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We are thrilled to announce that a new article, “Breaking through barriers: the women driving rural innovation in Europe“, has been published, shining a powerful spotlight on the transformative work of the GRASS CEILING project and our incredible women innovators.

The article, which explores how rural Europe thrives when women’s ideas and leadership are recognised, features several success stories emerging directly from our nine European Living Labs. It validates our core premise: that the most significant untapped resource in European agriculture is the talent of the women already working in the sector.

The piece highlights the journey of women like Albertine Ekkels from the Netherlands. Albertine’s experience is a testament to the power of the Living Labs; after years of juggling farm life and her dream, the network gave her the confidence to launch a successful booking platform for farm-based events. Her nomination for the Young Agricultural Talents award is a source of immense pride for the entire GRASS CEILING consortium.

The article also recognises the impact of innovators in other labs, including the Keane sisters in Ireland (Bean and Goose Chocolate), and Silvia González and Amada de Salas in Spain, showcasing a diverse range of socio-ecological innovations—from digital forestry to agro-tourism.

As Professor Sally Shortall, our project coordinator, is quoted in the article: “The Living Labs show what women can do despite the obstacles. They also show how much more they could do if they were properly supported”. We are proud to be the catalyst for these successes.

Crucially, the article details how GRASS CEILING is moving beyond individual support to systemic change. It underscores the persistent “grass ceiling” that limits women’s influence—a barrier compounded by a lack of gender-sensitive data in many national and EU monitoring systems.

Our work, led by policy expert Blanca Casares Guillén, is directly addressing this data gap by developing tools to propose the inclusion of better gender data into the EU’s Rural Observatory. The article provides visibility to our policy roadmap, which calls for binding commitments on gender equality in EU funding, gender-responsive finance, and better support for rural childcare.

This media coverage is a crucial step in raising awareness about these vital policy recommendations. It demonstrates that our findings, derived from intensive research across nine Living Labs, are resonating on a wider European level.

We encourage all our partners, stakeholders, and community members to read the full article to appreciate the depth of the work being done to break barriers and build new, resilient futures for rural Europe.

Read the full article: “Breaking through barriers: the women driving rural innovation in Europe“

On 15 October 2025, we join the global community in celebrating the International Day of Rural Women, a day to honour the incredible women who are the backbone of our rural communities. This year is particularly significant as we also commemorate 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark blueprint for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

This year’s theme, “Rural women rising: Shaping resilient futures with Beijing+30”, is both a celebration and a powerful call to action. Despite significant progress over the past three decades, rural women continue to face multiple challenges, including limited access to resources, unequal participation in decision-making, and a disproportionate exposure to the impacts of climate change and economic shocks.

The GRASS CEILING project is proud to be part of the global effort to address these issues. We believe that empowering rural women is not just a matter of justice; it’s a crucial driver for sustainable development, food security, and prosperity. Our work highlights how women are at the forefront of socio-ecological innovation, yet still face systemic barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential.

On this International Day of Rural Women, we reaffirm the vital role rural women play in caring for people and the planet. We are committed to accelerating our efforts to eliminate barriers, expand opportunities, and ensure that no rural woman is left behind. Join us in celebrating their resilience, creativity, and unwavering contribution to a more sustainable and equitable world.

During the Annual Conference 2025 of the Regional Studies Association (RSA), held from 6–9 May at the University of Porto in Portugal, gender equality in rural and regional development took centre stage in a dedicated Special Session held on 9 May. Titled Exploring Gender Equality in Policy – Regional and Rural Perspectives, the session formed part of the broader conference theme, Navigating Regional Transformation, which brought together scholars and policymakers from across Europe to share insights and research on regional science, economic development, and policy innovation.

This  session, organised by the European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL), in collaboration with the University of Valladolid and the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu , formed part of the Horizon Europe project GRASS CEILING. This three-year, multi-actor initiative seeks to empower rural women and expand the number of socio-ecological innovations led by women across agriculture, rural economies, and local communities.

