Don’t miss this talk with Dr. Vandana Shiva, Indian scholar, author, ecofeminist, environmental activist, and food sovereignty advocate based in Delhi.
Pope Francis's call for environmental justice and care for the earth in his encyclical Laudato Si makes the connection between our environmental collapse and its impact on the poor and vulnerable: “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” (LS, 139)
This lecture brings one of the foremost voices in environmental activism to University of Portland to expand on that insight and advocate for Earth Democracy.
Earth Democracy connects us through the perennial renewal and regeneration of life - from our daily life to the life of the universe. Earth Democracy is the universal story of our times, in our different places. It pulsates with the limitless potential of an unfolding universe even while it addresses the real threats to our very survival as a species. It is hope in a time of hopelessness, it brings forth peace in a time of wars without end, and it encourages us to love life fiercely and passionately at a time when leaders and the media breed hatred and fear.
Dr. Vandana Shiva is trained as a Physicist and did her Ph.D. on the subject “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory” from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She later shifted to inter-disciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. In 1982, she founded an independent institute, the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in Dehra Dun dedicated to high quality and independent research to address the most significant ecological and social issues of our times, in close partnership with local communities and social movements. In 1991, she founded Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, and the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. In 2004 she started Bija Vidyapeeth, an international college for sustainable living in Doon Valley in collaboration with Schumacher College, U.K. Dr. Shiva combines sharp intellectual enquiry with courageous activism.
Time magazine identified Dr. Shiva as an environmental “hero” in 2003. Asia Week called her one of the five most powerful communicators of Asia. And, in November 2010, Forbes magazine named Dr. Shiva as one of the "top seven most powerful women on the globe." Dr. Shiva has received honorary Doctorates from University of Paris, University of Western Ontario, University of Oslo, Connecticut College, and University of Guelph.
Among her many awards are:
- Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award, 1993)
- Order of the Golden Ark
- Global 500 Award of UN
- Earth Day International Award
- Lennon ONO grant for peace award by Yoko Ono in 2009
- Sydney Peace Prize in 2010
- Doshi Bridgebuilder Award
- Calgary Peace Prize
- Thomas Merton Award in the year 2011
- Fukuoka Award
- The Prism of Reason Award in 2012
- Grifone d’Argento prize 2016
- The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity 2016
- Veerangana Award 2018
- The Sanctuary Wildlife Award 2018
- International Environment Summit Award 2018
- Amrita Devi Award 2021
- EL Gold Nautilus winner 2023 Illustrious Alumni Award
- Physics Department Punjab University 2023
- Feisty Awards 2024
- The Doctor Honoris Causa Degree from University of Pompeu Fabra 2024
An ADA compliant event. For further information please contact the Garaventa Center at: 503-943-7702 or garaventa@up.edu.
Dr. Shiva's latest book, The Nature of Nature, can be pre-ordered HERE. 
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