Category: Blog

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Learning from S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. — Documentary Now Available Online

In December 2023, in parallel with COP28, 27 educators and social workers from 11 European countries convened at Torri Superiore for a 10-day advanced training in social permaculture. The program examined how permaculture design principles can be applied to social systems, particularly in relation to climate change, migration, and community resilience. Grounded in the principle articulated by David Holmgren as “Use and value the margins,” the training combined theoretical inquiry with experiential learning in socially and environmentally marginal contexts. The 10 days in Torri led to a story of connection, care, resilience and finally to the documentary film “Learning from S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S.”

The film also spotlights Marguerite Kahrl’s Relational nests: Torri Superiore—a permanent installation at the ecovillage merging art, ecology, and community. The Relational nests invite us to rethink our communities and explore how we might connect with sparrows and other birds impacted by climate change, industrial farming and modern construction practices.

The film contributes to ongoing discourse on socially engaged practice, ecological design, and learning from marginal spaces as sites of innovation and care.

Marguerite Kahrl, Relational nests: Torri Superiore (Passer domesticus), 2021-ongoing, terracotta and colored slip, variable dimensions photo: Marguerite Kahrl

The Learning from S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S documentary is now available online, free to watch (1h06m, English with Italian subtitles)

https://youtu.be/rbUaqaer9Z4

Directed by: Dario Ferraro and Giulia Attanasio
Organizers and teachers:
Lucilla Borio, Massimo Candela (Torri Superiore Ecovillage)
Marguerite Kahrl (Permaculture for Refuges – Artist )
Dražen Šimleša  (ZMAG – Green Network of Activist Groups)
Silvia Corna (Young Permaculture Designers – Consolida)
Morag Gamble (Permaculture Education Institute)

@erasmusplus @audra.aps @ecovillaggiotorrisuperiore @permaculture4refugees
@zmag.recikliranoimanje @consolida.aps.pr
@marguerite_kahrl @sil.in.the.forest @radarioferro @jul.deicanti @permacultureeducationinstitute @moraggamble

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Navigating Crisis: Ecologies in Flight.

Participatory workshop exploring bird migration and habitat loss in the Levant

Saturday December 6, 2025 – 15:00 PM (eng, ita) – Duration: 90 minutes

Marguerite Kahrl leads an interactive workshop that addresses the severe environmental damage in Gaza, where farmland, olive orchards, water systems, and infrastructure have been targeted by illegal settlers, often with support from Israeli military forces. This destruction not only disrupts residents’ lives and livelihoods but also threatens the stability of surrounding ecosystems. Ecological and systems thinking reveal that the consequences of such harm extend far beyond their immediate points of impact.

Palestine’s geographical location, in particular the Gaza Strip, makes it a bottleneck on the vital migratory route for birds and insects between Africa and Eurasia.

Special thanks to Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Director of the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, for his invaluable research on the environmental damage caused by war and its effects on the Levant, including the crucial bird migration systems that traverse the region.

“The Work That Reconnects helps people around the world discover and experience their innate connections with each other and the self-healing powers of the web of life, transforming despair and overwhelm into inspired, collaborative action.”- Joanna Macy

Reservation required: info@simondi.gallery
Tickets Min. 10€ Proceeds donated to Doctors Without Borders for Gaza

Part of the program for the exhibition, NEVER AGAIN MEANS NEVER AGAIN, December 6th — December 20th, 2025. Opening Saturday, December 11th, 11 am

Ph. Marguerite Kahrl, Migration pathways over the Levant (Study), 2025, Ink, graphite, and colored pencil on paper, 42×30 cm.

Graphic @paolo_cagliero

Simóndi

via della Rocca 2

10123 Torino – Italy

tel. +39 0118124460

www.simondi.gallery

OPENING HOURS Thursday—Friday (3—7 PM)
Saturday (11 AM —7 PM)

All other days by appointment

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Global Premiere

We are excited to announce the world premiere of the documentary Learning from Sparrows – a compelling exploration of community, resilience, and hope through the lens of social permaculture. 

Set against the backdrop of COP28 and unfolding at the ecovillage of Torri Superiore, the film follows a transformative meeting of young people and refugees, touching topics like climate change and migration. Through their stories, we explore how ecological and social regeneration can coexist and thrive.

