Throughout 2025, the DaST Foundation deepened its work in Torrão through initiatives that connected education, ecology, artistic creation and academic research, strengthening a practice that is both rooted in the territory and oriented towards the future.

In the field of education and cultural mediation, the academic year began with the Oficina de Teatro (Theatre Workshop) led by Miguel Magalhães, in partnership with Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, the National Arts Plan, Convento da Terra and the Municipality of Alcácer do Sal. The programme involved lower and upper secondary students in establishing the foundations of a school theatre group inspired by local heritage and everyday life.

The Xarrama River remained a central axis of the Foundation’s work. Through the Xarrama Vivo programme, promoted by the DaST Foundation via Convento da Terra and in collaboration with the University of Évora, Xarrama Adventure and a wide range of local and national partners, including ASPEA, the year saw community gatherings such as Vozes do Xarrama, walks, trail clean-ups and environmental monitoring actions. This work found public expression in the exhibition The Xarrama River and the Kingfisher, affirming the river as a living heritage and shared responsibility.

In the domain of artistic creation and intergenerational knowledge exchange, a major highlight was Ártemis by Susana Cereja, developed in co-creation with the Torrão community and exhibited in Arraiolos. Additional workshops on ancestral bread and bolo-rei (King Cake) brought generations together to celebrate traditional practices, memory and conviviality. The year also featured the launch of Vagabundos em Férias, a book by writer Acidália Lopes, hosted at Espaço C‑T AQUI, in Praça Bernardim Ribeiro.

The year also marked the beginning of the Conversations that Germinate series, a reflective space dedicated to the transitions needed for territorial regeneration, with the first session focused on regenerative agriculture.

Academic residencies formed a cornerstone of 2025. In June, Torrão welcomed its second international academic residency, in collaboration with Instituto Superior Técnico, the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Lisbon, Edinburgh Napier University and Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, with guest participation from architect Phil Hawes, renowned for his work on the Biosphere 2 project. In November, Torrão was visited by postgraduate students in Environmental Design from Instituto Superior Técnico and Master’s students in Architecture from the University of Lisbon.

This work extended beyond the local context, with Torrão LAB presented as a case study in integrated rural regeneration at the annual congress of the Portuguese Association for Regional Development, and the Foundation’s presence at the European Start-up Village Forum in Brussels. The year culminated with the official recognition of the DaST Foundation by the Portuguese State, a milestone that not only validates the journey so far but also deepens our responsibility to continue shaping long-term pathways of regeneration, with and for the community.