Arts, Culture, and Heritage as Drivers of Change
SONE – Songs Of Nearby Earth
Songs of Nearby Earth – Vine Canopies and Cultural Cycles for Climate Adaptation
SONE explores Mediterranean vine trellises as urban climate refuges rooted in the bioregion of Jerez. Solar radiation intensifies urban heat and also fuels vine biomass that is seasonally pruned and burned to feed communal fires during traditional zambomba celebrations. Ash from these fires glazes ceramic devices that first function as musical instruments and later protect newly planted vines, supporting canopies that provide public shade and street cooling (8–9°C on average; peaks up to 14°C).
Spain
Local
Jerez de la Frontera
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It involves other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
2025-12-31
Yes
Horizon2020 / Horizon Europe
No
No
Organisation
SONE reactivates Mediterranean vine trellises as living climate heritage rooted in the bioregion of Jerez and reinterprets them as contemporary infrastructures for cooling Mediterranean streets.
Traditionally vine trellises in Jerez were mainly located in patios and interior courtyards. Now they have begun to expand into public streets, transforming narrow urban spaces into shaded environments accessible to anyone moving through the city.
SONE explores how practices historically associated with viticulture and communal celebration can contribute to contemporary climate adaptation. Urban heat becomes, through vine growth and cultural transformation, the material basis for its own mitigation.
Seasonal pruning generates biomass that feeds communal fires during the traditional winter zambomba celebrations. Ash from these fires becomes glaze for ceramic devices developed through collaboration with art and design education. These objects function both as musical instruments and as protective devices for newly planted vines.
Through this cycle cultural practices, material experimentation and environmental knowledge contribute to the emergence of new urban vine canopies that provide publicly accessible shade and measurable pedestrian-level cooling during extreme heat conditions.
Environmental monitoring recorded cooling of 8–9°C on average, with peaks reaching 14°C during heat events when regional temperatures exceeded 45°C.
Participation spans students, musicians, artisans, makers, wineries, civic initiatives and local associations, linking cultural practice, material experimentation and climate adaptation.
Traditionally vine trellises in Jerez were mainly located in patios and interior courtyards. Now they have begun to expand into public streets, transforming narrow urban spaces into shaded environments accessible to anyone moving through the city.
SONE explores how practices historically associated with viticulture and communal celebration can contribute to contemporary climate adaptation. Urban heat becomes, through vine growth and cultural transformation, the material basis for its own mitigation.
Seasonal pruning generates biomass that feeds communal fires during the traditional winter zambomba celebrations. Ash from these fires becomes glaze for ceramic devices developed through collaboration with art and design education. These objects function both as musical instruments and as protective devices for newly planted vines.
Through this cycle cultural practices, material experimentation and environmental knowledge contribute to the emergence of new urban vine canopies that provide publicly accessible shade and measurable pedestrian-level cooling during extreme heat conditions.
Environmental monitoring recorded cooling of 8–9°C on average, with peaks reaching 14°C during heat events when regional temperatures exceeded 45°C.
Participation spans students, musicians, artisans, makers, wineries, civic initiatives and local associations, linking cultural practice, material experimentation and climate adaptation.
Each winter in Jerez, just after the pruning of the vineyards, residents gather in the streets around communal bonfires to celebrate the traditional zambombas. The branches cut from the vines feed these fires while people sing in chorus songs that evoke local life as well the landscapes.
SONE connects this seasonal cultural practice with the cultivation of urban vine trellises, transforming a traditional cycle of pruning, fire and celebration into a contemporary strategy for climate adaptation.
The relationship between vine trellises and zambomba celebrations may appear paradoxical yet complementary. The latter gather people around warmth, domesticating the cold of winter, while the former provide shade and freshness, domesticating the heat of summer. In their respective seasons both weave relationships between matter, community and climate, reminding us that inhabiting a place also means learning to collectively modulate its temperatures.
Seasonal pruning produces the vine branches that feed the communal fires of the celebrations. Ash from these fires becomes glaze for ceramic devices developed through collaboration with art and design education. During the celebrations these objects function as zambombas — traditional friction instruments used in collective singing — and afterwards they are repurposed as protective devices for newly planted vines.
