Anita Galåen, member of the Norwegian Living Lab in the GRASS CEILING project is at Grüne Woche in Berlin this week, representing her business and promoting local food production.
The International Green Week in Berlin is considered the world’s biggest consumer fair for the food, agricultural, and horticultural industries. It is one of the most traditional Berlin trade fairs and one of the best-known events in Germany.
Anita Galåen is the manager of a large family-run farm in the region of Røros in Trøndelag, Norway. They produce and sell eggs and desserts (like merengue, utilising the egg whites!), dairy products such as cheese, ready-made waffles and pancake batters, ice cream, mayonnaise, cakes and chocolate ice-cream cakes.
We are so proud and happy that we get to be part of the Norwegian delegation to the International Green Week here in Berlin, Anita Galåen
Wearing the traditional Røros-region costume Anita became very popular at the fair in Berlin with her farm’s ‘waffle on a stick’ and Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food Geir Pollestad joined in to have a bite of the fun.
The International Green Week in Berlin is held on Jan 19-28.
We have had a journalist from one of Berlin’s largest newspapers come and write about our waffles on a stick, and we have been featured in the paper back in Norway. We are building networks and making connections with people, which is so important for us to be able to produce locally made food in the future, Anita Galåen
Congratulations to Eglė Valuckaitė-Stašauskienė, a participant of the Lithuanian Living Labaratory, who won the competition “Created in Kėdainiai district”, organised by the Kėdainiai branch of the Kaunas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts in cooperation with the Kėdainiai district municipality. According to Eglė, she submitted 4 of her products for evaluation. The tomato crisps „Paduok pomidorų„ (in English „Pass the tomatoes“) and „Paduok aštrumo“ (in English „Pass the spiciness“) created on her farm were the winners.
This is the farm’s newest product, one of 74 available. It was created out of a desire to create a healthy, tasty snack with no added sugar, suitable for both children and adults – colourful and full of flavours. The crisps come in three different flavours and are made exclusively from the different varieties of tomatoes and herbs grown on the farm: with green tomatoes and basil; with red tomatoes, garlic and chilli peppers (for adults); with yellow tomatoes and garlic.
This type of appreciation encourages the development of other exceptional products. It encourages you to improve, to move forward and to keep going. It gives us confidence, but it also gives our customers confidence, because it means that the products are worth trying and tasting.
This year we would like to congratulate Rasa Prusakova, a participant of the Lithuanian Living Lab, and her family farm for winning the Future Rural Creators Awards presented by the Lithuanian Rural Network, which unites state and local self-government institutions, bodies and public legal entities involved in rural development processes related to agriculture, food, forestry and rural development. Here, the farm was recognised as the second best “Progressive Farm” for introducing innovations in agriculture.
This is not the only award for Rasa’s farm this year. Her family farm was also the winner of the “Good Farmer” championship. The championship is an initiative that brings together and showcases examples of farmers who farm in harmony with nature. Farmers are nominated by the public, then a panel of organisers selects the farms they visit and chooses them as ambassadors of the “Good Farmer” Championship. Rasa Prusakova’s farm, a participant in the Living Laboratory in Lithuania, has been nominated as one of the three Good Farmer Ambassadors for 2023 for its nature-friendly farming principles. The farm also won the event’s special nomination “Audience’s Sympathy”, i.e. Rasa’s farm received the most support from the voting public. The 40 hectare certified organic farm combines crop and livestock farming with a wide range of vegetables, chickens, turkeys and Highland cows. The farm’s aim is to create a food basket of healthy food for sale, primarily dominated by what they would love to eat themselves. Rasa says that taking part in competitions is like getting free advertisement, her family’s farm has become recognisable and new customers want to get to know and taste the products they grow.
The prize is presented to Rasa’s farm by the patron of the championship, Beata Nicholson, a culinary and environmental enthusiast.
The Grass Ceiling Project, academically coordinated by the Palencia Campus of the University of Valladolid (UVa), continues its journey, celebrating an interesting meeting where the main challenges faced by women working in agriculture were discussed. The University Campus of Palencia has once again hosted the third meeting of the Grass Ceiling Project. The objective of the working session was to identify the main challenges, barriers, and limitations that women face daily in their agricultural and livestock operations, from personal, sectoral, regulatory, and rural environment perspectives.
