Reversing the trend – land fundraising for Auroville

“The procurement of land for Auroville is the most urgent priority in order to ensure the future of the project in its original spirit,” says Sauro Mezzetti, member of the Working Committee and former overall coordinator of L’Avenir d’Auroville. “In the last few years, several private real estate or commercial developments have taken place. Auroville is meant to be a very special social and physical space and if this market trend is not reversed, it may really hamper and compromise our social experiment. Accelerating land procurement, especially in critical areas, is the best way to ensure protection and is an urgent task that cannot be deferred.”

The small team of land fundraisers has been working intensely to communicate awareness of this urgent need and it is through these efforts that there are now 612 worldwide land donors, the majority of whom make repeat donations. Support from Auroville’s worldwide family has enabled the addition of 46 donation-financed plots (42 acres) to the Auroville land mosaic in the past three years: 17 plots in the City Area, including 2 in the Matrimandir Circle, and 29 in the Greenbelt, with 2017’s new plots in critical areas – the Solar Kitchen, Shraddhanjali, Fertile, Freedom, Irumbai Lake, Minati, Miracle, Sharnga, and in the International Zone.

The dedicated land website www.colaap.org is interactive, with direct access to donation and login access. It provides land and campaign information, frequent news updates, holds the growing video land library, and hosts the confidential donor pages for the campaigns that exist under the Lands for Auroville Unified (LFAU) umbrella: Acres for Auroville (for the entire Master Plan area) and GreenAcres (Greenbelt only). For greater visibility, the site’s name is changing to www.land.auroville.org but both names will co-exist until October. Among other outreach activities, the fundraisers have created its third New Year’s card for 2018, commemorating Auroville’s 50 years.

The Acres for Auroville land campaign (A4A) is a collaboration of Auroville International with LFAU and provides the majority of donations thanks to the collective dynamism of the Auroville International (AVI) centres. Key contacts also come via 33 Sri Aurobindo centres and Integral Yoga groups in India and around the world. A4A is an action aimed at and carried by people who know and love Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and Auroville. In harmony with this, A4A’s message is sent quarterly at the time of the Ashram’s Darshan Days. The focus for 2018 is “Building a 50th birthday gift of land” as announced in the upbeat A4A fundraising clip, with music by Nadaka (on the Colaap website). “Since the Phase 4 kickoff on August 15th, the campaign has received over 170 donations, plus pledges for upcoming contributions,” according to A4A co-organizer, Mandakini.

Says Vikas of AVI-UK: “Fundraising is being done with an infectious consciousness and joy, which prompts us to give and keep giving with the same spirit”. Putting weight behind his words, Vikas’s “50 Poems from Auroville'' will be on sale in Auroville book shops and venues with all proceeds going to A4A for land purchase.

For three years, dynamism has also been fueled by Auroville’s artist community via Art for Land, a 3-way collaboration of A4A, Unity Pavilion, and AV Arts (exhibition at Unity Pavilion until 15th February). In a cycle of reciprocal generosity, Art for Land donors receive an artwork as a gift from the works donated by 70 artists from Auroville, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, India, and AVI centers. Donations can be made at Unity Pavilion or via the online gallery and reservation systemhttp://artforland.auroville.org. Says Rema of the Unity Pavilion team, “Securing the land should be the first priority of Auroville as Mother had insisted. Without the land how can the city manifest?” And for Renu of AVArts: “‘There should be a place’ and a place means land!”

The magical atmosphere of the exhibition and its purpose have been caught by two videos – by AV Radio and by Auroville Outreach Media (see Colaap news). As he did for the opening ceremony, Auroville Foundation Secretary Mohan Chunkath will preside over the February 15th closing event with its a rare visual presentation of “The Mother – an artist and artistic influence”, followed by rock and sitar concerts and a fundraising dinner for land purchase, with food contributed by Auroville eateries. Other vital support comes on the Auroville Marathon weekend from Visitors Centre boutiques, eateries, and other Auroville units which donate sales proceeds in solidarity for the land, as Maroma is doing with its special 50th candles.

“We are extremely grateful for the amazing support we have been receiving from Auroville’s network of friends”, says LFAU leader Aryadeep. “Let us keep it up and continue to grow the support for the land – the essential base for Auroville’s existence!”

Expanding

More must be done urgently to secure the most crucial land, so while continuing to grow the dynamism of A4A and GreenAcres, a new form of outreach is being created. Sigrid explains: “The task is big. It’s by seeing Auroville as a research centre for the future of humanity that we can reverse the current trend of commercial development spreading in our area. We must reach out for the support of like-minded people, idealistic and progressive thinkers and activists, and organizations globally. We need to stand for what Auroville is meant to be – ‘The city the earth needs’ – in the most progressive way.”

To this end, a new website funding.auroville.org showcasing what Auroville does for the world has been developed in collaboration with a U.S. financial professional, Ken Vanosky, and support from AVI USA. Ken says: “There are many ways to describe Auroville and the community’s positive accomplishments. A powerful descriptive is that Auroville is the world’s foremost example of ‘evolutionary regenerative culture’, one that has regenerated and stands as steward of its lands, created an experimental laboratory and centre of education for systems-based regenerative design, and outreaches with projects across India and worldwide. The new website emphasizes this position and speaks to the world’s environmental community, foundations and environmental organizations, making the case that Auroville deserves strong international support.”

With this new site as the backbone and appealing to a new base of donors, a global crowdfunding action for the land is about to kick off. Using social media connections and networks – making it easy for Aurovilians to participate – it will succeed or fail based on our ability to greatly expand the network. It needs all our support. Those who would like to participate, please send their contact data to [email protected]

Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole, but safeguarding this precious trust is in our hands. It is up to us to reverse the trend!