Through this transformation the same object moves from musical performance to urban cultivation, linking celebration, material experimentation and the expansion of new vine canopies.
Before 2025 four streets in the historic centre were shaded by vine canopies. Through the work of the Emparrados association, the collaboration of the City of Jerez and the SONE project, this number increased to eight streets in 2025, and the municipality has committed to expanding the network to at least twenty vine-shaded streets by 2031.
SONE connects this seasonal cultural practice with the cultivation of urban vine trellises, transforming a traditional cycle of pruning, fire and celebration into a contemporary strategy for climate adaptation.
The relationship between vine trellises and zambomba celebrations may appear paradoxical yet complementary. The latter gather people around warmth, domesticating the cold of winter, while the former provide shade and freshness, domesticating the heat of summer. In their respective seasons both weave relationships between matter, community and climate, reminding us that inhabiting a place also means learning to collectively modulate its temperatures.
Seasonal pruning produces the vine branches that feed the communal fires of the celebrations. Ash from these fires becomes glaze for ceramic devices developed through collaboration with art and design education. During the celebrations these objects function as zambombas — traditional friction instruments used in collective singing — and afterwards they are repurposed as protective devices for newly planted vines.
Through this transformation the same object moves from musical performance to urban cultivation, linking celebration, material experimentation and the expansion of new vine canopies.
Before 2025 four streets in the historic centre were shaded by vine canopies. Through the work of the Emparrados association, the collaboration of the City of Jerez and the SONE project, this number increased to eight streets in 2025, and the municipality has committed to expanding the network to at least twenty vine-shaded streets by 2031.
Climate adaptation
Living heritage
Nature-based solutions
Urban conviviality
Bioregional culture
SONE addresses increasing urban heat in Mediterranean cities through plant-based shading infrastructures compatible with dense historic fabrics.
Environmental monitoring conducted during extreme summer conditions demonstrated pedestrian-level cooling of 8–9°C on average, with peak reductions reaching 14°C during heat events when regional temperatures exceeded 45°C.
To document these effects, the project developed a local environmental monitoring system in collaboration with the FabLab Jerez, where custom sensors and experimental measurement setups were designed and fabricated together with students to analyse the microclimatic performance of vine canopies in public streets. The results of this monitoring process are currently being prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific article.
Vines are well adapted to Mediterranean climates and require very limited irrigation once established. Their seasonal foliage reduces solar radiation during summer while allowing winter sunlight after pruning, creating favourable hygrothermal conditions in narrow streets. Vine canopies also provide habitats for insects, birds and other urban species, contributing to increased biodiversity in dense historic environments.
In Jerez vine trellises historically existed mainly in private patios and courtyards, where hundreds of examples demonstrate the deep cultural familiarity of this climatic practice. In recent years these structures have begun to extend into public streets. Public vine-shaded streets increased from four to eight installations in 2025, with at least twenty expected by 2031, suggesting the emergence of a distributed network of publicly accessible urban climate refuges embedded in everyday city life.
Together these practices remind us that inhabiting a place also means learning to collectively modulate its temperatures.
Environmental monitoring conducted during extreme summer conditions demonstrated pedestrian-level cooling of 8–9°C on average, with peak reductions reaching 14°C during heat events when regional temperatures exceeded 45°C.
To document these effects, the project developed a local environmental monitoring system in collaboration with the FabLab Jerez, where custom sensors and experimental measurement setups were designed and fabricated together with students to analyse the microclimatic performance of vine canopies in public streets. The results of this monitoring process are currently being prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific article.
Vines are well adapted to Mediterranean climates and require very limited irrigation once established. Their seasonal foliage reduces solar radiation during summer while allowing winter sunlight after pruning, creating favourable hygrothermal conditions in narrow streets. Vine canopies also provide habitats for insects, birds and other urban species, contributing to increased biodiversity in dense historic environments.
In Jerez vine trellises historically existed mainly in private patios and courtyards, where hundreds of examples demonstrate the deep cultural familiarity of this climatic practice. In recent years these structures have begun to extend into public streets. Public vine-shaded streets increased from four to eight installations in 2025, with at least twenty expected by 2031, suggesting the emergence of a distributed network of publicly accessible urban climate refuges embedded in everyday city life.
