Overview and Sustainable Action Research Projects

Hello! Greeting from Karl, one of the Auroville program faculty (along with Abigail) for the cohort at the Tibetan and American Pavilions. It’s hard to believe that we have already finished with Week 3 of the semester! So much has happened, and the weeks have flown by.

It’s Sunday afternoon, a free day, and I’m finally finding time to type out a blog entry. I’m sitting on the shady patio of the American Pavilion and a few students are also here reading, writing, or looking out on the adjoining field full of flowers and butterflies. Most of us just returned from a giant pancake brunch at Adventure, one of the Auroville communities where Abbey, our Program Coordinator, lives. Ah, Sundays!

I’d like to offer a very quick overview on what’s been happening from my perspective, and then write about things that stand out from the past couple of days. Overarching is my celebration of working with another amazing group of young men and women who are passionate about living meaningful lives in the world. With each student and their particular blend of interest and experience in one or more of the themes of sustainability, community, and consciousness/spirituality, we have immediately found ourselves in a lively learning community. And, I so appreciate the qualities of mutual care, respect, and support which I experience among all the students.

Beyond our little community of 12 students and two faculty (there is another Living Routes cohort here of the same size living nearby), we are living, exploring, and learning within the much larger community of Auroville, and of course the context of Indian culture. Three weeks into the program, some of the things we have already done include: having a dynamic and play-filled orientation to Auroville at the hands of long-time Aurovillian Ross; settling into our homes in the Tibetan and American Pavilions; creating our learning community vision and values from a circle of colorful mandalas we each created; diving into our academic work by studying the “Integral” lenses of sustainability – the inner (intra-subjective), cultural (inter-subjective), and outer (objective) perspectives; beginning Service Learning Projects at sites all around Auroville; researching and reporting on Sustainable Action Research Projects, which I’ll tell more about below; and much more.

Probably the greatest joy for me in being a part of this program is having the opportunity to co-create a “learning community” with the students. In the learning community, I witness and experience first-hand the unique and profound collaboration and closeness that emerges among students, and between students and faculty. The Sustainable Action Research Projects we are just completing offer a case in point.

Yesterday morning student teams presented their Sustainable Action Research Projects – investigations of various dimensions of sustainable practice and technology here in Auroville. Students explored a range of research projects, such as:

• Windmill technology
• Spirulina harvesting
• Governance and decision-making in Auroville
• Traditional Tamil Siddha medicine
• Gray Water, ‘Living Machines,’ and sustainable wastewater treatment
• Dynamised water purification

I so enjoyed both the information and engagement each presentation offered. Here are a few highlights:

Xandre and Danielle made a small model of a water-pumping windmill and its basic mechanics – out of sticks, coconut, and other found objects. Alicia and Katie described how Spirulina offers a complete source of protein and most essential vitamins and can be grown using hundreds of times less land area than is needed to produce mean protein. Ben interviewed an “Old Timer” Aurovillian and offered us a clear and concise guide to the intricacies of Aurovillian politics. E.V., Ciara, Laura C. and Camilla created a movie with interviews of Siddha medicine practitioners and explained how ancient, low-cost, decentralized, and impressively effective this plant-based medicinal system is. Eric took us on a walking tour of our very own gray water filtration system right next to the American Pavilion and shared colorful drawings he made which map out the system. Jo and Laura F. experienced some of the challenges typical of doing field-based research – the office they were directed to was not where they were told it would be – and will present their findings on Dynamised water tomorrow.

I love many things about these research projects and presentations. First, they offer practical learning about sustainability “in action.” Instead of simply theoretical models or textbook based study, we got a chance to experience how things are being done on the ground, and therefore to learn the unique and embodied lessons that emerge from actual implementation. After experiencing each of these presentations, I almost always heard someone say something along the lines of “Wow, cool. I could try that myself!” The experiential nature of both the investigation and the sharing made these “technologies” all more within reach.

Second, the presentations offer an opportunity for us all to learn from one another. Students stand up and share what they’ve learned with their peers, and then both students and faculty ask questions and discuss what has been presented, magnifying and multiplying the learning, and sharing the role of “teacher.”

Third, and not least, the projects showcase and invite the creativity of students, from funky models made from low-budget, sustainable materials to first-time experiments in movie-making using a digital camera.

So, there are a few glimpses of the semester thus far. Until next time!

Namaste,
Karl