Sustainability

To: Shri R.N. Ravi, Chairman, Governing Board, Auroville Foundation. Subject: The MoU with IIT Madras & Land Use Concerns Dear Shri R.N. Ravi ji,

In the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of India, the learned judge, regarding the need for Auroville’s development vis-à-vis environmental protection, stated that “…while the right to a clean environment is a guaranteed fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, the right to development through industrialization equally claims priority under fundamental rights particularly under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

Silence Forest, an 11.2-acre green enclave neighbouring the Vérité community, is little known, even to many Aurovilians. In 2023, five research students from the University of Pondicherry, who were volunteering for the Auroville unit Yuvabe and were mentored by two professors, studied the flora and fauna of the forest and its ability to sequester carbon, conserve water, and increase resilience to adverse climate events.

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.

Over the decades, Auroville has been a fertile hatching ground for many experiments and visionary projects, and this incubatory spirit sometimes goes hand-in-hand with the spark of romance.

Auroville’s Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC) held two general meetings in November in an effort to come closer to the community.

Members of Pour Tous Distribution Centre (PTDC), the Auroville community’s food cooperative, have recently been given a new way to monitor their consumption and develop more sustainable patterns.

Dave Storey is an Aurovilian with a background in humanitarian and development aid. Recently, he announced that he was planning to run a course with Auroville Consulting on the theme of ‘Towards Resilience in a Messy World’.

An innovative process to design a new garden close to the Matrimandir is underway. What is it trying to achieve? What does it involve?

As a prelude to next year’s Golden Jubilee, a series of events took place in the nation’s capital in November to create awareness of what Auroville is, has achieved and aims to become.

The Humanscapes project is designed to accommodate Aurovilians and interns between the ages of 20 - 40 years. The first phase, which is approaching completion, will provide 36 beds in apartments varying from studio size to shared groupings and larger family apartments.

Traveling during the early seventies through the Indian subcontinent brought me to Agra. One afternoon, I found myself sitting on the borders of the Yamuna River while watching a sand barge being loaded right behind the Taj Mahal.

Auroville Consulting is acquiring a considerable reputation in India for its work with State, Central government and international agencies, as well as academic institutions but it is also contributing its expertise to Auroville.

With 55 countries, about 3,000 ethnic groups and about 2,000 languages, Africa is a continent of massive diversity. It is said that the genetic difference between two Africans is often more than the genetic difference between a Chinese and a Czech.

Economic growth cannot be the only raison d’être of our economy.

From 4th December - 7th January, an Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) course was held in Auroville for the first time. The Aurovilian organizers invited participants not only from Auroville but also from the bioregion, India and the world.

The TreeHouseCommunity is an Auroville-based undertaking that consists of an international team of state-of-the-art Treehouse constructors. They share their unique combination of skills, in harmony with nature, around the world.

The Auroville Earth Institute (AVEI) managed by Satprem (founder), Lara, and Iyappan is internationally known as a centre for excellence in earthen architecture.

Recently, the Auroville Campus Initiative team as part of their educational outreach programme ran an innovative course for Indian students and young professionals.

Like the name, India, it was with some surprise that I learnt that the common south Indian fruit, tamarind, has a Persian etymology. The Persians gave the fruit the melodious name of Tamar-i-hind or the “date of India”, which was subsequently Anglicized to tamarind.

The All for Water for All (AFWFA) festival concluded recently on 22 March at Bharat Nivas, after seven weeks of knowledge sharing and learning.

In 1992 Auroville’s renewable energy unit, AuroRE, began providing renewable energy applications and solutions within Auroville and to rural and urban India.

The work of Sadhana Forest is well known. Yearly, more than 1,000 volunteers come for shorter or longer periods to learn about water conservation, rainwater harvesting, earth dam building, afforestation, alternative energies and many more ‘green’ practices.

Murthy has been running Ayarpadi Farm in Auroville for the last 15 years. He talks to Auroville Today about the challenges and rewards.

As part of its efforts to highlight alternative and sustainable solutions for an urban future, Auroville Green Practices has launched the colourful publication My Pumpkin Roof.

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.

In 2009, the World Bamboo Congress in Thailand declared the 18th of September to be World Bamboo Day (WBD). This day is intended to raise awareness of bamboo, one of the best renewable resources, as one possibility for meeting the growing needs of our global population.

Auroville International Advisory Council (IAC) member Kabir Shaikh has had a long and distinguished career in education. He has taught in London and been a top educational administrator in the U.K. and in the Middle East.

Tomas and Krishna farm on different scales and in different ways. Tomas manages the 134 acres of Annapurna Farm; Krishna farms six acres of Solitude in the ‘non-till’ Fukuoka style.