Together these practices remind us that inhabiting a place also means learning to collectively modulate its temperatures.
SONE understands aesthetics as emerging from living cultural and ecological processes rather than from formal design.
Mediterranean vine trellises have historically shaped environments of conviviality where people gather, sing and rest beneath vegetal shade. The project reactivates these atmospheres in contemporary streets, creating publicly accessible spaces of comfort and shared well-being.
The project works with cultural languages widely recognised within the territory — vine cultivation, seasonal pruning, communal fire, collective singing and ceramic craft. Because these practices are familiar they allow broad participation. Yet when recombined within the project they appear differently, revealing unexpected relationships between plants, materials, climate and collective life.
These environments are characterised by a transient and multisensory experience: filtered light through leaves, shifting shadows, the warmth of fire during winter gatherings and the seasonal transformation of the canopy itself. Bodies become part of these living structures — resting beneath the shade, singing collectively around the fire or moving through streets transformed by vegetal growth.
Material transformation is equally central to this aesthetic experience. Leaves, branches, pruning residues, fire and ash reveal a continuous cycle in which matter changes state and meaning — from plant to fire, from ash to ceramic, from crafted object to living canopy.
Through these experiences the project invites participants to perceive new relationships between materials, plants, climate and collective life, suggesting more abundant and life-supporting ways of inhabiting the city.
Mediterranean vine trellises have historically shaped environments of conviviality where people gather, sing and rest beneath vegetal shade. The project reactivates these atmospheres in contemporary streets, creating publicly accessible spaces of comfort and shared well-being.
The project works with cultural languages widely recognised within the territory — vine cultivation, seasonal pruning, communal fire, collective singing and ceramic craft. Because these practices are familiar they allow broad participation. Yet when recombined within the project they appear differently, revealing unexpected relationships between plants, materials, climate and collective life.
These environments are characterised by a transient and multisensory experience: filtered light through leaves, shifting shadows, the warmth of fire during winter gatherings and the seasonal transformation of the canopy itself. Bodies become part of these living structures — resting beneath the shade, singing collectively around the fire or moving through streets transformed by vegetal growth.
Material transformation is equally central to this aesthetic experience. Leaves, branches, pruning residues, fire and ash reveal a continuous cycle in which matter changes state and meaning — from plant to fire, from ash to ceramic, from crafted object to living canopy.
Through these experiences the project invites participants to perceive new relationships between materials, plants, climate and collective life, suggesting more abundant and life-supporting ways of inhabiting the city.
SONE builds upon cultural practices that already exist within the territory. Urban vine trellises, communal celebrations and craft traditions are forms of knowledge that people recognise and can directly engage with.
Rather than introducing entirely new practices, the project works by recognising and connecting existing forms of cultural and ecological agency. Local residents, artisans, musicians, students, environmental associations, wineries and makers contribute different forms of knowledge that are gradually composed into a shared process of transformation.
Innovation here does not consist in replacing existing practices but in extending their possibilities, expanding the network of actors involved and reinterpreting familiar cultural languages as tools for urban climate adaptation.
The project also supported the work of local initiatives caring for urban vines by contributing environmental monitoring, research and the design of ceramic protective devices that facilitate the planting of new trellises.
In parallel, the project created spaces for listening and citizen participation through surveys, collaborative mapping platforms and experimental tools to simulate potential vine canopies in the city. These mechanisms allow residents not only to contribute knowledge but also to collectively imagine how their streets could evolve into shared climate refuges.
In this sense the project operates less as a singular authorship and more as a platform that amplifies existing practices, enabling citizens, cultural actors and local institutions to actively contribute to the transformation of public space.
Rather than introducing entirely new practices, the project works by recognising and connecting existing forms of cultural and ecological agency. Local residents, artisans, musicians, students, environmental associations, wineries and makers contribute different forms of knowledge that are gradually composed into a shared process of transformation.
Innovation here does not consist in replacing existing practices but in extending their possibilities, expanding the network of actors involved and reinterpreting familiar cultural languages as tools for urban climate adaptation.
The project also supported the work of local initiatives caring for urban vines by contributing environmental monitoring, research and the design of ceramic protective devices that facilitate the planting of new trellises.
