1. Regenerative Paradigm and Conceptual Foundations

1.1 Regenerative Paradigm

The RTJ tool is grounded in regenerative thinking, which views development as a co-evolutionary process among people, nature, culture, and place. This paradigm shifts away from linear progress and isolated interventions, emphasising instead:

• the quality of relationships,
• the capacity for continuous learning,
• coherence between identity, values, and action, and
• alignment with the essential purpose of a place or system.

Regenerative development understands places as living systems with their own histories, identities, and potentials. Tourism contributes to regeneration when it strengthens relationships, deepens meaning, and supports the vitality of the whole.

1.2 The Regenerative Spiral

The RTJ tool is structured around the six evolutionary stages of the Regenerative Spiral described by Bill Reed, and the developmental frameworks articulated by Carol Sanford and other critical thinkers in regeneration (Mang & Haggard, Wahl, etc.). It unfolds through a progressive transition from a paradigm based on control to one rooted in living and regenerative consciousness, articulated through six principles or states of awareness.

This scale is not hierarchical but evolutionary: it describes increasing degrees of consciousness and complexity. Each statement across the various dimensions of the RTJ Tool is linked to one of these levels, allowing the identification of the evolutionary stage at which each actor or stakeholder within the system currently operates.

Beyond any sectoral focus, the tool provides a broader systemic reading that recognizes that regenerative development does not occur in isolated parts, but through resonance among dimensions.

1.3 Why the Tool Does Not Measure Impact

Through a regenerative lens, impact metrics alone cannot capture the vitality, relationships, and developmental maturity of a living system.

• awareness,
• meaning,
• behavioural orientation,
• capacity for learning,
• quality of interaction, and
• systemic coherence.

This approach reveals conditions that enable regeneration, rather than counting outputs or outcomes. This is why the tool is no longer framed as an impact measurement tool (RISET), but as a journey-based qualitative tool for reflection and learning.

2. The Seven Dimensions of the RTJ Tool

The tool explores seven interconnected dimensions that together describe the regenerative vitality of a territory. They focus on action (specifically, how people behave), as action (doing) is understood as visible manifestations of underlying perceptions and values.

These dimensions reflect how life flows through a system — through relationships, exchange, learning, and shared purpose.

1. Relationship with Nature

   Examines ecological awareness and the quality of interaction with ecosystems, from instrumental use to reciprocity and co-evolution.

2. Culture, Identity & Meaning of Place

   Explores how people relate to local culture, memory, heritage, and landscape as a biocultural system. It also includes the symbolic and ethical dimensions of the territory, assessing the degree of belonging, rootedness, and shared vision.

3. Community & Others

   Looks at trust, participation, and relational density within the social fabric of the place. Measures the evolution from functional independence to social interdependence and collective co-responsibility.

4. Working Together & Decision-Making (governance)

   Assesses the quality of decision-making and the institutional capacity to manage complexity. Measures the degree of participation, co-responsibility, and trust among actors as indicators of living and adaptive governance.

5. Flows of Value in Tourism and the Territory

   Examines how economic, cultural, social, environmental, and human value circulate within the territory, and how tourism contributes to long-term wellbeing. Analyzes the nature and distribution of economic flows generated by tourism. Measures the transition from an extractive and linear model toward a circular and redistributive one, where economic value reinforces territorial vitality and resilience.

6. Purpose & Roles

   Considers how individuals understand their motivation and contribution within the wider living system. Measures the coherence between internal motivation and contribution to the whole, as well as the clarity of roles within an interdependent system.

7. Learning, Change & Adaption

   Evaluates the capacity to learn, unlearn, innovate, and adapt collectively, generating shared intelligence and resilience. Indicates the extent to which the system integrates feedback and transforms experience into adaptive improvement, generating collective intelligence.

Each dimension can be interpreted independently or as part of an interconnected system, where vitality, purpose, and trust act as transversal principles.

From a regenerative perspective, vitality is the emergent result of coherence among all dimensions. It is not just another indicator but the quality that arises when life flows without obstruction: when there is internal connection (awareness), healthy relationships (community), balanced exchanges (economy), living learning (adaptation), and shared purpose (living governance).

The tool thus measures how life circulates through the system, emphasizing the process of transformation rather than the outcome. Its purpose is to offer a living image of the evolutionary moment of a territory or collective, accompanying it in its development toward greater coherence, vitality, and service to life.

