Presentation short abstract

This preliminary PhD presentation explores early insights from participatory action research with women-led agroforestry and local-food initiatives in Portugal and Greece, focusing on how bioregioning practices strengthen socioecological regeneration in rural contexts.

Presentation long abstract

This presentation shares the preliminary reflections and plans of an early-stage PhD project exploring bioregional regeneration through two, Southern European, women-led initiatives: Associação Terra Sintrópica in Portugal and The Southern Lights in Greece. Both work at the intersection of agroforestry, local food systems, community engagement, and landscape restoration, offering rooted responses to the socioecological challenges affecting peripheral rural areas.

Grounded in participatory action research (PAR) and transformative methodologies, the project involves the role of an academic-activist as a researcher-intervener, collaborating directly with each initiative. Using tools such as Grounded Theory, Systems Thinking, Theory U and the 4 Returns framework, the research aims to co-map local and bioregional systems, identify barriers and leverage points for regeneration, and co-design strategies that link ecological, social, economic, and cultural dimensions in these Southern European initiatives.

At this preliminary stage, the project reflects on the emerging patterns observed: the impact of women’s leadership in holding community processes, building partnerships, and maintaining long-term food and agroforestry practices; the barriers these initiatives face—such as institutional constraints, cultural tensions around food and land use, and the high relational and organisational labour required; and the value of bioregioning as a framework for aligning local knowledge and intervention with systemic regeneration.

By presenting these initial insights, the contribution aims to open dialogue on how participatory research can meaningfully support women-led regenerative food systems and help shape more grounded, adaptive bioregional transitions, while in a critical phase for peer feedback and suggestions for this early-phase PhD project.