What if ecological engineers learned to become ethnographers, integrating local knowledge and ecological expertise into their engineering projects? And what if design bridged between species through art and ethnography? How can we learn from freshwater fish and European wolves? And how can we learn from ecological engineers? In short: we are very different species and want to develop crafty practices for a world in which we can thrive together.

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Elisabeth Tauber

Principal investigator

Unibz

Anthropologist

Alvise Mattozzi

Co-investigator

Politecnico di Torino

Sociologist

Elisabeth is a sociocultural anthropologist with research interest in mnemonic practices and silence—both along nomadic routes and within archives. This let her engage with the epistemological dimensions of the unsaid, understanding silence as constitutive social practices and forms of relating to land and perceiving time.
Her research with other-than-humans unfolds within multidisciplinary networks that look at humans, small ruminants, large predators, and plants – more specifically grass. Within these she explores the poetic and political entanglements between human and other-than-human forms of knowledge through a patchy and walking ethnography.

Alvise Mattozzi, sociologist, works at the crossroad of Social Studies of Science and Technology and Design Studies, within an Actor-Network Theory framework.

Seçil Uğur Yavuz

Research team member

Unibz

Designer

Lara Giordana

Researcher

Politecnico di Torino

Anthropologist

Seçil’s research explores the blurred boundaries between the analog and the digital, particularly through participatory and embodied design methods to imagine and prototype alternative narratives and practices. Her research aims to catalyze dialogues and spark new visions of socio-technological entanglements, moving toward more sustainable and desirable future(s).

Lara is an anthropologist learning from how people relate to and care for their environments. Through ethnography, she explores the diverse forms these relationships can take, from the ecological intimacy of the Kanak people in the Belep Islands (Kanaky New Caledonia) to the enduring practices of traditional commons management in Alpine regions. Water – whether fresh or salt – runs as a continuous thread through her work. As part of the DSooE project, she traces how engineers, conservationists, and anglers engage with rivers and their aquatic inhabitants, documenting the situated knowledges, affective attachments and practices of care that shape these relationships.

Micol Rispoli

Researcher

Politecnico di Torino

Architect

Lisa Maria Zellner

Researcher

Unibz

Artist

Micol is an architect and a transdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of spatial practices, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and anthropology. Questioning the idea of design as an operation aimed at shaping passive worlds, she pays attention to the more-than-human entities often neglected by the modernist tradition. Within DSooE, she has been exploring what can be learned from the encounters and frictions between multispecies spatial practices. Her research looks for ways to foreground plural ways of dwelling, creating situations in which she – and other technicians – can be affected by them, opening new, careful avenues for design, so as to foster more livable worlds.

Lisa Maria Zellner is an artist and researcher whose interdisciplinary practice bridges art and science through the tactile language of textiles, the expressive fluidity of painting, and the structural possibilities of sculpture. Her work challenges conventional boundaries between disciplines, creating a unified exploration of socio-ecological conditions and technological advancement.

European bullhead

Cottus gobio

Research Partner

Rivers in Piedmont

Freshwater Fish

Italian riffle dace

Telestes muticellus

Research Partner

Rivers in Piedmont

Freshwater fish

With a broad, stone-like head, bulging eyes, and a fleshy mouth, Cottus gobio lives up to their English name. Rarely exceeding 15 centimetres, their wide, fan-shaped pectoral fins and defiant posture make them a creature even larger fish approach with respect. They belong to cold, fast-flowing mountain waters, where streams run clear and rich in oxygen. By day, Cottus gobio vanishes into the riverbed, pressed against gravel beds or hidden beneath stones, their bare, scaleless skin melting into the colours of the stream. But at dusk, they move in quick bursts in search of larvae, fish eggs, and small fish.

Silvery and slender, Telestes muticellus glides in shoals through foothill streams and swift river stretches, weaving also through canals and spring-fed channels of the plains. In the breeding season, the orange flare of their fins glows bright. Agile jumpers for their size, they feed on tiny invertebrates and small algae, at times breaking the water’s surface to snatch insects on the wing. They crave the freedom of unbroken waters to complete their life’s journey.

Padanian goby

Padogobius martensii

Research Partner

Rivers in Piedmont

Freshwater fish

Wolf

Canis lupus

Research Partner

Eastern Alps

Carnivorous mammal

In the cool, spring-fed waters of the plains, where light filters through vegetation and the water breathes with oxygen, Padogobius martensii slips deftly between pebbles and sand with its slender body. A small benthic fish, they reach no more than 10 centimetres in length and live close to the riverbed. Loyal to their territory, they guard their hidden nest with tenacity. Shy and mostly active at dusk and night, Padogobius martensii ignores anglers’ lines, feeding on larvae and adult insects of the benthic world. Their presence speaks of waters still alive, where every stone is a refuge and a boundary.

In the European forests, on military training grounds, and in the lowlands, the Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus) has returned, either alone or in closely bonded packs.
Her pack usually consists of parents and their offspring. The pack follows a strict hierarchy, reinforced through body language, vocalizations, and scent marking. Through her howling, she strengthens bonds with other wolves and defends her territory. Hunting is cooperative, with the pack working as a team to take down large prey, and all members help in raising the young.
Wolves are territorial animals, patrolling and defending their range against rival packs.