From B, for Cooperatif Cosmique: Jan. 1st 2012 the Aura note began to stir in Auroville, a new, small step, highly symbolic; there are three ways of financial exchange in Auroville: account numbers, guest cards, cash and Auras. All four are debit capital economics, ultimately regulated by a few people who manage the International Monetary Fund. Contact B: 994 353 2829. On water: That seawater desalination is the only solution is an terror: the recommendation is multi-sourcing.Clarity on the water situation is the intention.And multi-sourcing. Read more

May Day, the first of May celebrated all over India as a spring fertility festival; commemorated also as “International Worker’s Day” with its historical significance. Maharashtra and Gujarat celebrate their statehood on this day. Water and the sad story of Fatehpur Sikri: a magnificant city from 1585, abandoned shortly after its completion, due to a paucity of water, remaining as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Water and the future of Auroville: shall we heed anticipatory, long-term future planning options? Or repeat the FATE of FATEhpur Sikri? Read more

Darshan Day, Mother's Final Arrival: concentration under the Matrimandir Banyan Tree 6 pm. The Mother, at the beginning of Auroville: THERE IS ENOUGH WATER, IT WILL BE ON THE AUROVILIANS TO USE THEIR INGENUITY IN ORDER TO LEARN HOW TO COLLECT IT AND TO USE IT.” If our aquifers are not yet saline, the process may be imminent. Suggested: wider communication on all aspects of water, to recover more conscious behaviour with natural resources. May tomorrow’s world be no longer the fruit of our reactions, but rather the fruit of our actions. Read more

Water for Auroville, an urgent issue! by Gilles Boulicot was at Cinema Paradiso. It emerged that there is more than one way to solve the problem of scarcity of water in the Auroville land and around it. To face this problem it is important to use multi-sourcing. There are many ways to improve today’s situation. First of all the relationship with neighbouring towns is a necessity for the hydrogeological environment. There is only one for the entire region. Today at 3 pm in Citadine is a meeting to form a group of people to manage about it. Read more

Next two afternoons we will concentrate on the water. As an introduction, today at 5:00 pm, at Cinema Paradiso in Town Hall they will screen the film "Water the Great Mystery", and tomorrow also at Cinema Paradiso at 5pm Gilles Boulicot (former head of "Harvest" for over 13 years) offers a special talk on the topic of water.There will be a Cultural program on Thursday, 12th of April 2012, at 7.00pm at the occasion of Tamil New Year at Sri Aurobindo Auditorium, Bharat Nivas in International Zone. At Pitanga on 15th at 5pm High Flyers choir. Read more

Sonja of Auroville Council talks on current issues the Council continues to face; the topic is land. The urgency of awareness regarding water in Auroville and bio-region is of vital importance today: Gilles Boulicot gives a talk giving facts, awareness. The Mother had said there is enough water; the Aurovilians must use their ingenuity to collect it and make use of it, in a conversation with early Aurovilian Dr.Tim Rees, hydro-geologist. Auroville seeks measures to overcome this challenge and develop a water resource management plan. Read more

A presentation on Pumped Storage Systems has been given in the Town Hall Conference Room on Friday 06-01-2012. The presentation team includes Harald Kraft (Water Engineering Consultant, see: ib-kraft.de/eng/), Michael Bonke (who has studied the pumped storage systems of Ruselkraftwerke, Germany) and Toine Van Megen (who presented the relevance of pumped storage systems in the context of renewable energy). The presentation and discussion had also look at the possibilities of utilizing the Matrimandir Lake as the lower elevation Read more

At Joy Guest house, previously known as College Guesthouse, the main damage was caused by uprooted trees. Also, they have no water or electricity. Except from the working men and the people living there, the place is pretty deserted, since it is impossible of receiving guests in this condition. After the interview, on my way back to the radio, i was forced to stop since a tree was taken down to secure future safety to electricity lines. Read more

Hemant is part of the Auroville Cyclone Relief & Rehabilitation Team. In this interview he's sharing the last few days of work of the many groups involved in the relief and rehabilitation. In the coming days the electricity will be restored in the center of Auroville but in other places it will take 4 weeks since the TNB personal is busy in other places. The main electrical work is done by Aurovilians.The positive aspect of the cyclone's event is the fact that many persons came together to help each other. Many guest also joined in this effort. Read more

