Beyond the rural–urban entrenchment: untangling, exploring, and legitimizing rural diversity through participatory action research

As the ecosocial crisis deepens, rural contexts have become focal points of ideological struggles over ecology and sustainability, often envisaged through the narrow framework of a rural–urban divide. Although often portrayed as homogeneous, rural communities encompass a dynamic and diverse constellation of senses of place and sociopolitical positions. Within a participatory action research framework, we conducted 11 focus groups (N = 68), analyzed through Content Analysis complemented by a Discursive- Rhetorical approach. We explore the varied senses of place, the meanings of rurality, and the conflicts surrounding landscape management, along with the promises and challenges that arise when participants co-produce and envision desirable futures for their communities. Our research seeks to empower communities by fostering dialogue for future participatory sessions and illustrates how social-psychological knowledge can help people coproduce meanings, practices, and senses of place in response to local and global challenges.