Hidden Architectures

How Something Worthless Reigns the World

Currencies constitute a means of exchange. When we think of a currency today we usually think of money. However, anything that is used for exchange could be a currency. Just think of the war time in Europe, when cigarettes or coffee were used. Currencies serve as symbols. They symbolize value. Today there is a trend […]

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Invisible Architectures

How Architecture Influences Group Dynamics

Recently I have been thinking a lot about what shapes our view of the world without us really noticing it. I like to call these phenomena “invisible architectures”, referring to Jean-Francois Noubel, a researcher on the field. Here I focus on the invisible architectures that are relevant to (almost) everybody in a given society. I […]

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Menstrual Education by Eco Femme

Hybrid Business Model: How to Finance Your Own Non-Profit Work

Eco Femme is a social enterprise for female hygiene products. The hybrid business model combines both for-profit interests and non-profit social work: With the commercial gains from selling re-usable cloth pads the all-female team based in the intentional township of Auroville, South-India, finances their non-profit activities in education and research. When I met Jessamijn Miedema , […]

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The all-female change-maker team of Eco Femme produces re-usable female hygiene products in Auroville, India.

Interview with Change-Maker Jessamijn Miedema, Co-Founder of Eco Femme

  Even though they concern half of the world’s population, menstruation topics are a taboo around the globe. We don’t often talk about female hygiene products. However, disposable sanitary napkins and tampons come with tremendous costs for both the female body and the ecosystem. In recent years, re-usable female hygiene products have gained popularity. Jessamijn Miedema co-founded […]

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36 Change-Makers, 5 Weeks, 1 Utopian Township Concentrated into a 20-minutes Video

Ecovillage Design Education Video: 5 Weeks in 20 Minutes

36 participants from across the globe – 5 intensive weeks – 1 intentional township striving for human unity. Serena Aurora managed to fit this wealth of information and emotion into a 20 minutes video. Enjoy watching.     The Ecovillage Design Education course is recognized by the UNESCO and provides students of all ages with knowledge and practical […]

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Volunteering in Sadhana Forest Kenya

Sadhana Forest Kenya, Volunteering Experience

I volunteered for two weeks in the reforestation project Sadhana Forest in Kenya in November 2016. The organization originated in Auroville, India about 15 years ago. It later spread to Haiti and Kenya. During my Ecovillage Design Education Course in Auroville I had the chance to talk to the founder and visit the Indian campus. […]

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Designing Tomorrow's World

Designing Tomorrow’s World

In Design week participants were encouraged to voice their dream projects they want to work on after the Ecovillage Design Education Course. Out of around 50 dreams, we collectively chose four that teams worked on with the method of Dragon Dreaming, a visionary process for planning, implementation and evaluation. It builds upon three principles: Inner […]

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World-Views - Ancient & Contemporary

World-Views – Ancient & Contemporary

In World-View Week of the Ecovillage Design Education Course in Auroville, India we explored the dynamics of internal and external influences on the way we see and perceive the world. We also visited an Ashram and the local village Nadukuppan to study different world views and life situations. Other topics included Ayurveda as a holistic […]

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from MORE to BETTER

Economic Dimensions of Tomorrow’s World

Economy week came with a full load of deep insights and amazing aha-moments about old and new economic paradigms.  We got an overview of the history of production from manufacturers to mass production, different schools of thought like John M. Keynes and Milton Friedman and the current distribution of wealth. We dismantled the concepts of money […]

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Ecological Dimensions of Tomorrow’s World

We challenged conventional ecologic assumptions in the Ecology week of my 5-week Ecovillage Design Education Course (EDE) in Auroville, India. I became aware of the fact that we need to change the narrative of nature to a public responsibility, something like a community project on a global scale. The closed loops that nature presents should […]

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Opening Ceremony

Social Dimensions of Tomorrow’s World

I am in Auroville, an international city that runs experiments on many levels with the aim of unifying humanity as a whole.  I just completed a five week long Ecovillage Design Education Course (EDE) designed by the Gaia trust.  This program provides students of all ages with knowledge and practical skills on how to evolve towards […]

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