Environmental education

The WasteLess team made a presentation to the community on 26 July about their Sea Change Programme. This educational initiative has reached over 13,499 Tamil Nadu government school students, transforming their understanding of marine plastic pollution and nurturing the next generation of environmental advocates.

Between September 21st – 29th, Auroville hosted the 8th edition of Earth Shastra, a 9-day immersive journey in the lap of nature, that brought together 30 young changemakers from across India.

Arun Kumar (age 24) and V. Vignesh (age 22) are both Kottakarai village youth who grew up in and around Auroville. Here they share some of their experiences and perceptions of Auroville the community, the project and the Dream.

One of Auroville’s success stories has been the greening and transformation of severely denuded and eroded land to what is now a diverse, rich and, in pockets, thriving woodlands.

Auroville Consulting to help JetSetGo reduce and offset their flight emissions.

As Auroville battles encroachment, nearby deforestation, water depletion and chemical farming, the green skills developed by the pioneers who brought the barren plateau back to life become ever more important.

‘Message in a Bottle’ was an inspiring, well produced community play and a testament to the creative juices flowing in Auroville. Above all, it was great fun with a street smart kick at times.

Auroville Botanical Garden’s Educational Programmes are teaching local students the importance of conserving our local biodiversity.

The Sustainable Livelihood Institute (SLI) is a joint project of the Government of Tamil Nadu and Auroville to promote rural development based on the principles of sustainable development .

The Education Secretary for Tamil Nadu has agreed to integrate a Garbology chapter into the Social Studies textbooks for two grades and the Garbology information boxes for grades 1-10.

In May this year the Auroville Botanical Gardens published its first annual report highlighting the achievements of the past year and its aspirations for the future.

Gerald Frape is a social issues communicator who has been working for 35 years with government and non-government organizations on a wide range of social and environmental issues.

Tamil Nadu today is ranked among India’s most ‘developed’ states. Increasingly urbanised, it has a growing service sector in the cities, and is a proud leader in healthcare and information technology.