From Global Flows to Territorial Bonds: Towards a Bioregional Governance of the Living in the Taravu Valley

Abstract

This paper addresses the theoretical and operational challenge of redefining the relationship between human communities and natural systems through the bioregionalist paradigm. Moving beyond the view of territory as an inert substrate, the research proposes a perspective in which natural elements are recognized as "actants" endowed with political agency and intrinsic rights. The study focuses on the case of the Taravu Valley in Corsica, where the river serves not merely as a hydrographic boundary but as a living individual that shapes socio-economic relations. Adopting a situated approach based on Grounded Theory, the article analyzes the evolution of the valley as a laboratory for institutional innovation, examining the tensions between administrative fragmentation and ecological identity. The findings highlight how a governance of care and co-creation can transform the territory into a radical political project, capable of mending the dualism between declining inland areas and global extractive pressures while ensuring the resilience of vital metabolisms.