Volunteerism as a tool for Entrepreneurship and Education through a socio-economical activity in the context of the International Township Project of Auroville

Michael Marco (1) , Florence Rodhain (2) , Angélique Rodhain (2)

1 MRM - Montpellier Research in Management
2 Systèmes d'information

This project consists in studying the activity of volunteerism in Auroville, its impact in the development of the township. The goal is to demonstrate how it can be improved with a better organization, coordination and communication within Auroville for the benefits of everybody. And finally it is hoped that this research may find a way to explain why it should be considered as a real form of education, and how it can be applied in the world. Volunteerism as a new way of defining the term 'work' is a growing phenomena in Auroville and in the world. More and more people from all ages and socio-cultural backgrounds are making the decision to leave the studies/occupation they were pursuing to dedicate their energy as a volunteer working for free somewhere, usually in another country. In Auroville many different units are using volunteerism for their creation, their current activity and their development. According to the statistics done based on the registration form that the foreigners have to fill in when they come to Auroville, we know that among 10,000 visitors, 2,500 are volunteers. With a population of 2,300 people, the volunteers are objectively taking an important part of the development of the township. For the entrepreneurs in Auroville the volunteers represent a real added-value. On one hand the volunteers are enthusiastic people who decide to dedicate their energy for projects in which they believe and for which they are not even asking for a salary. This gives then to the managers real motivated workers for no cost and with a great sense of initiatives. On the other hand the fact of being a volunteer give them the freedom of taking initiatives, of not being bound by the liabilities or the limit of a labor system. This fact can make them be more self-confident that is the first quality of an entrepreneur. In that way, volunteerism can become an entrepreneur incubator. In fact in Auroville, several managers can witness that it is thanks to the volunteers that they got their success and the development they wished for their enterprises.

Mots clés: Meaning of Work; Indian Philosophy & Tradition; Theory of organizations; Education; Self Development; Human Resources; Sustainable Management; Entrepreneurship

Domaines: Gestion et management

Michael Marco, Florence Rodhain, Angélique Rodhain. Volunteerism as a tool for Entrepreneurship and Education through a socio-economical activity in the context of the International Township Project of Auroville. Tenth Biennal Conference on Entrepreneurship, Feb 2013, India. ⟨hal-00926166⟩