To achieve this, the eight women participating permanently in the project and a diverse group of external agents from the associative and cooperative sector, the public sector, local action groups, and several male farmers, have participated in various work dynamics. The research team from the Palencia Campus, led by Professor Margarita Rico, along with several members of the Agri-food Cooperatives of Spain, organized and moderated the event.
The main problems detected are mainly related to the excessive and convoluted bureaucracy that professionals in the field must comply with, often redundant and unnecessary, which takes away time that could be devoted to their own farmers. Other limitations are related to the poor living conditions in smaller municipalities, especially regarding the scarcity of health, education, care, cultural, and leisure services. The scarcity of public transportation and inefficient internet and mobile phone connectivity were also cited as significant barriers. Finally, sector-specific issues inherent to agriculture also pose important obstacles, such as high production costs, limited influence over prices, sector undervaluation, and low representation of women in leadership positions in various representative organizations.
Ultimately, the last discussion focused on proposing an exploratory plan for possible generic action strategies to overcome the identified barriers in the preceding work dynamics. The project concludes its first year of work, with very positive results in terms of conclusions drawn and the participation and commitment of the eight women involved in the experiential laboratory, as well as other collaborating agents. The creation of the working and support network generated around the project itself, constitutes an innovation in supporting women actively working in agrarian activities.
The Swedish Living Lab held its second meeting September 4th at our participant Sandra Levinsson’s farm café – Flättinge Gårdscafé – which she pursues on her family farm with her two sisters. The Lab’s co-leads Siv Lindén, Hela Sverige ska leva, and Dr Katarina Pettersson, SLU, led the participants to discuss how the women pursue their various rural and farm businesses. The participants prepared short presentations of their businesses, motivations, support – and then shared their experiences of their business development, including reflections on conditions and difficulties for development. For lunch we were served a lovely vegan burger produced of lupin beans grown at the farm.
The co-leads also led a focus group discussion with the women on innovation. We discussed if they do view themselves as innovators and what comes to mind when thinking about the concept ‘innovator’. For some of the women the general opinion is that an innovator is someone who invents something brand new, and that the women in the focus group rather are ‘entrepreneurs’. The concept of ‘innovation’ is associated with technology. For others being an innovator is the same as being an entrepreneur: which is about having an open mind to absorb new ideas on how to improve how they work and to have goals for what they do, and to become more effective – that this is what it means to be an entrepreneur. The women discussed that they have established rural companies that focus on other things that traditional farming, which could be seen as innovations only that they are unable to see it that way. The understanding in the group was that women and couples, to larger extent than men alone, establish new kinds of companies in rural areas, in particular in tourism and hospitality, and in the horse industry.
The third Living lab meeting was performed November 14th at Emma Hartelius’ farm – Grimstorps Gård – where she is producing ecologically certified beef from natural pasture fed cattle. The focus at this meeting was for the participants to get more knowledge on support opportunities in relation to the Regional Food Strategy as well as the Regional Tourism and Hospitality Strategy. We had stakeholders Bella Rådberg from the County Administrative Board in Jönköping; Christina Odén and Katrin Löwe from the Region Jönköping County (A Region is a self-governing local authority in Sweden. There are 21 regional councils each corresponding to a county in Sweden) with us and they presented theory work and available support for entrepreneurship and innovation. The participants engaged in feed-back and discussions on how their businesses can be better supported. At the workshop a couple of the participants also presented their businesses, as they had not had the opportunity to do so previously. Elin Skörde also presented her experiences from representing the Swedish team in Brussels for the show case event in September.
The fourth Living lab workshop is planned to take place February 6th, 2024, with a focus on business advice and support, and where a couple of stakeholders will be invited.
The eight women innovators of the Living Lab ‘Biodistretto delle Lame’, one of the 9 LLs of GRASS CEILING project, were invited to participate to the activities of the Mediterranean Innovation Week, held at CIHEAM Bari on 22-24 November, with the participation of many actors of the local innovation ecosystem and various international experts and organisations.
