The Bridge: A collaborative encounter

Over the last 50 years, Auroville has been practically researching the transformation of cultural, social, environmental and sustainable living and spiritual needs for the evolution of humanity. The community continues to develop innovative and alternative forms and practices, some of them award-winning, inspiring people and projects worldwide.

On the occasion of Auroville’s 50th anniversary, “The Bridge,” a 6-day collaborative research encounter, shared the experience of the living laboratory that is Auroville with a group of progressive Indian and international researchers practically engaged in various fields in which the community has been particularly active. These included socio-economy, environmental sustainability, education and arts. The event aimed to convey the full potential of the field of applied research that is Auroville, and to invite participants to actively engage with Auroville through collaborative projects and partnerships.

Bridging local, regional, national and international scales, the event was attended by local and regional invitees, such as environmental artist Ravi Agarwal; integral psychologist Larry Seidlitz of the Indian Psychology Institute (IPI) and the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research (SACAR); former head of the social science department of the French Institute of Pondicherry Audrey Richard; and Kirti Chandak, the founding director of the Pondicherry-based TASMAI centre of Art & Culture and the Kalinka Art Gallery.

The Bridge also brought together well-known Indian figures and international attendees [see box].

Bridging principles

The Bridge had guiding principles. “Bridging the Inner and the Outer” was one of them, and participants were sensitized on the first day to the unique breadth, depth, understanding and practice of “(re)search” in Auroville in an introduction to the community that explored the four points of the Auroville Charter – read in each of the official languages of the community; English, French, Tamil and Sanskrit – through the experiences of three generations of Aurovilians.

“Bridging across Disciplines” was another key principle, and the following four days used a trans-disciplinary, theme-based framework inspired by the Auroville Charter and The Ideal of Human Unity. Each day explored a given theme, starting with a diversity of site visits and field presentations by various Aurovilians in the mornings, followed by public presentations from visiting researchers in the afternoons, and concluding with panel discussions in which Aurovilians and visitors discusssed on the theme of the day.

“Bridging Knowledge with Practice'' was a key aspect of the event, so on each day the panelists and presenters brought together a diversity of people from academic researchers to informal experimenters, both across and within the Aurovilian and non-Aurovilian participant bodies.

An honest sharing of the difficulties

Regarding another guiding principle, “Bridging Ideals with Reality,” Aurovilians were very honest about sharing the challenges faced by the community. This impressed the invitees even further, who responded by affirming Auroville’s unparalleled experience and “immense contribution to consciousness.” One of them said, “I pray you keep challenging yourself and all of us to keep co-creating a more beautiful world consciousness” (Manish Jain).

Transcendent transdisciplinary themes

The four themes – “Conscious Collectivity”, “Harmony from Diversity”, “Unending Education” and “Creative Progress” – were elaborated on the basis of the Auroville experience, and in terms of their relevance in the contemporary global context. The intention was for them to be based upon yet transcend the current Auroville context, and to transcend fields, because the boundaries of disciplines are only mental conceptualizations that betray the interconnectedness evident in life.

“Conscious Collectivity” sought to share societal and economic practices that deliberately attempt to unify individuals in conscious collectivity, reflecting an ethos of care and solidarity for one another and the planet, inspired by the first line of the Charter: “Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity.”

“Harmony from Diversity” was inspired by a line from Sri Aurobindo in the Ideal of Human Unity: “...in this harmony between our unity and our diversity lies the secret of life,” and focused on holistic practices and approaches that aim to integrate individual, social and environmental systems, enabling a lasting balance of the whole.

“Unending Education” was a theme drawn from the Auroville Charter – “Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages” – and explored educational initiatives and approaches that seek to foster experiential and life-long learning, resonate with the vision of integral education, and aim to deepen individuals’ connection to their inner being in all fields of action.

“Creative Progress” was a creative twist on the “constant progress” of the Auroville Charter, and highlighted diverse artistic expressions and cultural practices that strive to transcend boundaries and transform our relationships with each other, our surroundings, and the world, as well as the role of beauty, inspired by a quotation by the Mother: “Make of beauty your constant ideal. Beauty of soul, beauty of thought, beauty of feelings, beauty of action, beauty in work.”

Aurovilian site explorations & field presentations

To ground the exchange in the field of action that is Auroville, mornings were spent exploring Auroville as a “site of material and spiritual researches” through a variety of site visits, field presentations, informal exchanges, and experiential sessions. These informed and imbued the whole encounter with the lived experience of this “living laboratory.”

