{"id":5162,"date":"2023-03-28T20:51:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T16:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/?p=5162"},"modified":"2026-04-21T14:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:07:10","slug":"auroville-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/28\/auroville-international\/","title":{"rendered":"A Global Network of Friends: Auroville International"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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And Auroville is a great Adventure.<\/p>\nThe Mother (Mirra Alfassa) 1<\/em><\/sup><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While the idea of Auroville in the 60s quickly drew worldwide interest, attempting to form a global association supporting the township has been far from simple. This past year has hosted not one \u2013 but two meetings of Auroville International (AVI) representatives in Auroville. We spoke with Vani who represents AVI in Auroville, to get an idea of the organization\u2019s story and role.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Representatives of the AVI centers meet in Auroville, Feb 22, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The idea of Auroville International is not new \u2013 and yet before the current network was formed, no fewer than two attempts fell through. Even before Auroville\u2019s inauguration, The Mother, Mirra Alfassa expressed the idea that foreign support for such a township would not simply be a means to its rapid construction, but serve the participating countries themselves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All this is simply to tell you that if nations collaborate in the work of Auroville, even to a very modest extent, it will do them good\u2026 It\u2019s not when Auroville has been completed: it\u2019s the nations\u2019 collaboration in creating something\u2026 2<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\nThe Mother, September 21, 1966<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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The 2013 AVI meeting in Tortosa, Spain, invited the participation of youth from Auroville travelling through Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Auroville International is represented in Auroville itself by Vani, a native of France who at age 18 travelled overland to India and decided to stay in Pondicherry, and later Auroville: \u201cAVI was created in order to create a kind of link with the outside, so that Auroville doesn\u2019t just stay in a small bubble in India. I never believed in a cocoon Auroville.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French association of Auroville supporters is as old as the township itself, founded in 1968 by architect Roger Anger. Similar-minded associations formed in the following years in Canada, the USA, the Netherlands and Sweden, and the 80\u2019s saw permanent centres established in the UK, Germany and Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A note from The Mother endorsing Jean Ahy\u2019s 1969 undertaking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The first official society named Auroville International was founded in 1969 with its head office in New York by Persian diplomat and inventor Jean (Jahan) M. Ahy. On this development, the Mother comments in her Agenda: \u201cAs for me, I watch and have great fun!<\/em>\u201d 3<\/em><\/sup>. She gave her blessings to Ahy\u2019s goals and methods, but the idea and the detailed plans soon came to naught due to a change of legislation regarding foundations in the USA, as well as a financial downturn in Ahy\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second initiative was made in 1972, when friends of Auroville from across Europe met in Paris and agreed to create a society based in Switzerland. It is unclear why this attempt too failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026the necessity became apparent for a legal international body giving form to the already existing body of people around the world, for which the name of Auroville is a hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026we want Auroville International to be created, to develop, and to work towards its aims.<\/p>\nAugust 12, 1983 letter from the Auroville Cooperative (representing Auroville residents) to groups of Auroville supporters worldwide on the occasion of the registration of Auroville International (AVI) in The Hague, Netherlands.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Mia Berden, who had known Mother personally, offered her home in the Netherlands as a meeting space for friends of Auroville, leading to the registration of Auroville International. With a lifelong connection to the African continent, she had been a pillar of AVI Netherlands for decades, before passing on in 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The effort which finally bore fruit emerged from a fact-finding trip through Europe by three early Aurovilians in November 1981. The tour culminated in a conference of Auroville friends in southern France, which also received letters of support from allies in the USA and Italy. Auroville enthusiasts from many European countries told of their struggles in setting up organisations, and it became clear that much misinformation about Auroville had been spread internationally, and would need to be dispelled through the work of new institutions. It was then agreed to hold a yearly Auroville International meeting in a different country every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newly formed good contacts with UNESCO, and the work of Dr. Kireet Joshi, then-Special Secretary at the Indian Ministry of Education and Educational Advisor to the Government of India, were instrumental to the decision to legally register AVI in the Netherlands on August 15th, 1983 \u2013 India\u2019s 36th anniversary of independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2014 AVI meeting, Ireland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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2017 AVI meeting, England<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among Auroville International\u2019s regular activities are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n