Here's the official call for the meeting recorded yesterday at the Unity Pavilion.

"The Auroville Council and the RAS invite you to bring your updated FAMC mandate-related questions to a question and answer Q&A session with members of the FAMC on proposed changes to the FAMC mandate. The draft mandate was published by the AVC in the N&N [491] 23 March 2013, with a request for feedback, and is attached at the end of this week's issue of News&Notes for your consideration again in the lead-up to Wednesday's meeting."

Not many residents attended. Read more

Maybe it was coincidence but many Aurovilians came together on the Labour Day to discuss about the increasing gap between the working groups and the residents of Auroville. This gap is steadily increasing, and since few months one of the most important of Auroville's working groups (the Working Committee) is not able to function properly. Despite the heat the meeting was well attended and many residents expressed their concerns. Another meeting will follow to begin the 'healing process', and the sense of optimism was present. Read more

Auroville’s co-existence within a rapidly growing urban-rural continuum emphasizes on an urgent need to reflect upon the development patterns within the larger bio-region. Auroville’s pro-active role in the development in the region appears as the need of the hour to not only secure land use but to also induce sustainable growth patterns within the bio region. TDC initiated a platform for an interactive brainstorming session for Aurovilians actively involved in the region with our guest advisor Prof. K.T Ravindran from Delhi. Read more

One more energetic morning session focused on dissolving polarities with Elvira and Luigi - this time without B, who is mending his back. Be well, B! With them in the studio are three coordinators of the freshly selected Town Development Council L'Avenir D'Auroville: Abha P (communication and consultation coordinator), Nicole (socio-economic planning coordinator) and Sauro (overall coordination). The conversation zoomed in on the challenge of mobility - a topic central to the overarching theme of how to best manifest the city the earth needs. Read more

Jean Francois was very delighted that the group jumped with him into the unknown during the one day workshop on “Collective Intelligence”. He felt blessed on the behave that everybody surrendered to the journey and offered him full trust. The purpose of “Collective Intelligence” on the conventional level was full-filled but his wish for everyone to leave with a sense of freedom towards the individual being and the collective won't be answered for him. In the end it is about the essential being and not about a particular goal.

In the new energy of 2013, Elvira, Luigi and B are back on the air attempting to ground Auroville values together with Mona and Peter A, both architects and former Dreamcatchers. Picking up the threads from the series of former conversations, the focus is on the links and missing links, small steps and quantum leaps to manifest the city the earth needs. Mona, with her experience as a former L’Avenir d’Auroville member, shares the intricacies of planning in the Auroville parameters. Read more

Jean-François Noubel a une vie de chercheur et d’aventurier. Chercheur, il a fondé le CIRI -- Collective Intelligence Research Institute -- en charge de la recherche scientifique de cette nouvelle discipline, et de ses applications pratiques autant par le levier des technologies que des méthodologies. Aventurier, il parcourt la planète pour rencontrer, apprendre et échanger avec les Hommes, le monde et la nature. Se demandant toujours comment vivra et se vivra l’Homme de demain. Read more

A new initiative aligning with the time-Auroville Intergral Sustainability Institute, and following is interesting interview with Lalit on it. Institute is intended to evolve as a platform which would work towards bringing various interlinked branches of "integral sustainability" together through documentation, research, information, dissemination and publication. Suitable collaborative associations are expected to develop with other activities, institutes, centers and individuals. They hope that Institute will play a role in further education. Read more

Project Collective Priorities Needs You! The outcome of the first meeting on community values and priorities that took place mid June yielded fruit aplenty; the second in the series takes place tomorrow Wednesday, Unity Pavilion. The Collective Priorities Project aims to build an evolving set of collective priorities and values that can assist the growth of the community. All participants in this community are wanted and welcome. Read more

L'eau semble bien être au cœur de l'actualité d'Auroville. Gilles du CSR (Auroville Centre for Scientific Research) nous a déjà présenté une conférence sur un futur plan d'organisation de l'eau dans Auroville jeudi 21 juin. Gilles nous parle à nouveau de cette ressource vitale dans une interview. Pour pallier au manque d'eau imminent, il souhaite mettre en place des infrastructures qui allient différentes ressources (irrigation, eaux de pluie, désalinisation par exemple). Mais de tels changements ne sont pas faciles à mettre en place... Read more

