For the Aupaba Institute, regeneration is the rebuilding and strengthening of the connections that sustain a territory.

Our approach is informed by different traditions of systems thinking and regenerative thought. Bill Reed and Pamela Mang helped consolidate the principle of design from place, according to which transformative solutions must emerge from a deep understanding of the place, its relationships and its potential. Fritjof Capra expanded the understanding of living systems through the interdependence of their parts. Fabio Scarano brings science, culture, spirituality and ancestral knowledge into dialogue in the construction of regenerative futures. And Ailton Krenak invites us to question a separation still deeply embedded in contemporary thought: the idea that humanity and nature can exist independently.

These references do not constitute a formula for the Aupaba Institute. They inform an approach of our own, shaped by Brazil’s realities and by experience implementing projects in territories.

This experience led us to develop the Regenerative Design for Territories and Communities methodology, created to translate regenerative principles into structured, adaptable and executable processes. Its conceptual foundation and application were systematized in the scientific article Regenerative Design Applied to Tourism: a methodology for the systemic transformation of territories.

Our methodology brings together systems thinking, Theory of Change, adaptive leadership, shared governance, impact evaluation, the Inner Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals within a single architecture for transformation. These frameworks function as tools for sensemaking, decision-making and learning: they help connect structural causes, human capacities, institutional responsibilities, change hypotheses and measurable outcomes without reducing territorial complexity to a linear logic. The place — and the relationships that constitute it — remains central; frameworks strengthen action, but they do not replace listening, situated knowledge or the continuous adaptation that regenerative processes require.

From this foundation, the process moves from territorial understanding to the design and testing of solutions, combining co-creation, monitoring and governance to expand local capacities, strengthen cooperation networks and create real conditions for continuity.

In this process, shared responsibility does not mean diluted responsibility.

Governments retain their responsibilities for rights and public policy. Companies are accountable for the impacts and relationships associated with their activities. Civil society organizations must demonstrate technical capacity, integrity and transparency. Communities must participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their territories.

Regeneration creates the conditions for these responsibilities to meet.

The Aupaba Institute is the only Brazilian organization exclusively dedicated to implementing regenerative design applied to tourism and territorial development.

This implementation capacity is central to our identity.

Our work spans research, diagnosis and technical design through planning, methodological design, institutional coordination, mobilization, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and accountability. Projects such as Regenerando Territórios – Pará and Viver Territórios show how this approach can take different forms according to the conditions of each place.

Our understanding of regeneration also incorporates justice, ancestry, empathy and an ethic of care. In this context, love is not treated as sentimental language, but as recognition of interdependence and the dignity of others — a responsibility for the quality of the relationships we help build.

For companies, foundations, governments and institutions, this approach creates a bridge between commitments to ESG, sustainability and social responsibility and their practical realization in territories.

And because responsible impact requires institutional capacity, our own Governance, Integrity and Transparency framework and our project and results reports are part of the same vision: those who propose transformation must be able to show how they decide, implement, measure, learn and account for their actions.

For the Aupaba Institute, to regenerate is to understand a territory in its complexity, recognize what needs to be repaired or strengthened and create the conditions for different actors to build relationships that are more just, balanced and responsible.

Regeneration begins with connection, takes shape through method and is realized through implementation.