Activities and Events
Launching session of the EPF for Women-Led Innovation
7 October 2024 – visit the agenda here
Presentations launching session
1. Introduction – Presentation
2. Understanding the European Policy Forum – Presentation / Video
3. Insights and findings from GRASS CEILING project – Presentation / Video
4. Gender equality in the Common Agricultural Policy – Video
5. Gender lens investing as a way to improve gender equality in the European Union – Video
6. Gender dimension in sustainable development, innovation and green transition – Presentation / Video
7. Developing policy recommendations and tools – Presentation / Video
8. Workshop on Gender equality and diversity – Presentation
9. Closing – Presentation
On the future of women-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas.
More information
Experts views
Discover insights from leading experts in agriculture, rural development, and gender equality as they share their perspectives on women-led innovation. Through a series of interviews, these experts shed light on how the European Union can advance gender equality and identify ways local and regional policies can better meet the specific needs of women in agriculture and rural areas. Gain practical recommendations to foster women’s leadership in socio-ecological innovation and to develop inclusive, forward-thinking policy frameworks that promote meaningful change.
– Sophie Alkhaled (Lancaster University, SIMRA project)
– Florence Raes (United Nations Women Brussels)
– Christine Singer (Member of the European Parliament)
Note: The views expressed by these experts do not reflect the official position of the institutions with which they are affiliated and are their personal opinions
Policy Forum workshops
7 October 2024
7 October 2024 – Online – visit the agenda here
Presentations and recordings:
1. Understanding the European Policy Forum, Branwen Miles (Copa-Cogeca) & Blanca Casares (AEIDL) – Presentation / Video
2. Insights and findings from GRASS CEILING project, Sally Shortall (South East Technological University – Presentation / Video
3. Gender equality in the Common Agricultural Policy, Elena Schubert (DG AGRI) – Video
4. Gender lens investing as a way to improve gender equality in the European Union, Maria Nikolopoulou (European Economic and Social Committee) – Video
5. Gender dimension in sustainable development, innovation and green transition, Marta Dell’Aquila, Irina Kustova & Christian Dietz (Centre for European Policy Studies) – Presentation
6. Developing policy recommendations and tools, Blanca Casares & Serafin Pazos-Vidal (AEIDL), Sally Shortall (South East Technological University) – Presentation / Video
Note: The views expressed by these experts do not reflect the official position of the institutions with which they are affiliated and are their personal opinions
26 – 27 November 2024
26-27 November 2024 – all information here
Methodology and results:
Participants of the second Vilnius Showcase event, including project partners and members of the 9 Living Labs, collaborated in groups to identify and prioritise the five most crucial recommendations. They addressed key questions such as: What are the primary challenges or gaps that could undermine the viability of this project?, What obstacles could affect the feasibility of this recommendation? and What factors might enhance the successful implementation of this recommendation?
The insights gathered are being incorporated into a set of policy recommendations that will be presented shortly, as well as into the report scheduled for June 2025 on policy recommendations on inclusive transition policies for farming and rural areas
Photos group works
24 March 2025
24 March 2025 – Online – visit the agenda here
Presentations and recordings:
1. GRASS CEILING: findings and lessons learned, Sally Shortall (South East Technological University) – Presentation | Video
2. Gender benchmarking of European and national agricultural and rural policies, Charlene Lambert (Women Entrepreneurship Platform) – Presentation | Video
3. European Policy Forum for women-led innovation in agriculture & rural areas, Blanca Casares (AEIDL) – Presentation | Video
4. Good national practices
– Gender Equality in Spain’s CAP Strategic Plan, Isabel Aguilar Pastor (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food) – Presentation
– Spanish programme Rural Women’s Challenge and the use of the European Social Fund, Ana Lite Mateo (Ministry of Equality) – Presentation
– Mentorship programmes for rural women and/or Women’s Farmer Capital Investment Scheme in Ireland, James Claffey (Irish CAP Network) – Presentation
– Women in Agriculture Taskforce in Scotland, Fiona Leslie (Scottish Government) – Presentation
5. Roundtable: How to systematise public support to women?, Cristina Guarda (European Parliament) – Video message
Read here the Highlight Report
Note: The views expressed by these experts do not reflect the official position of the institutions with which they are affiliated and are their personal opinions.
