YouthLink
History and today’s organisation:
YouthLink was founded in early 2015, as part of the Auroville Retreat community process. At this
event, several hundred Aurovillians looked at the themes of Bioregion, Economy, Education,
Governance, Growth & Town planning. The goals related to youth were defined with milestones
related to Housing, Education, and Employment.
Today, five years later, YouthLink has defined itself as a Service for Auroville. The service is run
by a group of Young Adults and works with a large number of mentors by ‘linking’ to different
Auroville working groups, services, and units. The overall goal for YouthLink is to enable youth
integration in all areas of the community.
YouthLink helps provide information on existing opportunities and works to create new
opportunities for youth – workshops, internships, apprenticeships, Job opportunities, startup
support, exchange programs, career counseling, and life coaching. YouthLink also works to
support youth-led projects through our project nursery and organizes community social events
to bring different generations together.
YouthLink has grown unexpectedly fast since its early work in January 2015 – 2016 and now it
supports many initiatives.
For more information www.youthlink.org.in
Vision and Mission:
YouthLink helps voice youth concerns, address youth needs and assists younger generations by
recognising the potential in Youth and supporting their involvement in the development of
Auroville. YouthLink supports young leaders, and youth related activities that aim at building a
better world for all. Everyone is welcome.
YouthLink aims to be a bridge between Auroville, its bio-region, India and the world.
Leaders & Team:
YouthLink is formed by a Core Team of Auroville youth and Volunteers, primarily between the
ages of 18-35.
Each youth is encouraged to have an older Mentor in the community to maintain ‘links’ and
ensure cross-generational collaboration in our work.
YouthLink looks forward to welcoming Volunteers from India or abroad to be part of our team.
Unit Current Activities:
-
- Services
Finding your way around Auroville can be intimidating and confusing. Our help desk at Townhall provides you with information on topics like Workshops, Internships, Youth housing, Volunteer registration, Exchange Programs, Job placements, etc. We are happy to guide you with the information that you need to start this amazing adventure called Auroville.
- Following are our services:
- Help Desk @ Townhall
- Mentorship Program
- Career Counselling
- Apprenticeships & Employment
- Social Events
- 2. Education
YouthLink organizes & co-hosts various types of training and educational workshops. These workshops provide individuals a platform to figure out their own interests and passion within the collective. One such example is our ‘Comm4unity’ workshop. Click here to know more about Comm4unity.
Collective living, service, and fostering an environment of family is at the heart of what we are.
Following are the educational workshops & programs:
- Comm4unity
- APET
- Short Courses
- Projects
Future leaders are invited to incubate small or larger initiatives depending on the capacity of the youth. When projects are initiated under the YouthLink umbrella, they are provided with mentorship to develop their proposals and support to understand Auroville’s ideals and context. We have a diverse group of Mentors and Elders who have shown interest in providing their expertise to individuals through project incubation.
So far our Project Nursery has incubated the following list of activities:
- Joy Of Impermanence
- PTDC 2
- Pakka Box
- Jamu
- Griham
- Indi Motors
Location:Youth Link Office, Kala Kendra building, Bharat Nivas Campus.
Opportunities at YouthLink
Tasks will be allocated only after an interview via Skype and then in person once arrived. Our team encourages each youth to work on an area they are truly inspired to work on. Matching skills and interests play a key role in engaging volunteers for true, committed work towards the collective manifestation of Auroville’s ideals. Tasks could include: Website Management, Visual Documentation, Written Documentation , Event/Workshop Organization, Curriculum Design Support, Data Gathering & Processing, Writing for various Publications, Networking with Youth in India/Abroad.