shiva was born in India’s northern city of Dehradun. Her parents had a  passionate love of nature and so her journey began. 

Now a world renowned environmental activist, eco – feminist and food sovereignty advocate, she has been tackling environmental justice, particularly in the context of agricultural practices, for almost five decades.

“Everything comes from the seed, but we have forgotten that the seed isn’t a machine, we think we can engineer life, we can change the carefully organised DNA of a living organism, and there will be no wider impact. But this is a dangerous illusion.”

The seed has become synonymous with Vandana Shiva and she has written over 20 books and travels the world giving talks and workshops with this theme.

Vandana Shiva founded Navdanya (meaning nine seeds) in 1987, an organic farm at the foothills of the Himalayas, an initiative to save the diversity of seeds of India. In the face of genetic engineering and agricultural globalisation, Vandana Shiva’s Seed Sovereignty movement is a core part of her activism. Her vision and the mission of Navdanya is to create connection and resilience in biodiversity and organic farming through community and crop conservation. Her work emphasises the importance of preserving indigenous and traditional seed varieties and promoting farmers’ rights to save, exchange, and protect their own seeds.

We are thrilled to be welcoming Vandana Shiva to YIP this Spring, Dr. Shiva embodies the spirit of resilience, activism, and deep ecological wisdom.

At YIP we are committed to nurturing young leaders who are passionate about creating positive change. We are excited to learn, grow, and take action together as we move forward in our shared mission. We look forward to sharing our time with Vandana Shiva as we strive toward a more just and sustainable future.