In parallel, the project created spaces for listening and citizen participation through surveys, collaborative mapping platforms and experimental tools to simulate potential vine canopies in the city. These mechanisms allow residents not only to contribute knowledge but also to collectively imagine how their streets could evolve into shared climate refuges.
In this sense the project operates less as a singular authorship and more as a platform that amplifies existing practices, enabling citizens, cultural actors and local institutions to actively contribute to the transformation of public space.
Participation in SONE unfolds through a continuous cultural cycle rather than isolated events. During spring and summer vine growth generates vegetal canopies that provide shade in public streets. In autumn the vines are pruned, producing the biomass that feeds the communal fires of the winter zambomba celebrations.
Through this seasonal sequence — pruning, celebration, fire, ceramic transformation and planting — cultural practices become the means through which new vine trellises are collectively produced and maintained. Participation therefore operates not only through workshops but through cultural practices that generate climate infrastructure.
Between 2023 and 2025 this cycle was explored through more than thirty activities including landscape explorations, ceramic workshops, sound research sessions, collaborative design meetings and environmental monitoring. Educational activities at the Jerez School of Art and Design involved more than thirty students developing ceramic prototypes, while collaborations with artisans and local makers produced more than one hundred ceramic pieces.
Public engagement formed a central dimension of the process. The SONE Exhibition-Laboratory, held in December 2025 at Palacio Riquelme, attracted more than two thousand visitors and included lyric-writing workshops in which residents contributed new songs for the SONE zambomba event, where more than two hundred citizens participated, culminating with the planting of new vines.
Visitors were invited to share their views through a public survey that revealed strong support for expanding vine canopies and willingness among residents to collaborate in their care. Beyond direct participants, the project benefits a much wider population through the everyday use of vine-shaded streets. Some ceramic devices developed during the project are now part of the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Jerez, recognising their role as contemporary interpretations of local craft traditions.
Through this seasonal sequence — pruning, celebration, fire, ceramic transformation and planting — cultural practices become the means through which new vine trellises are collectively produced and maintained. Participation therefore operates not only through workshops but through cultural practices that generate climate infrastructure.
Between 2023 and 2025 this cycle was explored through more than thirty activities including landscape explorations, ceramic workshops, sound research sessions, collaborative design meetings and environmental monitoring. Educational activities at the Jerez School of Art and Design involved more than thirty students developing ceramic prototypes, while collaborations with artisans and local makers produced more than one hundred ceramic pieces.
Public engagement formed a central dimension of the process. The SONE Exhibition-Laboratory, held in December 2025 at Palacio Riquelme, attracted more than two thousand visitors and included lyric-writing workshops in which residents contributed new songs for the SONE zambomba event, where more than two hundred citizens participated, culminating with the planting of new vines.
Visitors were invited to share their views through a public survey that revealed strong support for expanding vine canopies and willingness among residents to collaborate in their care. Beyond direct participants, the project benefits a much wider population through the everyday use of vine-shaded streets. Some ceramic devices developed during the project are now part of the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Jerez, recognising their role as contemporary interpretations of local craft traditions.
SONE operates through collaboration between actors working at multiple scales, linking local cultural practices with municipal policies and European research frameworks. The project mobilises a multi-level governance ecosystem involving over 20 institutional partners and more than 60 local actors, including public institutions, educational and research organisations, cultural actors, industry partners and civic initiatives.
At the local level residents, artisans, musicians, environmental associations and civic initiatives participate in the seasonal cycle of pruning, celebration and planting that sustains the expansion of vine canopies. Community initiatives such as the Emparrados movement play a central role in maintaining and promoting these structures within the historic city.
At the municipal level the Ayuntamiento de Jerez collaborates in the installation and expansion of vine trellises in public streets and supports the integration of this strategy within broader cultural and urban policies. The expansion of vine-shaded streets has also been incorporated into Jerez’s bid for the European Capital of Culture 2031.
At the European level the project is connected to the Horizon Europe PALIMPSEST research programme, which explores cultural and nature-based strategies for climate adaptation in heritage landscapes.
Within this multilevel ecosystem SONE operates as a cultural and research platform linking community practices, municipal action and European research, helping align local knowledge, artistic experimentation and environmental monitoring to support the expansion of urban vine canopies as distributed climate refuges.
