Issue Nº329 – News in brief

The Auroville Earth Institute was awarded the international “Low Carbon” award for the Kaza Eco-Community Centre it had built in the remote valley of Spiti with raw rammed earth, integrating solar lighting and a solar passive “trombe wall”. The award was given by Construction 21 in Marrakech, Morocco.

In response to a petition signed by 60 Aurovilians, the Auroville Council has temporarily paused new entry applications and has decided to slow down the process until clarity is provided. Together with the Working Committee, it has formed an Entry Task Group to look into the problems of implementing the recently approved Entry Policy, which aims at delinking the process of welcoming new people from material criteria such as permanent housing requirements and money. However, questions about the impact this influx of people will have on Auroville’s economy and how the existing organization is going to respond to the new housing needs of those who come in have been raised and need to be studied and solutions explored. Also, clarity on the role of the mentors is required.

Energy Conservation & Efficiency – A Guidebook for Responsible Energy Management has been published by Auroville Consulting. The publication is devised to help residents understand various technologies available in the market and make pre-meditated choices in choosing the most energy efficient appliances. The guidebook can be downloaded at goo.gl/FKMWeg.

The Thamarai learning and community centre celebrated 10 years of working towards impacting better health, education and leadership in Edayanachavady village and other villages around Auroville. For the occasion, the teachers of today, who were the children in 2006, created a short video of Thamarai’s journey which can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4NJ6iFH6t4.

Dr. Karan Singh has been reappointed as Chairman of the Auroville Foundation for a period of 4 years by the Minister of HRD by notification dt. 23-11-2016. The remaining Board Members, other than the ex-officio Board Members from the HRD Ministry, have yet to be notified. The re-appointment was very much welcomed in Auroville.