The aim of this study is to present some important aspects of the way in which participatory research may contribute to the management of territorial development, through the identification of problems and development opportunities in a given territory. We will first identify some epistemological and methodological aspects which regard participatory research as a means of action research. Next, we will uphold the idea of restoring the scientific research results as an instrument for the construction and promotion of local actors' participation in the development processes. To this end we will present extensively two series of research carried out in the Livezile-Rimetea micro- region (county of Alba, Romania), respectively the series of research between 2001-2002 and 2007-2008. As a result of this research we identified and developed the methodology of restoring of results through interviews or public debates, with a view to reinforcing the human support in the region under scrutiny.