This film follows the social permaculture course “Learning from SPARROWS – Social Permaculture as a Resource for Regenerative, Open, and Welcoming Societies.” Co-funded by the EU Erasmus+ program, the course occurred in December 2023 at the ecovillage Torri Superiore in Italy. It was attended by 27 youth workers from 11 countries and supported by five facilitators.

Throughout the documentary, we see participants and facilitators addressing real-world issues that affect vulnerable groups, including young migrants and those struggling with eco-anxiety. The film showcases the participatory methods used during the course to explore various topics and highlights participants’ reflections on their experiences in their groups. Social permaculture provides tools for fostering effective communication, active listening, collaboration, and community engagement. Ultimately, these tools empower young people to become active citizens and engage meaningfully in their local communities.

Global Premiere, Sunday, 11 May 2025

Screenings at 11:00 AM & 7:00 PM CEST

Part of the International Permaculture Festival of Wild Ideas 

An inspiring panel discussion will follow the screening with facilitators and creators of the project:

• Lucilla Borio – Ecovillage Torri Superiore

• Massimo Candela – Ecovillage Torri Superiore, Italian Academy of Permaculture

• Marguerite Kahrl – Permaculture for Refugees, Artist

• Silvia Corna – Consolida – regenerative projects

• Dario Ferraro & Giulia Attanasio – Filmmakers, AUDRA APS

The screening will be hosted in the frame of the International Permaculture Festival of Wild Ideas, and Morag Gamble, Permaculture Education Institute, will moderate the panel.

 Please register through the festival website to get the screening link and explore its program!

https://permacultureeducationinstitute.org/permaculture-festival-wild-ideas

#LearningFromSparrows #Permaculture #SocialPermaculture #ClimateJustice #Ecovillages #WildIdeasFestival #DocumentaryPremiere #AUDRAAPS #PermacultureforRefugees #ecovillaggiotorrisuperiore #moraggamble #margueritekahrl #radarioferro #jul.deicanti #sil.in.the.forest


Photograph by Marguerite Kahrl 

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HABITAT. The Relational Space of Being

Eugenio Tibaldi, Untitled with flag, 2018, environmental installation, variable dimensions, © ph Nadia Pugliese

Marguerite Kahrl, Alessandro Manfrin, Marjetica Potrč, Eugenio Tibaldi
September 20th > November 3rd
Opening September 19th, from 4 to 11 p.m.

The exhibition represents the second edition of Post Scriptum, the format through which Simondi Gallery opens its exhibition season each September. The group exhibition, curated by the gallery in collaboration with Marguerite Kahrl, explores the visible and invisible networks that surround and connect the living systems of our society by opening up a broad reflection on themes ranging from social architecture, the real estate-industrial complex to green building, the study of ecosystems and new forms of living.
In addition to @marguerite_kahrl (Beverly, Massachusetts – 1966), artists invited to participate are: @alessandromanfrin (Savigliano, Italy – 1997), Marjetica Potrč (Ljubljana, Slovenia – 1953), @tibaldieugenio(Alba, Italy – 1977). 

> ITA
La mostra rappresenta la seconda edizione di Post Scriptum, il format attraverso il quale la Galleria Simóndi ogni settembre apre la sua stagione espositiva. La mostra collettiva, curata dalla galleria in collaborazione con Marguerite Kahrl, esplora le reti visibili e invisibili che circondano e collegano i sistemi viventi della nostra società aprendo un’ampia riflessione su tematiche che spaziano dall’architettura, alla bioedilizia, allo studio di ecosistemi e nuove forme abitative. 
Oltre a @marguerite_kahrl (Beverly, Massachusetts – 1966), gli artisti invitati a partecipare sono: @alessandromanfrin (Savigliano, Italia – 1997), Marjetica Potrč (Ljubljana, Slovenia – 1953), @tibaldieugenio (Alba, Italia – 1977).



The exhibition is realized in collaboration with @gianmarcocasinigallery (Livorno), @galleria_umberto_di_marino  (Naples) and @galerie_nordenhake (Berlin, Stockholm, Mexico City). We extend a special thank you to Karin Fink, geographer and relational designer; Lucy R. Lippard, writer, activist, and art writer; @john.a.thackara, author and curator; and the cultural association @messylab_ceramica. Graphic project by @paolo_cagliero.

#Simondi.gallery, #PostScriptum, #Habitat, #nirakknif,

SIMONDI via della Rocca 29, 10123 – Torino