World Environment Day

Green City Models:
Auroville and Califia

On the occasion of the United Nations World Environment Day, California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) is pleased to host a symposium on Auroville, the UN-supported international township in South India, and Califia, an ecological city project envisioned for Northern California. CIIS and Auroville have common roots and have recently begun a series of exchanges and explorations for further interaction.

Auroville, founded in 1968, is internationally acclaimed for its achievements in renewable energy and appropriate building technology, ecological agriculture, and environmental regeneration.

Califia, a project of the Green Century Institute (GCI) in San Francisco, is a planned city for 10,000 that seeks to integrate the latest ecological initiatives with the cultural and spiritual ethos of the Bay Area.

The symposium will be moderated by Michael Gosney, Executive Director of the Green Century Institute and coordinator of GCI's Green Cities theme exhibits and events for World Environment Day, and Bindu Mohanty, an Aurovillian writer who is currently at CIIS. Presentation will include "Sustainable Development Initiatives of Auroville" by Lalit Kishore Bhati, a town planner from Auroville, and "Envisioning Califia: California's City of the Future" by Reinhold Zeigler, renewable energy pioneer and green design consultant with Synergy International and GCI. The symposium will also include a panel discussion with other Auroville community members and sustainable development experts exploring possibilities for Califia and ways to partner with Auroville in the early stages of the project.

Further information at:

www.wed2005.org
www.greencenturyinstitute.org
www.auroville.org