Aruna Pandey

Aruna brings extensive expertise in Natural Resource Governance, Institution Building, and Sustainable Livelihoods, garnered through 13 years of active involvement in co-creating social change with communities. She has collaborated with esteemed institutions such as BRLF, TISS (Mumbai), SOAS - University of London, and IIM - Ahmedabad, on projects supported or in partnership with renowned organisations like IDRC, UNDP, and UNEP. Aruna's domain of interest encompasses environmental governance, social research, education/innovation, and Institution Building. She has received accolades including the Young Analyst Award by EU and DPG, the M. K. Tata Prize, and the NTPC gold medal for her dissertation at TISS (Mumbai).
Currently leading the ISDM Knowledge and Research Centre, Aruna serves as faculty for ISDM's post-graduate programme in Development Leadership, where she facilitates learning modules on Environment and Development, Systems Design for Social Interventions, and Radical Transformation Leadership, among others. Prior to her role at ISDM, she spearheaded the Research and Capacity Building vertical at Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation. Additionally, Aruna actively contributes to the Honeybee Network, a volunteer network spanning 75 countries dedicated to developing a sustainable knowledge ecosystem.