Cognition and Governance in Advancing Regenerative Tourism: The Case of Penglipuran Village, Bali

Regenerative tourism seeks to restore and co-create socio-ecological systems beyond the limits of sustainability, yet empirical understanding of how cognition and governance interact to achieve this goal remains limited. Despite the growing adoption of regenerative principles, many community-based destinations continue to face challenges of superficial participation, weak collective learning, and limited integration of local wisdom into governance. This study investigates how community cognition, defined as shared knowledge, understanding, and awareness, interacts with participatory governance to advance regenerative outcomes in Penglipuran Tourism Village, Bali, a globally recognized model of sustainable rural development. Using a concurrent mixed-methods design, data were collected from 100 local respondents through structured surveys and 15 key informant interviews with village leaders, homestay owners, and tourism managers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and thematic analysis were used to explore the cognitive–participatory nexus. Results show that community knowledge and understanding significantly enhance engagement in decision-making, planning, and collaboration, while participatory governance rooted in desa adat institutions mediates this relationship by reinforcing inclusivity, accountability, and cultural legitimacy. The synergy between cognition and governance promotes creative economy growth, empowerment, and social well-being, though environmental conservation remains largely policy-driven. Theoretically, this study extends regenerative tourism discourse by empirically linking cognitive and governance dimensions, while practically offering insights for policymakers to design inclusive and adaptive governance models for resilient rural destinations