Bija Vidyapeeth – Earth University – Navdanya international

“Today, at a time of multiple crises intensified by globalization, we need to move away from the paradigm of nature as dead matter. We need to move to an ecological paradigm, and for this, the best teacher is nature herself.

This is the reason why the Earth University/Bija Vidyapeeth was started at Navdanya’s farm.

The Earth University teaches Earth Democracy, which is the freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life, and the freedom and responsibility of humans, as members of the Earth family, to recognize, protect, and respect the rights of other species. Earth Democracy is a shift from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism. And since we all depend on the Earth, Earth Democracy translates into human rights to food and water, to freedom from hunger and thirst.

Because the Earth University is located at Navdanya, a biodiversity farm, participants learn to work with living seeds, living soil, and the web of life. Participants include farmers, school children, and people from across the world.”

— Dr Vandana Shiva (Source: Vandana Shiva: Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest, Yes Magazine, 5 December 2012).

Source: Vandana Shiva and the University of the Seed (ep. 4), Ecoversities

Navdanya established a learning center, Bija Vidyapeeth (School of the Seed) a center of excellence for Organic farming on its biodiversity conservation and organic farm, which is serving small and marginal farmers, both men and women, students, scientists and researchers from across the globe. It is dedicated to education for sustainable living and earth citizenship and offers a unique opportunity to explore the principles and practice of sustainability and diversity.

The unique aspects of Navdanya learning center are that, it is not just learning in the classroom but on a living working farm. Because Biodiversity conservation is at the heart of the Navdanya’s work and the learning center is located at the biodiversity conservation farm participants learn about crop diversity and the interactions between different aspects of agroecological systems through observation and experiential learning.

Throughout the year farmers from all across India come to get trained in organic farming to create the future in agroecology.

For people to come from all over the world Navdanya offers the opportunity to learn from nature and farmers as teachers, as well as from the cutting edge ecological research combined with practical experience and participation in community activities.

In order to amplify its work on biodiversity conservation and agroecology, Navdanya has been working on agroecology programmes internationally, which includes the creation of an International network of agroecology practitioners and researchers together with health and nutrition movement to spread awareness that agroecology provides a solution to malnutrition.

Two major courses are the ‘A-Z of Agroecology and Organic Food Systems’ and ‘Gandhi, Globalization and Earth Democracy’

Courses at Navdanya Bija Vidyapeeth

Check this page for more details on programmes, courses, internship opportunities, visitors guide, application forms.
Contact: earthuniversity@navdanya.net

A-Z of Biodiversity, Agroecology and Organic Food Systems

Since 2012, for citizens’ organizations and movements from across the world, Navdanya offers the course A-Z of Biodiversity, Agroecology and Organic Food Systems, a one month Global Capacity Building workshop with eminent scientists and environmentalists.

Among the programs of the course:
Living soil – The Soil Food Web, Renewal of Soil Fertility; composting and other methods to rejuvenate living soils.
Living Seed – Seeds and biodiversity, difference between traditional open pollinated seeds, Green Revolution varieties ,hybrids, GMOs, Why save seeds, participatory and evolutionary breeding, seed conservation, creating community seed bank and seed libraries.
Living Food Systems – The health hazards of the industrial food system-pesticides, GMOs, Junk food, Health, nutrition and ecological agriculture; the economics of local organic systems vs industrial global systems; Economic diversity and biodiversity of markets, issues of certification and participatory guarantee.

The course on A-Z of Agroecology & Organic Food Systems is an opportunity to learn about the links between Seed Sovereignty and Food Sovereignty and issues of Intellectual Property Rights, Patents, Seed Monopolies and Farmers Rights, as well as about living seed, living soil, self-reliant sustainable local living food economies both at the scientific level and through participation in seed conservation and breeding, composting & soil fertility renewal, cooking classes with forgotten foods and interaction with local community and farmers.

More than 300 students have been benefited with this unique course and many of them have become ambassador of organic farming in their respective regions / countries/ continents. Among those, several representatives of partners movements have joined the course, which has revealed its unique catalyst effect for joining forces, exchanging knowledge and strategies, creating and consolidating alliances as well as for inspiring new projects.

For example, a knowledge exchange workshop on seed saving, soil fertility enhancement and agroecology was organised with the Latin America Seed Freedom Network (Red Semillas De Libertad). Also, seed savers and seed defenders from Indonesia, Portugal and Ghana, who attended the course, could acquire new skills and knowledge which enabled them to start farms and/or strengthen and further develop their agroecology projects and networks. In short, the course is not only a learning experience, but a unique opportunity for the organic movement, the seed and food freedom movements and the agroecology and regenerative agriculture movement to join forces and committed to work together to build a poison-free, biodiversity rich alternative model of farming and food systems.

In October 2017, commemorating World Food Day, Navdanya and JAGA Indonesia organized an agroecology mobilization tour in collaboration with local partners. The Navdanya team experts met with students and farmers to inform and explain global agribusiness industrial policies and agroecology practical training workshops which covered, among other practices, seed saving, natural seed treatment, soil fertility management and natural pest management. The Navdanya team showed how in any natural environment it is possible to find the resources and ingredients to both control pests and weeds, as well as to regenerate soil fertility.

The tour represented an important opportunity to strengthen ties between the associations dealing with agroecology in the territory and the international seed and agroecology movement catalyzed through Navdanya International campaigns.

Also read: Indonesia: An Agroecology Mobilization

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Join A-Z on Agroecology from 1 – 12 October 2022

Gandhi, Globalization and Earth Democracy

As Gandhi said, the Earth has enough for everyone’s needs , but not for a few people’s greed. He cultivated non-violence at every level, from paradigms of Science and technology to structures of politics and economics.

The course explores the relevance of his ideas and practice of Swaraj (self-governance), Swadeshi (local production and self-reliance), Sarvodaya (wellbeing of all) and Satyagraha (non-violent civil disobedience based on the force of truth), Gandhi, to create and defend people’s economic and political freedom in the midst of multiple crises – ecological, economic, social, political.