In this interview Sauro explains the plans and actions of the teams involved in the Thane cyclone recovery. The main priority is to supply power generators to fill up the communities' tanks scattered around Auroville. Generators has been rented and an order has been placed to buy 3 more of them. The Electrical Service is working from dawn to sunset preparing the installation of the main electrical lines which had been damage. There was no casualty in Auroville, all the guests are safe and the guest houses are open. Read more

You can hear interviews and soundscapes from sadhana forest, recorded 2nd of january 2012, a couple of days after cyclone Thane hit the community. Aviram, founder of Sadhana forest, speaks about his experience and the consequences for his home. Also some of the volunteers active at Sadhana share their feelings about the storm passing by and what needs to be done now. Although the conditions are harsh, all the volunteers keep their spirits high. Sadhana forest, a forest in the making, will recover and keep on growing... Read more

On Friday December 30, cyclone Thane hit the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry with heavy rains and wind speeds of up to 135 kmph (83 mph) and tidal surges of up to 1.5 metres (5 feet). The cyclone hit the coast from Chennai to Karaikal. The Villupuram district is among the worst hit as the cyclone epicenter was close to Pondicherry. Here is an interview with Frederik and Joseba regarding fund raising and a plan to repair damaged houses. In the READ MORE section find Auroville's official press release. Read more

Dear friends, sorry for the 3 days long silence but Auroville has no power and very unstable telephone & Internet connections since the 30th. We switched off all systems to protect the equipment. From Monday we'll cover extensively the Thane Cyclone's effects in the region. Auroville suffered damages but not people died or get injured. All the working groups are working hard to recover the basic infrastructures. Please read the READ MORE section for an official announcement. In the audio file OM by Nadaka as well wishing for the new year. Read more

Very much interesting and unknown to most of us is the world of probiotics Margarita presented in her talk on "Sustainable Cities with Natural Probiotics at the Red Cross Society Training Institute at the Auroville International meeting in Addis Abbaba in Ethiopia this year. The concept that our planet with its nature is capable of healing and cleaning itself, if we give it enough time resonated in our ears, but since time short for us, the role of the natural probiotics can be of a huge importance. Drinking water, safe waste disposal. Read more

Taking into account the regional context, the current choice that has supported the development of Auroville up till now (that is to tap 100% of the water from the aquifers), can no longer guarantee the water-security nor expected future developments. The preliminary study shows that Auroville must diversify the sources of water supply. Among the possible resources, rain water and its management in the form of surface water seems to be one of the most promising. Click here to download the pdf of the presentation. Read more

Today we are starting a new project at AurovilleRadio: The Green News. Every Friday we will bring you information connected to the environment, projects, issues and initiatives related to our Planet, happening in Auroville and all over the globe. In our first program we have an interview with Jonah regarding beach erosion that are affecting not only Auroville but the whole Bay of Bengal. Also we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Green Peace India and we share valuable information on plastic bags and how can you be part of the change. Read more

Frequent visitor from Woodstock NY Julian Lines, International Advisory Council member speaks about the many things in which he’s involved. Announcements: Auroville Ultimate Frisbee team came 3rd in the 2011Chennai Heat tournament. Caregiver training in basic nursing skills to 8 female graduates completed. "Water Cell" presentation on the need for a new water policy for Auroville at Cinema Paradiso,Friday 21st October, 5pm. Read more

Some positivity by willingness to listen to each other was Renu good news on L'AVenir d'Auroville in our interaction. Team agreed to meet once a week to share and discuss on particular topic, prioritise them and stay flexible in the needs if they arise. Exciting news we heard was also the one on master plans - by December they hope to have a bio regional master plan, which will fuse with the green belt master plan, and will be based on conservation of water for the general bio region.; and my March 2010 five years plan should be completed.

On our regular update from L'Avenir d'Auroville or Town Development Council Renu shared some points on administrative process of proposed projects, and as she says in Auroville everything depend very much on the capacity and energy of the person in charge of the project. And TDC should be there just to assist the project with the use of the footprint of the galaxy loosely while looking at the ground reality, and that way keep the dynamism of the galaxy without being to attached to the map. Water Task Team will be soon ready to present plans.