The Bridge officially opened with the active inauguration of the Auroville Earth Institute’s participatory construction of the “Universal Earthern Wall,” a symbolic rammed earth wall celebrating unity in diversity with soil from all over the world, for which many Bridge invitees had brought samples of earth. On the introductory day, the visiting researchers explored the new Auroville exhibition by Olivier Barot at the Visitors Centre, as well as the “Dawn of Auroville'' exhibition at Kala Kendra in Bharat Nivas, based on archival material from both the Auroville and Ashram archives for the 50th anniversary. At the end of the first day, all enjoyed a sound bath session with Svaram, one of Auroville’s premier sites of research and experimentation.

The morning site visits for the day of “Conscious Collectivity” started with a field presentation of the Prosperity Area – Pour Tous Distribution Centre, Nandini, and Free Store – highlighting the alternative socio-economic models of each service. There was also a visit to Shradhanjali to demonstrate the socio-economic and educational impact of working in Auroville units for women of the bioregion, the practice of bringing consciousness to matter, and of drawing inspiration from and extending care towards the environment. A visit to the new youth housing project, “Humanscapes”, exemplified how architectural design can foster modes of shared living that balance individuality and collectivity, and resource consumption with availability in a sustainable manner.

The “Harmony from Diversity” day started with highlighting various fields of environmental work in Auroville. These areas included reforestation, water management, energy, waste and farming, as well as projects that find ways to creatively bridge some of these specific areas, like the SCORRES project, Ecopro and Wasteless. The day started off with sunrise at Utility Canyon, showcasing some of the exemplary water retention work undertaken by Auroville since its founding, and then moved on to Pitchandikulam, an excellent model for reforestation and outreach work for rural livelihoods.

The morning for “Unending Education” was initiated with Awareness Through the Body (ATB), which bridges the inner and the outer, and is in itself a source of research and unending education, as it is a lifelong exploration of all planes and parts of the integral being. This was followed by a site visit to the Auroville Earth Institute (AVEI) – the Resource Centre for Asia whose director holds the UNESCO Chair in “Earthen Architecture '' – one of the key sites of applied research in Auroville. Its work bridges not only education and research, but also the environment, socio-economy and architecture.

This was followed with presentations of a few educational initiatives and experiences in Auroville beyond schooling. Alumni of Udavi School presented their work at STEM-Land, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths centre in Udavi for people of all ages, bridging research and education. River Yatras, journeys along rivers of India to facilitate inner and outer discovery for Aurovilian high school students and graduates, highlighted the power of experiential learning for self-development. Finally, the presentation of a research study, “Educational Practices and Opportunities for Adults in Auroville,” offered an overview and insight into Auroville as a whole as a site of unending education.

“Creative Progress” was a day that was dedicated to beauty, the arts and the principle of “bridging the inner with the outer”. A morning Matrimandir concentration was followed by a presentation of the exhibition at Citadines Art Centre on Satprem “On the Way to Supermanhood,” for which 16 Auroville artists contributed a piece in connection with one of the 16 chapters. Visiting artist Ravi Agarwal and Aurovilian sculptor N. Murthy presented their collaborative installation “The Sea Speaks” in the Town Hall gardens, inspired by Tamil Sangam poetry and the love for the environment that it evokes, using the katamaran as symbol of the relationship between human and ocean. Following this we visited Swayam community and Dustudio, where we enjoyed a silent Korean lunch.

Public presentations by visiting researchers

The Bridge afternoon sessions commenced with presentations by the visiting researchers related to their own fields of work and the theme of the day. The speakers and presentations were organized to allow a discourse to unfold that could transcend disciplines and areas of work, giving space for a new conversation to emerge.

To this effect, “Conscious Collectivity” started with Lara Monticelli, who spoke of new social movements throughout the world that aspire to create change through prefigurative practices: practices in which individuals and collectives intentionally embody the change they wish to create. Manish Jain gave an inspirational talk on the new approach of an ‘unlearning society’. The project of Universal Basic Income was introduced next by Sarath Davala, illustrating experiments that had already been undertaken to determine its viability and potential impact in India. The presentation session was concluded by Israel Gev, who described socio-economic water resource management in Israel, as well as its challenges and opportunities, connecting these with water management and planning practices in Auroville, on which he has conducted research and advised since the 90s.

