Λω / Lo', in the local dialect of Laconia, is used to address and describe a person we admire, appreciate and respect. The most capable! The bravest! Lo! It has its roots in the ancient Greek word ‘Λάας / Láas’, which means stone.
The symbolism of the stone has inspired the visualisation of our Laconia initiative. In our logotype, the stone represents Laconia and every corner represents a city or village within it.
Co-shape thriving livelihoods in our Bioregion Laconia as responsible citizens grounded in place and its people.
Philosophy
The concept of the initiative is inspired by the ‘Bioregional Weaving Lab’, and is part of the global Bioregional Learning community. It is in short a geographically grounded and carefully curated multi-stakeholder partnership process that weaves together people, place and projects, equipping and supporting them to organise for transformative change.
Who is stewarding it?
The initiative is stewarded by a group of people from various organisations of the region, from the region, mostly living in the region, that embarked on a process of using their own capacities in order to co-create, learn from each other and establish an equitable, sustainable, regenerative reality in Laconia- for its nature and its people.
Timeline so far
Autumn 2023
The idea started sprouting in some peoples minds. They shared it with others, and a small core group formed. The idea was probed in small group conversations with a diversity of people. The was no shape to the process, and the teams capacities not evolved enough to go the next step. The idea had time to mature in each persons mind.
Spring 2024
We came in contact with the bioregional weaving labs by total luck. Very quickly it became clear that what we had in mind was very identical with the bioregional weaving lab. The leading multistakeholder course gave our core team the skillset to go the next step.
We produced our first video about our bioregional weaving lab.
Winter 2024/2025
We came in contact with the bioregional weaving labs by total luck. Very quickly it became clear that what we had in mind was very identical with the bioregional weaving lab. The leading multistakeholder course gave our core team the skillset to go the next step.
April 2024
We organized a 14days Erasmus+ Youth worker mobility training in our farm with about 50 people about the topic of bioregional transitions and had the great opportunity to connect with the some fo the great experts in this topic Leon Seefeld, Villiana Dzhartova and Pieter Pleog. During the course we also went to two mountain villages in our region to help people there hands on, and do bioregioning in practice.
April-May-June 2025
We did three initial multistakeholder workshops with representatives of organisations, groups and initiatives of the region who show their stewarding role for the region in practice. The event locations were spread all over the geographic area of Laconia. The aim was to assess first key focus areas of the region as well as to probe the core thinking of the initiative.
Podcast episodes from our Bioregional Transformation training
France
Taking to the spotlight the recently announced "Bocage Bioregion" in Northwest France, Maëlle and Clément share their learnings from the training, highlighting different tools for the social and ecological development of one's region.
Spain
Highlighting their learnings on the importance of systemic work for paradigm shifts how crucial small actions can be in achieving significant change, Iñigo and Sandra share their prespective on how the North of Spain has fostered a strong sense of belonging to a specific place.
In this episode, Federica, Lorenzo, Giorgia, and Gigo discuss what they call of "transformative bioregionality": a concrete and localized commitment to regenerating bioregions in Italy and Europe, drawing on their personal experiences and the Southern Lights project. Hear their personal journeys on Bioregioning!
Sharing from their personnal experiences working on ecological and social regeneration in Portugal, biologists Catarina, Mariana and Susana discuss three regenerative initiatives and the locally adapted solutions being developped.
Hear Fenia and Manthos share their learnings on bioregioning in practice and how to go from region to Bioregion. Close to Fenia's heart, the case of Crete is put on the table, giving way for a fruitful discussion on how a region's unique characteristics and challenges can be used to improve a its own resilience through Bioregioning.
In this episode, Joey and Io take a look at their bioregion, the differences they see, the changes taking place, and the social and ecological impact. Ultimately focusing on how can people from different backgrounds be brought together in a region, Joey takes us back to Greece to the valley where he currently lives.
