Abstract

At the crossroad between science, environmentalism and political engagement Vandana Shiva has found her place as a living icon for world ecology. A long path that has started in the 70s with the Chipko movement and later on led to the creation of Navdanya International, a key player in promoting a sustainable agricultural model, and the bank seeds, safe harbors where biodiversity and millennial agricultural know-how is preserved by what the Indian scientist calls openly - and denounces in her latest book «Make Peace with the Earth» - bioterrorism against farmers: The patenting of seeds conducted by some international companies. According to Dr.Shiva, a major worldwide shift is needed to produce a «clean» food, that respects biodiversity and will lead the way to face the urging challenges of the new decade.