At the local level residents, artisans, musicians, environmental associations and civic initiatives participate in the seasonal cycle of pruning, celebration and planting that sustains the expansion of vine canopies. Community initiatives such as the Emparrados movement play a central role in maintaining and promoting these structures within the historic city.
At the municipal level the Ayuntamiento de Jerez collaborates in the installation and expansion of vine trellises in public streets and supports the integration of this strategy within broader cultural and urban policies. The expansion of vine-shaded streets has also been incorporated into Jerez’s bid for the European Capital of Culture 2031.
At the European level the project is connected to the Horizon Europe PALIMPSEST research programme, which explores cultural and nature-based strategies for climate adaptation in heritage landscapes.
Within this multilevel ecosystem SONE operates as a cultural and research platform linking community practices, municipal action and European research, helping align local knowledge, artistic experimentation and environmental monitoring to support the expansion of urban vine canopies as distributed climate refuges.
SONE was developed through a transdisciplinary process connecting cultural practices, traditional ecological knowledge, artistic experimentation and environmental science. The project brought together artists, artisans, musicians, students, winemakers, environmental activists, engineers and municipal actors, creating a collaborative ecosystem where different forms of knowledge interact.
Traditional ecological knowledge embedded in viticulture and vine trellising was combined with the cultural practices of the zambomba celebrations that follow seasonal pruning. During these winter gatherings communities collect vine branches, light communal fires and sing songs. In this sense, zambomba songs function as living archives of the territory, carrying ecological knowledge about the rhythms of the landscape.
Rather than belonging to the past, this knowledge operates as a living system of practices that continues to evolve and inform contemporary climate adaptation. Within SONE this knowledge interacted with craft traditions related to ceramics and musical instruments, as well as with scientific knowledge generated through environmental monitoring and experimental sensors.
Gatherings around vine canopies, zambomba celebrations and the SONE Exhibition-Laboratory created spaces where these forms of knowledge could meet, be shared and collectively interpreted. These moments of celebration and encounter functioned as cultural rituals where practices, materials and knowledge systems converged in an integrative and non-hierarchical way.
These encounters generated new relationships between actors who had not previously worked together. Several collaborations between artisans, cultural actors, educational institutions and local initiatives continue beyond the duration of the project.
Through these cultural and social infrastructures the project demonstrates how climate adaptation can emerge from the coordination of diverse forms of knowledge embedded in place.
Traditional ecological knowledge embedded in viticulture and vine trellising was combined with the cultural practices of the zambomba celebrations that follow seasonal pruning. During these winter gatherings communities collect vine branches, light communal fires and sing songs. In this sense, zambomba songs function as living archives of the territory, carrying ecological knowledge about the rhythms of the landscape.
Rather than belonging to the past, this knowledge operates as a living system of practices that continues to evolve and inform contemporary climate adaptation. Within SONE this knowledge interacted with craft traditions related to ceramics and musical instruments, as well as with scientific knowledge generated through environmental monitoring and experimental sensors.
Gatherings around vine canopies, zambomba celebrations and the SONE Exhibition-Laboratory created spaces where these forms of knowledge could meet, be shared and collectively interpreted. These moments of celebration and encounter functioned as cultural rituals where practices, materials and knowledge systems converged in an integrative and non-hierarchical way.
These encounters generated new relationships between actors who had not previously worked together. Several collaborations between artisans, cultural actors, educational institutions and local initiatives continue beyond the duration of the project.
Through these cultural and social infrastructures the project demonstrates how climate adaptation can emerge from the coordination of diverse forms of knowledge embedded in place.
SONE is based on a low-cost and distributed model of climate adaptation that combines public support, cultural initiatives, local economic actors and community stewardship.
Historically vine canopies in Jerez were often supported by wineries, which used trellised vines to moderate microclimatic conditions around their cellars. These shaded environments helped maintain favourable temperatures for the development of the yeasts involved in the production of Sherry wines.
Community initiatives later promoted vine trellises as part of the cultural identity of Jerez and as elements that enrich the experience of visitors moving through the historic city.
Within the Horizon Europe PALIMPSEST project these practices have been further explored from the perspective of urban climate adaptation and public health, recognising vine canopies as accessible street-level climate refuges.