Finishing with the free dinner donated by Tanto Pizzeria, the meeting begun 3 hours before, and brought more questions than answers. More than 450 Aurovilians attended to this meeting organized by the RAS. If you failed to listen to the almost 3 hours of recording you'll have the chance know about the long list of topics discussed. Are you new to Auroville's matter? Then listen to it till the end and enjoy how the Auroville's resident are trying to make happen the Auroville's Dream. Next step? Another meeting but with just one topic: The land. Read more

The community had a chance yesterday at La Terrace to bid farewell to Mr S. Loganathan, who has been the Acting-Secretary for past 4 months. At this occasion he told us that it was a unique experience for him, and since he works at Pondicherry University he will always be in touch with Auroville. Aster Patel and members of the Working Committee warmly welcomed Mr. N. Balabaskar as they would welcome any member of the family. His long term commitment , openness, a will to actively interact, and his human warmth made him popular in the community years before.

Srimoyi, who is in charge of the organization of the Park of Unity (the amphitheater, the Banyan Tree, the Matrimandir and the twelve gardens including the Garden of Unity), explains the three different booking procedures to enter the Matrimandir. She also talks about the Mother's guidelines and the current difficulties her team has to face. 'It must be solitary and silent. It must have an isolating zone, one must have access to it only with permission.' Read more

On January 1, 2012, the Aura was introduced to Auroville. The Aura, not quite a currency, but more of a symbol of exchange, was created to expand Aurovillian's ideas of ways to deal with money. I took some time to speak with B about the emergence of a symbol of exchange that is a wholly Aurovillian concept, and the question of how money is handled in Auroville. The Aura is made out of waste paper, printed at the Auroville press, and embellished with the well-known symbols of Auroville.

In today's news we have and Interview with Amrit of the Auroville Council regarding construction and land issues. Announcement about biodynamic composting techniques happening at Windarra farm each friday at noon. Wonderland is a new service where you can sell, exchange, or trade anything opposite Mark’s coffee shop. Celebrations March 8th all around Auroville: Holi at Upasana at 3 pm, International Women’s Day at the Tibetan Pavillion at 5:00 pm and Full Moon Gathering at Savitri Bhavan in front of Sri Aurobindo's Statue 7.15 to 8.15pm. Read more

In almost 30 years, today was the first formal visit of the representatives of the Sri Aurobindo Society to Auroville. Luigi of CIRHU made a presentation to the guests on the future outlook of Auroville, development plans, land-protection issues, green infrastructure and also the need to create better possibilities for the youth to work here in Auroville. Today, says Luigi, was a turning point in the relationship of Auroville with the Sri Aurobindo Society and a new start for the two sides towards promoting development of Auroville. Read more

Clare Fanning elaborates on the topic of the development of Auroville websites. She shows examples of new 3D methods of creating websites, and she discusses these new possibilities with the attending Auroville International members. Read more

In the Unity Pavillion, the new multi purpose hall, the members of Auroville International have come together to discuss the Aurocard plan. Akash and Marco sketch a detailed picture of the Aurocard to the AVI members. The plan is as you know already in use, but not optimally. In this meeting, the unresolved difficulties around the card are discussed in detail. Every aspect regarding the Aurocard from technical details to the reactions of the guest houses are part of the discussion. Read more

The old and symbolic mother-tree of Upasana felt over their roof during the last cyclone in Auroville. But Uma, the funder of the organization, has decided to keep material frustration aside and focus on the meanings behind this event. Next to the construction site she talks about Upasana, its foundations and the effects of the cyclone over the building and community. Read more

Featured today are three radio people whose names are always mentioned as 'instudio'... they are Andrea, Gilles and Yahalom, three anchors of AurovilleRadio; they speak not only about the radio, but also their involvement with it. Tomorrow is Diwali... celebrations include one at Bharat and one at Upasana. The Hibiscus Art Village Project, which will be a residence for artists and craftpersons, calls for artists, performers and creators to participate in its fundraiser presentation to be held next month. Read more

On August 18 2011 the Budget Coordination Commitee (BCC) had a meeting at Cinema Paradiso. Lyle, a member of the BCC, presented the City Services Budget for 2011/2012. He informed the participants of the budgeting process and demonstrated the total budget and its allocation for the upcoming year. Moreover he gave a comparative resume of the past budget allocations. The presentation opened an interesting debate on these topics. At the meeting were present also members of Fund Asset Management Commitee. Click here to download the presentation. Read more