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

Awakening the Dreamer Symposium is a tool developed by Pachamama Alliance to "awake" the participants, and to stimulate changes. Through participation in this program, people are encouraged to find their unique and powerful role as agents of change in creating a new future. Ethan, Bindu and Andrea shortly introduced Pachamam Alliance and its purpose, and what Awakening the Dreamer means to them - either to bring personal transformation, inspire people to the highest, lead to real changes in each one's life... Read more

"The water of Fukoshima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer. Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you." was heard today all over the globe. Masaru Emoto, Messenger of Water during over twenty years research of hado measuring and water crystal photographic technology have been witnessing that water can turn positive when it receives pure vibration of human prayer no matter how far away it is. Some joined this collective prayer with all sincerity, open heart and love at Quiet Healing Center at noon. Read more

In this tenth interview Murti (Ayar Padi) gives us an audio tour through his farm and the issues linked to it. Born in the local village Kottakari, Murti had to finance his farm on loans. Slowly it transforms to the farm that it is today. A farm with many varaities of vegetables and volunteers who pay to help out. Murti freely talks about his expectations of the five year plan called ASAP. As ASAP comes to existence, Ayar Padi Farm really gets the change to develop, says Murti. Read more

Amongst other talks at Mutation II was also Joss presentation of enormous project in Chennai on the banks of Adyar Poonga. Huge work of Joss and many Aurovilians there for last four years was completed just a month ago. It is tremendous transformation of something that used to be a sewer back to river, by sunlit paths next to it. With their work they didn't only expressed lots of creativity but it was also a journey in relation to water which we insulted and degraded that we got sewers instead of rivers. And as Joss mentioned they couldn't have done it if Auroville with what is stands for, wouldn't be behind it... if there wouldn't be an experience of transformation in reality. To download the presentation as pdf click here.

Long time Aurovillian, William "B” Sullivan works to aid Auroville in its sustainability goal to reduce its waste to zero through his project, Zero Waste. In this interview, B explains what it means to produce "zero waste” and the project's different initiatives. He gives advice for reducing waste at home and explains why it is important for Auroville to have zero waste. B also answers how waste became a problem in Auroville and the challenges Zero Waste faces today. Read more

The news today features an excerpt from Jyoti's introduction of the symposium 'Exploration of the National Soul' plus the insights of B on this profound topic. Also featured is the pond-like condition of the Auroville Library, again flooded due to the rains, due to the lower confines of the space housing the Auroville Library; a yearly occurrence for the last 15 years. Announcements include the 150th anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore to be be commemorated through the Tamil Heritage Centre and, NOW: the Nomadic Orchestra of the World presented by the Italian Pavilion. Read more

One of the speakers at the Green Practices Workshop, Lucas Dengel’s presentation was on Solid Waste Management. The presentation was structured into various sections dealing with the present scenario, how we discard waste, public health and hygiene, moral issues related to waste management, technical issues, and more. He spoke passionately about the dangerous consequences we face due to our disregard to indiscriminate dumping of waste. Lucas explained the pros and cons of many latest waste management technologies. His final message was to practice recycling as, “we are all recycled”. Download presentation

The interview today is with Aviram that shares with us the happiness and joy for the fact that Sadhana Forest was awarded the 3rd place in the Humanitarian Water and Food Award ceremony that took place in the University of Copenhagen. He also shares with us the importance of this award and also how is the daily life at Sadhana's at this moment, with the guest season coming. For those interested on Odissi and Gotipua, Bharat Nivas is bringing a great opportunity! UHU on going courses and also the announce of two exhibitions that are finishing in the next week.

Priya Vincent one of the coordinators of Buddha Garden spoke in detail about organic farming. The basic elements of farming – soil, water, plants, animals, and pests and diseases – are universal to any farming method that’s adapted. Priya, who was presenting at the Green Practices Workshop, said understanding each of these elements is the key to sustainability. She spoke in depth about each of them and related it to her experiences with the Buddha Garden. Priya remarked that farming can never be a mechanical process but is more of dance between all these elements. Download presentation

Akash Heimlich is a micro-electronics and software programmer, who co-founded EV Future in 2009. At the Green Practices Workshop, he spoke about his experiments with Aquaponics, which is a system of agriculture that involves simultaneous cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a symbiotic environment. The water consumption in this system is less, as the fish tank water is used for cultivation and usage of chemicals can also be avoided. To learn more, download presentation