Public funding supports experimentation, research and cultural programming, while educational institutions contribute through workshops and prototyping processes. Community stewardship and emerging vine adoption initiatives reinforce long-term care and civic participation.
Because vine trellises rely on lightweight structures, local materials and seasonal maintenance practices, they represent a cost-effective strategy for climate adaptation compared with large-scale infrastructural solutions.
Through this hybrid structure SONE demonstrates how climate infrastructures can be sustained through a combination of public investment, cultural value, tourism attraction and collective care.
Historically vine canopies in Jerez were often supported by wineries, which used trellised vines to moderate microclimatic conditions around their cellars. These shaded environments helped maintain favourable temperatures for the development of the yeasts involved in the production of Sherry wines.
Community initiatives later promoted vine trellises as part of the cultural identity of Jerez and as elements that enrich the experience of visitors moving through the historic city.
Within the Horizon Europe PALIMPSEST project these practices have been further explored from the perspective of urban climate adaptation and public health, recognising vine canopies as accessible street-level climate refuges.
Public funding supports experimentation, research and cultural programming, while educational institutions contribute through workshops and prototyping processes. Community stewardship and emerging vine adoption initiatives reinforce long-term care and civic participation.
Because vine trellises rely on lightweight structures, local materials and seasonal maintenance practices, they represent a cost-effective strategy for climate adaptation compared with large-scale infrastructural solutions.
Through this hybrid structure SONE demonstrates how climate infrastructures can be sustained through a combination of public investment, cultural value, tourism attraction and collective care.
SONE proposes a model of urban climate adaptation that can be progressively replicated across Mediterranean cities.
The system relies on simple elements — lightweight trellis structures, climbing vegetation and seasonal care practices — making it compatible with dense historic fabrics where tree planting is often limited.
The experience of Jerez demonstrates how this transformation can occur gradually. The number of vine-shaded streets increased from four to eight in 2025 through collaboration between community initiatives, the municipality and the SONE project. The city has committed to expanding the network to at least twenty vine-shaded streets by 2031.
Each installation functions as a small-scale climate refuge while contributing to a distributed network of shaded streets that improves pedestrian comfort across the city.
The transferable value of SONE therefore lies not in replicating a specific design but in replicating a cultural-ecological methodology that connects plant growth, local biomass and cultural practices to produce convivial and publicly accessible climate refuges.
Interest in the initiative has already emerged beyond the city. Media coverage in both local and international outlets has highlighted the potential replicability of vine canopies as climate infrastructures. The project team and the Emparrados initiative have also received enquiries from other cities interested in exploring similar approaches.
The initiative has also been documented as a case study in international research on architectural strategies to reduce urban overheating. A study prepared by Thread for Historic England highlights vine arbours (emparrados) as a nature-based solution for cooling dense historic urban fabrics.
This incremental approach allows cities to expand climate refuges progressively while strengthening local cultural identities and community participation.
The system relies on simple elements — lightweight trellis structures, climbing vegetation and seasonal care practices — making it compatible with dense historic fabrics where tree planting is often limited.
The experience of Jerez demonstrates how this transformation can occur gradually. The number of vine-shaded streets increased from four to eight in 2025 through collaboration between community initiatives, the municipality and the SONE project. The city has committed to expanding the network to at least twenty vine-shaded streets by 2031.
Each installation functions as a small-scale climate refuge while contributing to a distributed network of shaded streets that improves pedestrian comfort across the city.
The transferable value of SONE therefore lies not in replicating a specific design but in replicating a cultural-ecological methodology that connects plant growth, local biomass and cultural practices to produce convivial and publicly accessible climate refuges.
Interest in the initiative has already emerged beyond the city. Media coverage in both local and international outlets has highlighted the potential replicability of vine canopies as climate infrastructures. The project team and the Emparrados initiative have also received enquiries from other cities interested in exploring similar approaches.
The initiative has also been documented as a case study in international research on architectural strategies to reduce urban overheating. A study prepared by Thread for Historic England highlights vine arbours (emparrados) as a nature-based solution for cooling dense historic urban fabrics.
This incremental approach allows cities to expand climate refuges progressively while strengthening local cultural identities and community participation.