The eight women innovators of the Living Lab ‘Biodistretto delle Lame’, one of the 9 LLs of GRASS CEILING project, were invited to participate to the activities of the Mediterranean Innovation Week, held at CIHEAM Bari on 22-24 November, with the participation of many actors of the local innovation ecosystem and various international experts and organisations. You can take a look at the video of the Mediterranean Innovation Week here.
Two women shared their innovation journey in a public panel contributing to a debate on ‘Creative Entrepreneurship 4 Mediterranean Rural Resilience’ (panel 1) during which GRASS Ceiling project was also presented.
One LL participant also took part to B2B matching event seizing the opportunity to get expert advice on digital marketing and innovation design.
A small exhibition of products and services of the LL Biodistretto delle Lame was set up.
The exchanges held during the week have also inspired the two LL co-leads, CIHEAM Bari and Legacoop Puglia, to replicate in the near future some activities to specifically address LL participants’ needs relying on the services and network of the ewly inaugurated Mediterranean Innovation Agrifood Hub.
Letizia and Miriam at Panel 1
Letizia and Miriam at Panel 1
Letizia and Miriam at Panel 1
Small exhibition of LL women innovators’ products & services
Small exhibition of LL women innovators’ products & services
The Living Lab Croatia (LLHR) called Eco-Women Entrepreneurs (EWE) held its second meeting. It was organized by the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture and the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) and took place on 13 October 2023 in Zagreb at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
The Living Lab meeting was divided into two parts. The first part was attended by women innovators (LL participants) and the second part by our innovators and stakeholders.
In the first part, after the introduction to the agenda, the previous and future activities of the project were briefly presented. One of the innovators presented her experiences from the Brussels Showcase event (September 2023).
The first part of the Living Lab meeting focused on the introduction to the innovation process with an emphasis on designer thinking and the double diamond methodology. Three main fears were also discussed: the fear that the idea is not innovative, the fear of criticism and the fear of uncertainty. It was agreed that in the time between Living Lab 2 and 3, each innovator should define a goal for the next year so that each woman’s needs and goals for the next year could be identified and explored.
The innovators identified their needs and/or ideas for future activities of the LL: (1) training on promotion in social networks, (2) the annual event where each woman can present herself and her products, (3) the establishment of an association to support women where Living Lab innovators can advise other women, (4) the development of a logo for the Croatian Living Lab. The need for networking was emphasized in the discussion.
The first part of the Living Lab meeting ended with an inventory of the participants’ activities between two Living Labs and the question of what goals and needs the participants currently have. All women have expanded their businesses or experienced changes in different areas of their lives (from brand registration of products to marriage). Their goals for the near future relate to the further expansion of their businesses. Their needs are mainly related to education and training: communication skills, stress management tools, digital marketing, agricultural knowledge, legislation, accounting basics.
In the second part of the Living Lab meeting, institutions that could provide educational content were discussed and identified together with the stakeholders. The innovators and stakeholders were divided into 4 groups. Discussion within the groups focused on identifying opportunities to meet educational needs. The discussion identified problems with information about different provision at a local level. The information about workshops in remote areas of Croatia is insufficient. The timing of workshops and the terminology used need to be adapted to the needs of rural areas (after 6pm, video material). One group expressed the intention and desire to share their knowledge and experience, pointing out problems with administration at the local level, land leasing, wool thrown into the environment and the idea of including felting in the education system.
The second part ended with the conclusion that the educational workshops (smaller groups) should not last longer than one hour, that the standard Croatian language should be used, that various study tours should be organized, that all educational materials/workshops should be recorded and available, and that the speakers should be experienced practitioners.
Women in rural areas of the EU make up below 50% of the total rural population, they represent 45% of the economically active population, and about 40% of them work on family farms. The rate of self-employed women in rural areas is about 38%. Their importance in rural economy is even greater, since their participation through informal rural economy is not statistically recognised.
In her presentation, Blanca reviewed the consideration of rural women in the main policies such as the EU Gender Equality Strategy to 2025, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Green Deal and its Farm to Fork Strategy and EU long term vision for rural areas (LTVRA) by 2040.
