Auroville Competitors

Pondicherry University is a central university in Puducherry.India. Founded in 1985 by the Government of India, the university is a collegiate university with a jurisdiction spread over the Union Territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It has 35,000 students in its 87 affiliated colleges including 27,000 students in the distance education mode. The current strength of students studying on-campus stands at 6,500.It has introduced innovations like the Choice-based Credit System and on-line admission for postgraduate studies.Pondicherry University is ranked as one of the top ten Universities in India based on the survey conducted on 2013.Pondicherry University was ranked 13th by NIRF of Ministry of Human Resource Development as per the ranking released on April 2016.

The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) is an international network of sustainable communities and initiatives on every inhabitable continent. GEN serves as umbrella organization for ecovillages, intentional communities, transition towns and ecologically-minded, community-driven individuals worldwide. People and communities meet and share their ideas, exchange technologies, develop cultural and educational exchanges, directories and newsletters, and are dedicated to restoring the land and living a cooperative sustainable lifestyle. Network members include large networks like Sarvodaya (2,000 active sustainable villages in Sri Lanka); the Federation of Damanhur in Italy and Nimbin in Australia; small rural ecovillages like Gaia Asociación in Argentina and Huehuecoyotl, Mexico; urban rejuvenation projects like Los Angeles EcoVillage and Christiania in Copenhagen; permaculture design sites such as Crystal Waters, Australia, Cochabamba, Bolivia and Barus, Brazil; and educational centres such as Findhorn in Scotland, Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, Earthlands in Massachusetts, and many more.

Sadhana Forest is an international water conservation and reforestation organization active in India, Haiti, Kenya and Namibia. We are donation-based volunteer-run and we welcome volunteers year round. Sadhana Forest works on restoring degraded ecosystems and ensuring food security through indigenous food forestry in rural and arid lands. We operate from sustainable off-the-grid campuses where we house our volunteers, conduct trainings and practice a simple, substance-free, vegan community lifestyle, complete with solar energy, compost toilets, biodegradable toiletries, zero waste practices and natural construction. Volunteers and visitors are welcome year round. Volunteers engage in seva (selfless service) for about 25-35 hours a week. The seva consists of reforestation and water conservation work, as well as general maintenance tasks and supporting our other projects such as our ‘Goshala’ farm sanctuary, our gift economy vegan tea hut, ‘Children’s Land’ natural learning space and ‘UniverCity of Compassion’ self-directed learning course. We always have plenty of space for volunteers, and welcome anyone regardless of their background. You do not need prior experience to be part of Sadhana Forest. Accomodation is provided free of charge. Volunteers pay around 8 USD per day as food contribution for their wholefood and plant-based meals. The work of Sadhana Forest is made possible only through people gifting us their time or resources. If you wish to support us financially, please visit http://sadhanaforest.org/donate. May there be many more forests to grow people.