Re.Rural – Centro Co.Re is a Rural Learning Centre in São Luís, a Transition Village in Odemira. It is committed to regenerating rural communities through immersive learning, agroforestry, cooperative economics and cultural reconnection, on a four-pillar vision: Regenerate, Reactivate, Rejuvenate and Reconnect.
Re.Rural – Centro Co.Re is a Rural Learning Centre in São Luís, a Transition Village in the municipality of Odemira, home to more than 50 nationalities and to a living network of dozens of cultural, ecological and social projects. It was founded by Rafaela Leal and José Donado. Their Re.Ruralisation vision rests on four pillars: Regenerate, Reactivate, Rejuvenate and Reconnect rural landscapes.
On the social side, the centre trains young community leaders through learning programmes meant to encourage the next generation to care for the land and their territories. One of them, Empoderamento Regenerativo Rural, works with rural youth from Odemira so they take an active part in regenerating the territory and in democratic life.
Economically, the work is to reactivate the rural economy through regenerative residential experiences, co-created with the village community. These are built on an integral cooperative model that generates value for all beings, human and non-human.
The ecological side is the Floresta Aprendiz, a 1.5-hectare agroforestry site with an agromedicinal labyrinth of more than 500 plants. There the centre is cultivating a way of producing food that cares for both land and people.
Culturally, it reconnects people and projects through encounters, practices and shared activities that strengthen bonds across the Re.Rural ecosystem, a collaborative guild of organisations and communities leading this movement cooperatively.
Hosting services include accommodation for learning groups, purpose-driven agroecological logistics and facilitation by an experienced pool of trainers. Programmes cover regenerative agriculture, community building, eco-social entrepreneurship, systems thinking and reconnection with nature. The centre also produced the documentary "Histórias Reais de Regeneração Eco-Social em Portugal", directed by Rafaela Leal and José Donado, with realisation by Heitor Carvalho (Pohema). It follows the Re.Rural Movement and communities reimagining villages as places of sharing, belonging and possibility.
Our Goal
Re.Rural – Centro Co.Re wants to regenerate rural social, ecological, cultural and economic landscapes, through immersive learning programmes, cooperative community models and agroforestry practice based in the Transition Village of São Luís, Odemira.
Our Wishes
The centre welcomes young people, adults, travellers, rural transformation agents and organisational leaders who want to take part in regenerative practices and help build more inspiring rural futures.
