Vandana Shiva‘s work is a great inspiration to me, and has been since I first met her in Ladakh in 1992. This week she is speaking in Brisbane as part of the Tibetan Festival and I am taking my daughter Maia with me to hear her speak again – always so powerful and motivating. Her talk, Making Peace with the Earth, at the Powerhouse is sold out. I am also very excited to be meeting up with many of my earth activist friends who will be attending.

Evan and I most recently met with Vandana Shiva in Indonesia.

Vandana is one of the world’s most prominent environmental advocates. She is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, anti-globalisation author and tireless campaigner for seed freedom – a clear and loud voice for Earth Democracy – calling for seed sovereignty, water sovereignty, food sovereignty and land sovereignty. 

To provide a place where people can come to immerse themselves deeply to learn about these ways of seeing the world, the paradigm shift needed and to gain practical skills, she has created the Earth University in India, connected to Schumacher College. She encourages us all to become activists for Earth Democracy…

“Become the seeds of change in any place in the food web which is so rich and complex – become a seedsaver, an organic farmer, an activist, a chef, a nutritionist …”

Back in 1992, I was volunteering in the Himalayas at the Ladakh Project with Helena Norbert-Hodge of ISEC and Vandana came up to Ladakh for a week to help establish a community seed-saving project. I watched as the mothers and grandmothers of the community were so empowered by her – they mobilised their community networks and created the seed exchange network within just a few months.

Since then I have crossed paths with Vandana on many occasions – at Schumacher College in England, and more recently at the launch of Slow Food Bali’s community seed saving project.

I look forward to spending the evening with Vandana surrounded by my dear earth activist friends.  Who knows what will emerge from a gathering like this.

Maia and Hugh also attended Vanadana’s talk at Slow Food Bali’s seed project launch.

• The Vandana Shiva Reader (2014)
• Making Peace with the Earth (2012)
• Soil not Oil (2007)
• Earth Democracy (2005)
• Stolen Harvest (2000)
• Monoculture of the Mind (1993)