Yes, two years are around already, and Auroville Film Festival 2011 is approaching fast. In the interview with Marco and Tlaloc we found out some interesting details about it. Believe it or not, but those who hasn't applied yet still got two solid weeks to do so. At the same time organizers are asking for help in many various forms of volunteering work. Auroville Film Festival is much more than just a bunch of more or less good movies - it is about sharing, educating, being together as community in festive environment dedicated to film. Read more

Today's news features Ross, a member of the Entry Service Team, speaking of his experience and his growth as a result of taking on such work. Also find an announcement for a new session of 'Orientation to Auroville,' for those in the process of becoming newcomers it's part of the Entry Process to Auroville. It is always an amazing experience; it uncovers the deeper reality of Auroville, its history, aims and ideals, and present functioning in key areas. Read more

With Tibetan visitors we talked about Auroville, Tibet, world, and their experiences . And if means to be a citizen that you belong somewhere, for Tibetan life of refugees is hard since the government in exile cannot issue them citizenship . Those who might obtain citizenship in any country around the world they remain to be Tibetans by their hearts but they also appreciate the feeling of belonging. Internationally they do get lot of support, but at the same time they also know that they do not have the same opportunities as others. Read more

The news features a few words from each of the new RAS team members (sadly missing Partha.) The team invites all residents to attend tomorrow's General Meeting, 5 pm at SAWCHU, at which time they will introduce themselves. Residents are encouraged to voice any concerns, hopes and suggestions for the future. The meeting is also an opportunity to discuss how to proceed on the issue of the selection process for Auroville's Council and Working Committee. Also some news about Restorative Circles, a dialogue process to resolve parties in conflict. Read more

In the interview with Chandresh, one of the Working committee members we talked about it, about Resident Assembly Service...about problems Working Committee and Auroville Council does face in its functioning. What challenges Auroville and its residents do face in governing the city, what experiences this might bring with it, and how all of it fit in to the progress and evolution of each of us. Read more

L'Avenir d'Auroville in cooperation with the technology company Dura-Line hosted an informational meeting on "Existing Synergy Opportunity for Infrastructure Development". The meeting presented Polyethylene Piping Systems solutions which would serve gray water/black water treatment and infrastructure development works in the Auroville Community. We have recorded the presentation and discussions of subjects related to distribution schemes, connection between houses and communities, environmental impact, construction and costs, more efficient drip irrigation systems, gray and black water treatment and much more. The presentation was held at the Town Hall, in conference hall on June 4th . Read more

In this news segment the end of EndoSulfan is targeted with the suggestion to shed light on the topic to mothers of the afflicted youngsters in the neighbouring villages, by making an epidemiological study in those villages. Also in the news, news of a film creating awareness of another impact on the world's ecosystem: the disappearing frogs. And, gratitude for the successful fund-raising concert put on by Suryan and Friends. Read more

The news today offers a number of announcements: first, a photo exhibition at Aurelec Cafeteria: 'TheSecret of the Moving Rocks.' California's Valley of Death has scientists perplexed; huge stones are moving around, sometimes faster than pedestrians. Some move in pairs, some downhill, some uphill - but who has seen them moving? The photo exhibition is open from 8 am to 5 pm. Next, a shortened name has been adopted for the upcoming Auroville Institute of Integral Health: Kadamba, a Sanskrit word meaning dove, symbol of Peace and Hope. Lastly, an obituary for Aurovilian Tenzin Dolkar, born in Nepal of Tibetan nationality, mother of two sons, who left her body on 27 April due to a motorbike accident. Cremation took place 29 April as chanted Tibetan prayers filled the air. Read more

Gino in Discipline farm shows us a bee hive and explains how he became part of the project of rising awareness about the actual situation of our bees here in Auroville. Honey is not only a nourishing wonder, it is also anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and anti-oxydant. We learn from the behavior of the bees, seeing how, all their life, they share the same small amount of space, in a community where they evolve from the job of cleaning the hive to the higher one of looking for pollen in flowers, until they attain the final goal of taking care of the Mother, the Queen Bee. Read more