The session shed light on a crucial yet often overlooked dimension of regional policy — the role of women in development and innovation. As we know, rural areas and regions across Europe face complex challenges from demographic decline and limited infrastructure. Within this, women play a pivotal role, not only as farmers and entrepreneurs but also as community leaders, caregivers, and changemakers.

Blanca Casares Guillén (AEIDL) opened the session by introducing the European Policy Forum for women-led innovation, highlighting how EU Funds and policy instruments can be used to advance gender equality. Fellow AEIDL representative Raquel Pastor Carretero explored gender integration in Community-Led Local Development (CLLD), focusing on LEADER and the function of Local Action Groups in shaping inclusive strategies.

The session featured a range of insights from European researchers and institutions. Marie Lalanne (Joint Research Centre, EC) provided descriptive statistical insights from Horizon-funded projects, offering a mapping of women’s participation and roles in agriculture and rural areas across Europe. Elsa Fontainha and Tanya Vianna de Araújo (ISEG, University of Lisbon) presented findings on rural-urban gender disparities from the GEPINC project. Margarita Rico (University of Valladolid) reported on women’s innovation in Spanish agriculture through the GRASS CEILING Living Lab.

Further contributions included Daria Zozulia’s (Jagiellonian University) exploration of women’s environmental activism in Poland around river protection, Cristina Amaro da Costa’s (Polytechnic Institute of Viseu) work on biocultural heritage among women farmers, and a study by Sofia Marques da Silva and Sara Faria (University of Porto) on young women returning to rural regions after higher education.

Together, these presentations explored how gender equality is not just a matter of rights, but a driver of innovation and territorial resilience.

With insights from researchers and practitioners across Europe, it is clear that mainstreaming gender in EU regional and rural policies requires a place-based, locally grounded approach. A major obstacle remains the limited availability of gender-disaggregated data and the lack of scalable tools to replicate successful initiatives across regions. Strengthening data collection, monitoring systems, and gender-sensitive indicators is essential to inform and evaluate policies effectively at sub-national levels.

Urban/rural differences exist in public attitudes toward gender equality (e.g., in politics, business, family). These attitudes impact the success of equality policies. Tailored support for women, particularly in agriculture and rural development, is necessary to address resource, service, and representation disparities. Women continue to face higher unemployment and precarious work, despite achieving higher levels of tertiary education.

Current agricultural, environmental, and regional policies often neglect gender perspectives, with sparse references to gender equality in spatial strategies. Calls for more inclusive, gender-sensitive, and territorially equitable policies are growing, especially in response to the critical roles women play in environmental stewardship and community resilience. Public policy and EU funding instruments (e.g., CAP, ESF, ERDF, EMFAF) must better integrate gender to support sustainable transformation. Several national plans have already been effectively developed using these funds. To enhance their impact, it is crucial to promote the exchange of best practices among managing authorities and provide targeted training for implementation at the governmental level. Establishing gender-responsive budgeting targets would be a key step toward ensuring the integration of gender perspectives in public spending.

Women in rural and peripheral areas are key agents of innovation and sustainability, leading initiatives in wellness, education, culture, and agroecology. Their return to home regions is frequently driven by place attachment, emotional geographies, and a desire to invest in meaningful, locally rooted projects. However, meaningful reintegration depends on supportive infrastructure, opportunities, and social recognition.

Mechanisms like LEADER and Local Action Groups (LAGs) have the potential to advance gender mainstreaming through bottom-up and participatory governance, though their effectiveness varies widely. Collaborative approaches, such as Living Labs, have shown promise in involving diverse stakeholders and co-creating practical, inclusive innovations.

Finally, while women-led activism and local engagement have had tangible impacts—raising awareness, slowing harmful developments, and building community cohesion—gender-focused rural innovation still receives limited support in EU research funding and via ESIF or national instruments implying a considerable scope to strengthen and enhance these policies.

This special session was set within a critical policy development framework, with the Long Term Vision for rural areas with targets to 2040, the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture, the Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Roadmap for Women’s Rights, the new mandate of the EU Commission after 2027, the new Multiannual Financial Framework including relevant strategic areas such as Cohesion and Agriculture (2027-2034), as well as the five-year SDG compliance framework, among others.

