03/04/2024
YouthLink has served as a bridge to existing facilitators and organisations, offering logistical support for their programs and activities. We strive to address gaps in youth by supporting individuals to discover their passions, fostering community, and encouraging active contributions towards the Auroville community and beyond.
Over the past two years, YouthLink has focused on building internal team development, organising courses, programs and community events, and establishing connections with individuals and organisations.
YouthLink’s 10-year dream is to create a safe environment where Auroville youth and youth coming to Auroville can explore, learn, and develop various skills and contribute to positive change without the need to leave the community. Through workshops and courses, we aim to equip young people with the skills to thrive within the community, pursue their ventures or train them for the units. The Vocational Training Center (VTC) will serve as both educational and social, welcoming people from around the globe and within Auroville.
After two years, the YouthLink team feels confident in our ability to hold space. We have cultivated connections and embarked on various projects. After the first year, we realigned our 10-year dream to our 5-year goal instead. Our efforts for the next 6 months will be centred around “software” development (i.e., the courses and the workshops) for our goal, utilising space and resources in Auroville while we assess the need and possibility of building the “hardware”, a physical space. We aim to have a rough curriculum by July 2024, with various courses and gatherings offered on a semi-regular basis.
We had planning sessions over the last weeks and have developed a new organisational structure that will work towards our dream. Our new organisational structure is divided into 4 teams that look into various aspects of education and the physical centre:
Hard skills - Skills for the body and mind, which can eventually lead to a means of livelihood or an increase in quality of life (woodwork, mechanics, accounting, physical education, etc)
Softskills - Skills for regulating feelings and emotions, which aid in interpersonal connection (communication skills, negotiation, public presentation, facilitation skills, etc)
Community building - possibilities for interpersonal bonding and providing a safe space (sharing circles, cooking food together, events, etc)
Outreach - Opportunity for external entities and individuals to connect to Auroville (tours, exchange programs, info centre, seminars by external experts, etc)
The Vocational Training Center (VTC) will be a campus that nurtures individuals through interpersonal bonding, and safe space, provides information through the form of courses, seminars, and lectures and to try out different things like a skill or a passion that can become a way of livelihood or a hobby.
If you would like to offer courses or workshops, host events together, or brainstorm more about the Vocational Training Center (VTC);
Kindly reach out to us
Email: Youthlink@auroville.org.in
Written by Gwjwn