“Harmony from Diversity” had Mark Lawrence provide an introduction to the concept of the Anthropocene and contemporary environmental challenges faced on a global scale today. This was followed by Ravi Agarwal, who picked up on the thread of the Anthropocene from an artistic lens, and provided a meaningful perspective on the effect of the global ecological crises on the rural livelihoods of local fishermen living in Serenity Beach. Livelihoods and harmony in social action were the topics of the next presentation by Ram Subramanian of the Sustainable Livelihood Institute, who shared lessons and insights he has gained on the topic over his years of work in the area. Lastly, Jennie Stephens gave an insightful presentation on the topic of collaboration for community and climate resilience, in which she highlighted the importance of moving towards energy democracy and gender equality in governance.

The day themed “Unending Education” featured Gitanjali J B who used her own journey, beginning in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram school, to illustrate an excellent example of an embodied unending education. This was followed by Larry Seidlitz who presented findings from a study he conducted on Integral Yoga at work based on interviews with individuals from Auroville and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, offering precious insight into the inner life of Aurovilians and Ashramites. Bem Le Hunte presented the innovative degree she has founded that bridges 25 disciplinary fields from which students can self-design their own educational course while developing solutions for real-world issues, and which uses alternatives to exam-based assessments. Finally, Sonam Wangchuck shared his work with SECMOL, an educational reform effort which successfully revived traditional Ladakhi knowledge and explores its application for current environmental challenges in a community campus, as well as his intention to open a university along the same lines: the “Himalayan University of Alternatives.”

“Creative Progress” opened with a presentation by renowned artist Desmond Lazaro who bridges traditional and contemporary practice, sourcing the indigo for his paintings from the Auroville unit Colors of Nature. Jacques Blanc, a French theatre director, shared his work on bridging indigenous and western modes of performance, and the growing importance of embodiment in a digitalized era. Kirti Chandak presented on the three roles of art, aesthetic, educational, and spiritual, and Goutam Das on the strong influence of the natural environment in the arts education and practice of Visva Bharati university.

Each afternoon session concluded with an hour-long panel discussion with a group of both visiting researchers and Aurovilians on the theme of the day, bridging inner and outer perspectives that revealed insights and reflections for and from Auroville, and its significance and contribution to the contemporary global and Indian context.

Collaborative sessions

The week culminated in collaborative sessions in which the visiting researchers, Aurovilian presenters and panelists, and participants of the full programme convened in an “open space session” in which anyone could suggest a potential project and develop it with anyone else interested. The aim was to create a springboard for collaborations informed by an immersion in Auroville which would foster a connection and commitment to carry these forward. The latter was certainly, and movingly, the case, with many expressing that the experience was “life-changing.”

While it is too early to speak of any concrete outcomes, two strong strands that emerged were the creation of partnerships between the higher education institutions represented and Auroville, notably in the form of endowed scholarships for Auroville students, and the importance of facilitating and disseminating research being undertaken in Auroville for a global audience, for which many of the visiting researchers offered to leverage their editorial connections.

Many Aurovilains felt inspired

They also shared that Auroville was “way ahead” of the rest of the world in various domains. At the same time, many Aurovilians said they felt encouraged and inspired to learn of positive changes happening throughout the planet;. that Auroville has much to share with the world 50 years after its inception, and that the world today is opening in ways that can receive what Auroville has to offer.. That Auroville’s own experience and significance can be further revealed to itself through this exchange was apparent as well, and that therein lies a responsibility towards “humanity as a whole".

An audio recording of The Bridge is available online at Auroville Radio. The event was also filmed and video footage will soon be made available online. The Bridge has its own website: www.thebridge.auroville.org and Facebook Page, “The Bridge,” and the team is working on a post-event publication.

Attendees

National attendees included Sonam Wangchuck of Ladakh, the founder of Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), Manish Jain of Udaipur, founder of Shikshantar Institute for Rethinking Development, Swaraj University, and Udaipur as a Learning City, Sarath Davala of Hyderabad, founder of the India Network for Basic Income (INBI), Gitanjali J B, entrepreneur and educator, co-creating the Himalayan Institute for Alternatives (RIAL), and Goutam Das, Director of Kala Bhavana, the arts school of Visva Bharati, the university founded by Tagore in Santiniketan a century ago this year. International attendees included Bern Le Hunte, founding course director of the transdisciplinary Bachelors of Creative Intelligence and Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney, Israel Gev, the head of water resources planning for the Water Authority of Israel, Jennie Stephens, Professor for Sustainability Science and Policy at the Northeastern University, USA, and Associate Director for Str-ategic Research Collaborations at the Global Resilience Institute, as well as Mark Lawrence, Director of the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies in Germany, and Lara Monticelli, a young Italian researcher of alternative social movements.