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