In particular, the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers of the EU, held in Brussels on 20 November, gave the green light to the conclusions document on LTVRA, which advocates the implementation of initiatives that favour the development of these areas and the improvement of the living conditions of their inhabitants.
The Council welcomes the rolling out of the EU Rural Action Plan to achieve the goals of the LTVRA by 2040. It invites all national and regional administrations, local authorities and all stakeholders and communities to engage in the Rural Pact Community Platform.
The Council recognises that women represent a significant driving force for prosperity and social inclusion in rural areas, however they are facing additional challenges and in need of supporting measures to better integrate into the labour market, utilise existing and creating new opportunities for employment and innovation, and participate in decision making; and welcomes, in this respect, the inclusion of gender equality as one element of one specific objective of the new CAP, promoting the equal participation of women in farming and the socio-economic development of rural areas.
In response to the need for improving data collection and the quality of rural statistics, the conclusions underline the importance of expanding the EU Rural observatory, to municipal-level and, to include sex-disaggregated data and other types of functional areas, to inform the design and development of evidence-based and relevant rural policies.
Blanca also spoke about community-led innovation to encourage positive change and generate local socio-economic and environmental welfare. Available a briefing of what we mean by community-led local innovation prepared by AEIDL’s colleagues, among them Serafin Pazos-Vidal, Senior Expert. In 2022, AEIDL launched the European Local Innovation Forum (ELIF) to help drive a pan-European conversation about local innovation, enhance action on the ground, and put them on the EU agenda.
As part of GRASS CEILING, AEIDL and COPA-COGECA run the European Policy Forum for women-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas and are the coordinators of the EU Rural Pact Community Group on Women in Rural Areas. Anyone interested can join and help bring ideas and good practices to improve the gender dimension of EU rural policies by subscribing here.
The GRASS CEILING Project is a three year EU funded project that explores the barriers facing entrepreneurial women in rural settings across nine European countries. A significant part of this project is the Living Labs, in which a group of innovative rural women (eight in the Netherlands) meet three times a year to follow a trajectory guiding them through their own innovate ideas and training them in relevant skills. The learning process is not limited to the women, but also to the facilitators who are studying Living Libs as a concept and its role in facilitating learning.
We (NL) hosted our third Living Lab recently, at the LTO Noord offices in Zwolle. All eight women participants were able to attend and shared progress on their empathy maps. Group discussion and feedback is so valuable in this session and this group have created a strong and supportive bond, sharing suggestions and inspiration. The structure of the Living Labs is as such that stakeholders are invited to share their knowledge with the innovative women. For this session the wonderful Anne Marie van Oldeniel-Boerhof stimulated challenging and emotive topics, focusing especially on the position of family in business partnerships, and giving guidance on how to respect boundaries without losing focus on the topic. The professional input from stakeholders further enrich the Living Lab experience and we are excited to follow the women’s journey when we next get together as a group in February.
The main topic of the meeting was the analysis of innovative initiatives by participating female farmers and livestock keepers, their objectives, the support they have received, and the various barriers they face.
Continuing with the task agenda of the European Project Grass Ceiling, the second meeting of the Spanish Living Lab was held, with the participation of eight female farmers and livestock keepers from Castilla y León, Aragón, and Asturias. This time, the meeting took place virtually, and over the course of five hours, discussions revolved around the innovative initiatives of each participant. The research team from the Campus of Palencia at the University of Valladolid and Agri-food Cooperatives were responsible for conducting the meeting.
The innovations these women are implementing are related to improvements in the production processes of their respective farms, as well as other social activities aimed at supporting the visibility of women in the sector, creating networks, and acquiring training and information. The main barriers they face are primarily related to numerous and complex bureaucratic procedures and regulations they must comply with, which reduce the time they can dedicate to productive work. Other limitations are related to gender stereotypes, lack of guidance, connectivity issues, and rural decline, which they also consider significant.
Therefore, the proposed action measures to improve the current situation of women in the agricultural sector are related to continuing education, especially in digitalization, showcasing their work and the experiences of influential women, creating networks of mutual support, improving the living conditions in rural areas, strengthening the support role of associations and cooperatives, and promoting their representation in political and decision-making bodies.
