C.I.R.H.U. Auroville

Its main areas of focus will include the study of human transformation and the exploration of conditions that are favourable for an evolution in consciousness and the realisation of a fundamental human unity. CIRHU wishes to be a kind of think tank and exchange-point for people around the world who are concerned with these themes – to experiment, discuss, exchange and contribute to the growing global understanding of what it means to create and live in a truly spiritualised society.

CIRHU will also be interdisciplinary in the sense that its areas of enquiry will be nurtured by whatever streams of knowledge will flow from research institutions in India and abroad as well as from the faculties of SAIIER.

This proposal for the expansion of SAIIER as described above is a new ambitious venture which Auroville is preparing itself to undertake. Essentially it will be a vehicle to accelerate, and bring to predominance, the relevant points in our Charter in a collectively cohesive way. It will develop organically and in synergy with all that already exists in Auroville – the schools, the research centres, and especially the rich human resource material – and nourish it.

Expansion

In order to adequately embrace these directions, Auroville will need to expand its present base of facilities and resources so as to be able to host, conduct research and offer programmes to a larger number of student learners from within and outside Auroville. A process has started to formulate a detailed development proposal to seek assistance from the Government of India to implement these initiatives. If successful in being able to attract the support it requires, Auroville – through SAIIER – would plan the following programmes from the year 2002 onwards:

• Host leading scholars and thinkers throughout the world for conferences on themes of consciousness and research in human evolution.
• Offer teacher training programmes in value oriented education.
• Provide opportunities for student exchanges from around the world to foster international understanding.
• Offer training programmes on themes including earth restoration and sustainable living (in addition to the programmes already available to date).
• Develop teaching/learning materials for all the faculty areas that can be used to foster cross cultural learning and a synthesis of knowledge.

Actualisation of a dream

In many ways, this overview skims the surface of what is being dreamed of and envisioned. Today, concrete details are being worked out with Aurovilians concerned in a sincere effort to create something true and not artificial, something that can meet the needs of a city of the future. Although ambitious, the project is also very exciting. There is a solid movement towards the actualisation of a dream, which has been so close to Auroville’s core from the start. And while we can envision to some extent what its materialisation will physically look like, ultimately who can tell? There will probably be a range of decentralised facilities catering to the specific needs of the different faculties, mostly throughout the International and Cultural Zones. There is the idea of the CIRHU campus, which will contain a large multi-media resource centre for networking, self-study and research. Connectivity via electronic media will certainly PLAY a big part in terms of exchange & generation of new information within and beyond Auroville, and there also will be auditoria and conference facilities for international programmes.

This centre then is seen as a convergence point for all those who pursue unending education, young and old, and a lively centre for sharing, expanding and synthesizing knowledge for the benefit of humanity as a whole. Ultimately this initiative means that the community as a whole, the entire city, will be more deliberately dedicated to education in the largest sense of the word. It will be organised in such a way that it is open to all who want to learn and to study its activities.