Our planet currently faces many challenges, most of them human made. Our programs aim at developing an integrated and holistic world-view that includes the natural world. We have embraced various schools of thought to assist in a process of transformative inquiry to help integrate the “human world” and the “natural world” into one healthy and cohesive whole. These form the six keys of our curriculum:

 Systems Thinking
 Deep Ecology
 Holistic Food Systems
 Phenomenology
 Awareness through the Body
 Peer-to-Peer Learning

We believe that they can help in connecting us with ourselves and the natural world while providing ways in which we can express these interconnections. They are a way of creating practical change in our values and lifestyles and in the global community as well.

Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is an approach that challenges us to view what we do as a whole and to see the connections between the separate parts. It helps our ability to integrate and apply knowledge. What can we do to help ourselves make the connections? For example, in a practical sense, what does ecology have to do with society, spirituality and economics? What are the connections, do these questions get answered?

Although this course will attempt to provide students with a foundation in systems, the real intent is not to study systems as a discipline, but more to study a number of other contemporary issues and employ a systems perspective to see these issues from a fresh perspective.

The first part of the course will provide a general overview of the approach and examine how systems or ‘joined up thinking’ can help us to see the world in a more practical way. The second session will focus on practical examples from our own experiences, and employ a systems perspective to develop alternative understanding.

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Deep Ecology
For many people currently involved in environmental action, the belief that technology and the current economic and socio-political setup can solve our collective environmental predicament seems to be hopelessly naive.

Deep Ecology maintains that the root cause of the current crisis is to do with the way that people think and regard their environment as somehow separate to themselves and give a value to it only in relation to the needs of human beings. Deep ecology states that the living environment as a whole has the same right to live and flourish regardless of its perceived ‘value’ to humans.

By the end of the module participants will have an understanding of the essence of Deep Ecology. The description and discussions about Deep Ecology will focus on facilitating individuals to consider their own basic ideas about their relationship with the natural environment.

This module is very closely connected with the “Council of all beings” activity, as a practical application of a number of the Deep Ecology principles.

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Holistic Food Systems
Soil -Soul- Society is the holistic trinity that will guide us to explore the relevance of food production-consumption in relation to health and the environment. The course will be very dynamic with interactive and creative sessions.

Participants will be presented with factual information and researches that will provide perspective and widen our knowledge on the importance of food. A number of links and resource papers will be circulated to study, draw conclusions and induce dialogue.
Through systematic enquiry we will co-create criteria and identify values that will activate our creative spirit for positive change. Hands -on cooking classes will bring us to a culinary journey; from making organic whole wheat breads, to South Indian breakfast, Continental specialities and of course some fusion recipes to experiment with.

Sensorial games will help us to identify key differences between taste, smell, texture and food-body feelings. Visits to farms, food processing units and retail shops will offer a unique opportunity to comprehend and assimilate all the subjects given during the workshops as well as to interact with the local people and the Auroville community at large.

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Phenomenology
This is a workshop on the use of Phenomenology as a tool for reflective and transformative inquiry. Phenomenology is an exploration of how we, as humans, deep down, experience and relate to the natural world. One central aspect of the relation is that we are 'situated' in the world, dependent upon it, not just contingently for sustenance, but 'essentially': we are what we are because of where we are. A second aspect is that we are in a world which is 'meaningful’, and 'significant'. It invites us to re-think the basic philosophical questions of how we live and how we ought to relate to the natural world - an invitation which the current environmental 'crisis' makes all the more urgent.

The main aim is to get closer to an understanding of what is the significance of lived experience and lived meaning. The workshop is a hands-on introduction to Phenomenology. It focuses on the creative, envisioning and enacting of the world of senses.

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Awareness through the Body and Yoga Asana
Awareness through the Body is a comprehensive curriculum of exercises that aims to raise awareness and enable participants to become conscious of their own perceptions and abilities so that they may become self-aware, self-directed individuals. The activities are creative and often fun; they develop gradually and encourage concentration, focus, relaxation and a sense of accomplishment.

Awareness through the Body will be complimented by early morning Yoga Asana sessions. Our early morning sessions will use the yogasanas (postures) as a tool for deep reflection. Through a series of simple postures we will enter into a reflective mood using visualizations and readings of different texts pertinent to the state of the planet today.

The focus will be to bring the body to a state of relaxation to enable the mind to remain centered, allowing for emotion…thoughts… and silence to emerge. We will also explore the elements through a series of related asanas, which evoke the energies of fire, water, earth, air and ether within the being. The mood of the sessions will be gentle with the focus on the mind and body working together to bring relaxation, reflection and observation.

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Peer-to-Peer Workshops
No single solution will solve any of the world’s problems, nor does any single person have the answers to our current environmental crises. In our attempt to create a space that respects the equal knowledge and experience of every individual a large part of our courses is set aside for peer-to-peer workshops.

By tapping into the unique abilities of each participant, our learning experience of the varied solutions to environmental problems is magnified greatly. Specifically in our longer courses participants will be responsible for facilitating a workshop based on their knowledge and experience with a focus on helping generate new and innovative solutions. The purpose of peer-to-peer workshops is to share in each others’ wisdom in a way that will help us gain new ideas for our lives and work.

In our shorter courses ample opportunity will be given for individual expression and the creation of an atmosphere of sharing. The sharing of your expertise and life experience is the key step towards effective action emerging after the course is finished.

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