3. For Whom Is the Tool Developed? (8-Helix Stakeholders)

Where conventional models often employ the 5-Helix (comprising public authorities, businesses, academia, civil society, and environmental organizations), the Regenera4MED project purposefully extends this to include residents, tourists and nature.

The tool is thus designed for all actors who shape, experience, or influence tourism and the territory:

• Public administrations and public agencies
• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• Academia and research institutions
• Civil society organisations
• Environmental and cultural organisations
• Local residents
• Tourists / travellers / temporary residents
• Nature as a non-human stakeholder

In the model, residents are acknowledged as long-term stewards of place, residents are vital to ensuring the continuity of local knowledge, culture, and custodianship. Their lived experiences and emotional investment in their territories form a cornerstone of regenerative strategies; tourists are reframed as co-creators and co-agents of regenerative transformation, tourists are not passive consumers but active contributors capable of making mindful choices, engaging in participatory experiences, and fostering reciprocal relationships with places and communities and nature is treated as a full stakeholder. This means that non-human life and ecosystems are considered active participants in tourism governance, not just passive resources. By treating Nature as a stakeholder, the Regenera4MED project promotes governance that is about care, responsibility, and working with—not just managing—the natural world and it’s carrying capacity. This inclusive worldview reflects regenerative principles: decisions should support the long-term health of ecosystems and communities, not just economic performance.

4. Structure and Reflective Nature of the RTJ Tool

This qualitative questionnaire was designed to explore how people experience and perceive their relationship with life, with others, and with the territory, what we call in tourism, our destination. It does not aim to assess technical knowledge or professional competencies, but rather to offer a space for reflection on one’s own life moment and way of inhabiting the world. For this reason, the statements refer to human experiences rather than professional roles or functions. They are applicable to any context —social, professional, or institutional— and invite a transversal reading of personal and collective development. The approach is neutral and inclusive: all responses are valid, as each describes a stage within a person’s or system’s evolutionary journey.

There are no right or wrong answers; only different perspectives on the same process of transformation. This neutrality reduces resistance and fosters honest responses. The language moves away from moral judgment and into the realm of meaning —speaking of balance, connection, rhythm, calm, or coherence. These are words that transcend sectors and generations, enabling dialogue among diverse actors technicians, entrepreneurs, youth, public administrations, and community organizations without losing depth. Each statement is designed to foster self-reflection without exposing vulnerability. In this way, the questionnaire functions as a shared mirror, capable of awakening both individual and collective awareness.

4.1 Close-Ended Questions (7 Dimensions × 6 Levels)

Each of the seven dimensions includes a single question with six statements, corresponding to the six stages of the Regenerative Spiral. Statements describe human experiences, not technical expertise, using simple and neutral language to encourage honest reflection.

4.2 Open-Ended Reflection Questions (6)

Open-ended reflections are strategically placed throughout the tool to:

• make space for deeper personal insight,
• help capture meaning, stories, values, and local knowledge,
• contextualise quantitative patterns for project partners,
• illuminate lived experiences behind developmental scores.
• They are not used for automated scoring but significantly enrich interpretation.

4.3 Likert-Scale Questions (Pilot Activity Reflection)

Participants involved in the Regenera4MED pilot activities are invited to evaluate their learning and experience through a short set of 5-point Likert scale statements. These statements measure perceived changes in perspectives, motivations, relationships, and understanding.

5. Registration and Repeated Participation

Registration is required because the RTJ Tool is designed to be completed multiple times (up to six) during the project — corresponding to the capability-building phases and the development of regenerative tourism experiences.

Registration:
• enables participants to return to their dashboard and track their own evolution
• allows the project team to observe collective patterns of change,
• ensures all responses remain anonymous,
• supports longitudinal analysis at individual, group, and territorial scales.

6. What the Tool Reveals

The RTJ Tool does not judge or rate performance. Instead, it identifies:

• patterns of transformation,
• areas of coherence or tension,
• levels of vitality and resilience,
• commonalities and differences between stakeholder groups,
• where dialogue, support, or learning may be needed.

Participants can track changes in their own journey, while territorial partners can observe broader developmental dynamics. Visual outputs allow analysis at

• individual level (personal evolution),
• stakeholder-group level (differences and alignments),
• territorial level (shared patterns of regenerative maturity).

The aim is to illuminate the living dynamics of change, helping each territory understand how it is evolving — and what conditions can strengthen its path toward a regenerative future.