Annual Conference
9 May 2025
9 May 2025
Exploring Gender Equality in policy: regional and rural perspectives
Summary Report from the session – here
Agenda – here
Presentations:
1. The European Policy Forum for women-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas: public policy initiatives and the use of EU Funds (Blanca Casares, AEIDL) | Presentation
2. Women’s Advocacy for River Protection in Poland (Daria Zozulia, Jagiellonian University Kraków) | Presentation
3. Gender Inequality in Rural and Urban Areas Across Europe (Elsa Fontainha and Tanya Vianna de Araújo, ISED Research, University of Lisbon) | Presentation
4. Women and innovation in the Spanish agricultural sector: Key findings from the European GRASS CEILING Project (Margarita Rico, University of Valladolid) | Presentation
5. Mapping women in agriculture and rural areas: descriptive statistics from Horizon-funded projects (Marie Lalanne, RSA Porto) – Presentation
6. Integrating gender equality into Community-Led Local Development (CLLD). Insights from LEADER and Local Action Groups (Raquel Pastor, AEIDL) | Presentation
7. Young women returning to rural and low density regions: ecologies of investment (Sofia Marques da Silva and Sara Faria, University of Porto) | Presentation
8. Agricultural lanscapes and biocultural memories through generations of innovative women farmers (Cristina Amaro da Costa, Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu & CERNAS-IPV) | Presentation
4 November 2025
4 November 2025 (9:30 – 11:30 AM)
Reviewing Policy Tools for Inclusive Innovation in Agriculture and
Rural Areas
Agenda – here
This session brought together around fifteen selected
participants, including representatives from EU institutions, key partners of GRASS CEILING, and representatives from sister projects advancing monitoring systems with a gender and rural perspective.
The discussion focused on collectively assessing the proposed Data Strategy and Integration Framework to build a Rural Women Innovation Compass, aimed at addressing a critical gap in current monitoring systems — the lack of gender-disaggregated and rural-specific data.
Session objectives:
– Review the proposed methodology for designing the Rural Women Innovation Compass.
– Validate and refine indicators for gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation.
– Identify practical solutions for integrating gender-disaggregated data into existing EU monitoring systems, including the Rural Observatory.
– Gather expert feedback to ensure usability, policy relevance, and potential uptake at EU and national levels.
The session was held under Chatham House rules and lasted approximately two hours. It included short presentations and a collaborative group exercise to facilitate co-creation and in-depth discussion. The outcomes directly informed GRASS CEILING’s forthcoming deliverable on policy tools, which will be presented at the project’s Final Conference in Brussels on 3–4 December 2025.
Presentations:
1. Gender proofing and policy benchmarking in practice: evidence from the GRASS CEILING Project – Sally Shortall (South East Technological University ) | Presentation
2. Design and development framework for a Rural Women Innovation Compass – Blanca Casares (AEIDL) | Presentation
4 December 2025 – All information here.
Showcase events
26-27 November 2024 – all information here
Agenda here
Case studies:
· Croatia
· Italy
· Lithuania
· Netherlands
· Norway
· Scotland
· Spain
· Sweden
Additional activities
In the project, a foresight exercise was conducted at two scales: one at the living lab level and the other at the European level. The objective was to explore current mega-trends and define plausible futures for the role of women in agriculture, rural economies, and communities. The main conclusions of this exercise are presented here.
Discover insights from leading experts in agriculture, rural development, and gender equality as they share their perspectives on women-led innovation. Through a series of interviews, these experts shed light on how the European Union can advance gender equality and identify ways local and regional policies can better meet the specific needs of women in agriculture and rural areas. Gain practical recommendations to foster women’s leadership in socio-ecological innovation and to develop inclusive, forward-thinking policy frameworks that promote meaningful change.
– Sophie Alkhaled (Lancaster University, SIMRA project)
– Florence Raes (United Nations Women Brussels)
– Christine Singer (Member of the European Parliament)
– Maura Farrell (Galway University, FLIARA and PREMIERE projects)
– Sally Shortall (University of Newcastle, GRASS CEILING project)
Note: The views expressed by these experts do not reflect the official position of the institutions with which they are affiliated and are their personal opinions
As part of our commitment to championing gender equality in agriculture and recognise rural women innovators, the GRASS CEILING project has established two targeted awards.
These awards are designed to highlight and celebrate the diverse contributions that are essential for building an equitable and prosperous rural future.
All information about the awards here.
The Policy Toolkit is a practical instrument created within the GRASS CEILING project to support policymakers in designing and monitoring inclusive, gender-responsive agricultural and rural development policies.
More information available here.
