Philosophies, ecological practices, and politics built around the idea that a place’s natural features and edges suggest the basis for understanding it and inhabiting it. Scientifically, this means joining ecology to anthropology through geography: a seamless interdependency between ecosystem, culture, and region. Most versions of bioregionalism share the following areas of focus:

• Those who actually live in a bioregion know best how to manage it. Top-down solutions from far away are to be suspected. * Dwellers begin to understand a place by reinhabiting it, which means learning all about its ecosystems and animals, water sources, weather, soil types, waste management, ecological strengths and traumas, and resources for ecologically gentle living. The mood that matches this is learning to feel at home there. * Food is best grown and bought locally. * Local democracy is based on direct participation and small-group discussion. (As Leopold Kohr put it, "If something is wrong, then something is too big. ")
• Developments that would damage the local environment--shopping malls, tract housing, factories, etc. --should be firmly and consistently opposed. Locally made products are preferred over those shipped from a distance or made locally through mass production both of which transfer capital to outside sources. * Respect for the rights, needs, customs, privacy, and knowledge of indigenous people living in the area. * Living sustainably means ecologically sensible practices such as reuse and recycling, water and power conservation, and reduction of trash and other wastes.