Building agroecology with people. Challenges of participatory methods to deepen on the agroecological transition in different contexts

•The diversity of stakeholders involved will determine the role of the research team and the results of the action – research process.•Rural and urban contexts differ in terms of actors, challenges involved, design requirements and results.•Farmers are usually disconsidered in urban or desagrarized contexts and require specific power management strategies.•Public policies stakeholders are involved in more complex processes, in terms of stakeholders involved and type of results.•The dialogue between academia and farmers is a challenge when building horizontal processes, whatever the context is.