Regenerating in Public Relations: From Mechanical to Living Systems
At the EUPRERA Talks webinar, moderated by Isabel Ruiz Mora (Associate Professor at the University of Málaga and one of the 2026 EUPRERA Congress organisers), three distinguished voices explored the concept of regeneration in public relations. Bel Barroso (Scholar at the University of Málaga and co-founder of Chronopios consultancy), Evandro Oliveira (CEO and founder of Gaudere, researcher at LabCom and Professor at the University of Derby and London Metropolitan University BA and Master Programs), and Rune Schanke-Eickhoff (CEO of Tinkr innovation consultancy and PhD researcher at the Norwegian Business School) invited participants to reconsider the very foundations of public relations. Their central message was clear: organisations must move from mechanical models of thinking towards living systems approaches grounded in a regenerative mindset.
In her contribution, Bel outlined three phenomena driving the urgency for change. First, she described “the great forgetting”, referring to our separation from nature — despite the fact that we are ourselves part of it. Second, she highlighted the erosion of trust, increasingly replaced by fear and control within hierarchical structures. Finally, she addressed the suppression of “feminine” intelligence and sensibility — closely connected to listening — which enables qualities such as care, intuition and relational awareness to flourish.
Evandro deepened the discussion by emphasising that regeneration begins with identity and organisational consciousness. If an organisation does not know what it is, it cannot act authentically — and when it acts without self-knowledge, it risks performing coherence rather than embodying it. First be, then act, then communicate. Communication cannot compensate for a fragmented organisational self.
The speakers collectively stressed that sustainability and regeneration are not synonymous. Sustainability focuses on reducing harm and maintaining existing systems, whereas regeneration seeks actively to restore and enhance the vitality, health and integrity of the living systems upon which organisations depend. Rather than aiming for “less negative impact”, regeneration strives for net-positive outcomes.
Building on this distinction, Rune proposed a practical way to differentiate genuine regenerative ambition from greenwashing: look for evidence that an organisation consistently operates “on nature’s terms”, rather than merely adopting nature-based language in its communications. Drawing on the example of a land-based fish farm, he noted how the founder frames success as a dynamic balance between fish, people, nature and the local community. Such a multi-stakeholder commitment must be sustained through everyday decisions and practices — not simply articulated in external messaging.
Moving from theory to practice, regenerative practices can also be implemented in organisations through a four-step framework:
Listening – Understanding how the organisation forms part of its respective ecosystem.
Identifying pains – Examining rhythms, tensions, learning processes, governance, leadership and communication patterns within the organisation.
Experimenting – Starting small and testing changes designed to increase vitality.
Measuring and learning – Tracking what works and adapting accordingly, while maintaining system health as the central objective.
For public relations scholars and practitioners, regeneration challenges the field to move beyond traditional dimensions of trust and reputation management towards stewardship, systemic awareness and authentic coherence. The webinar concluded with a powerful reminder: regeneration is not about perfection, but about continuous, incremental improvement in coherence and vitality.
To watch the full webinar, click below:
For the preparation of this blog, data and language processing tools were used.
