The literature on rural coworking spaces (RCWS) has already insisted on two main features that signal important differences between these experiences and their urban counterparts. On the one hand, they are (conceived as) more embedded in the local context and communities, and on the other, they are characterised by multifunctionality, hosting various functions and services. For these reasons, recent research has claimed that RCWS could be better understood as place-based phenomena, thus drawing attention towards the need to approach them through place-based policies [Avdikos & Papageorgiou, Local Economy, 36(7–8), 669–682 (2021)]. However, both the description of RCWS as highly embedded in local communities and the claim for place-based policies in which integrating RCWS as tools for local development lead to the need to look closer into those places and communities in which RCWS are embedded. The contribution discusses the preliminary results of a research project on the initiative Spazi Generativi, launched by the LAG Escartons e Valli Valdesi, in the Piedmont Region, Italy. Drawing from the literature that stresses the relevance of spatial imaginaries on processes and strategies of local development, the research investigates the spatial imaginaries associated into the concept of RCWS by the actors involved in the participatory process at the core of Spazi Generativi.