A summary report and full presentations from the session are accessible in the dedicated section of the project website.

Do you want to be part?

Sign up here: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/GRASSCEILING_Forum

For any clarification contact Blanca Casares (bca@aeidl.eu) 

The Regional Studies Association’s Annual Conference 2025 is being held in partnership with the School of Economics and Management at the University of Porto, Portugal. Under the topic Navigating Regional Transformation, this four-day conference brings together academics and policymakers to exchange news, views and research findings from the fields of regional studies and science, regional and economic development, policy and planning.

The European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL), the University Valladolid and the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu organised a Special session on Exploring Gender Equality in Policy Regional and Rural Perspectives (SS13). (Further information and agenda here)

The special session is part of the Horizon Europe project GRASS CEILING (Gender Equality in Rural and Agricultural Innovation Systems), which is a multi-actor three-year project, aiming to empower rural women and increase the number of socio-ecological innovations led by women in agriculture, the rural economy and rural communities.

The session seeks to create a space for reflection on the needs, possibilities and opportunities for mainstreaming gender in European regional policies. It also seeks to inspire rethinking of monitoring systems for (a) gender equality progress, (b) the development of policies and initiatives that prioritise women’s needs for public support and (c) examine impact of changes.

This special session is set within a critical policy development framework, with the Long Term Vision for rural areas with targets to 2040, the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture, the Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Roadmap for women’s rights, the new mandate of the EU Commission after 2027, the new Multiannual Financial Framework including relevant strategic areas such as Cohesion and Agriculture (2027-2034), as well as the five-year SDG compliance framework, among others.

The discussion will examine the extent to which gender mainstreaming has been integrated into European regional policies, explore the unique challenges faced by women in these areas, highlighting disparities in access to resources, public services, training, representation, and the impact of policies on their economic and social well-being.

The discussion aims to promote dialogue on proposals and solutions for the policy cycle with various stakeholders.

Panelists and the audience will reflect on key challenges in order to adequately monitor both women’s needs and the effectiveness of policies. Important challenges to examine the nature and impacts of political, economic, social and environmental changes are: (i) Lack of gender-disaggregated dat; (ii) Limited comparative studies on rural women across Europe and (iii) Absence of identification and tools/support to replicability of best practices from certain areas making it difficult to scale successful initiatives

by Blanca Casares Guillén, policy expert and project manager (AEIDL). Coordinator of the European Policy Forum for women-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas 

As the European Union prepares to shape its next Gender Equality Strategy (2026–2030), it is essential that the framework recognises the specific realities of women in rural areas and systematically integrates urban–rural disparities into policy design. Gender equality challenges are not uniformly experienced across Europe; they are shaped by geography, access, and demographic patterns—factors that often disproportionately affect women in rural territories.

Recent data from Eurostat underscores that labour market participation data highlights persistent gaps. In 2023, the EU employment rate for women aged 20–64 years in rural areas stood at 69.7%, slightly below the 70.2% average across all degrees of urbanisation. More striking is the gender disparity in part-time work: 26.5% of rural women were employed part-time compared to only 6.0% of rural men, exposing a 20.5 percentage point gap. This reflects deep-rooted structural inequalities, often tied to the availability of care services and social expectations about women’s roles in the household and community.

Women in rural areas are also more vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion, with 22.5% of rural women at risk in 2023, compared to 20.4% of men.

In terms of education, rural women and men face critical challenges that affect lifelong opportunities. In 2023, 13.4% of young rural women and 16.5% of young rural men had at most lower secondary education. The share of rural women with tertiary education was just 38.4%—10 percentage points below the EU average across all degrees of urbanisation (48.8%). Early school leaving is also more prevalent in rural areas, with 8.3% of young women and 11.2% of young men affected, limiting their access to quality employment.

These figures point to intersecting barriers that rural women face: geographic isolation, fewer educational and professional opportunities, limited service provision (e.g. childcare, transport), and entrenched gender roles. Without a rural-sensitive and intersectional approach, the Gender Equality Strategy risks reinforcing these gaps rather than closing them.

On 10 April 2025, the FEMM Committee considered a draft opinion on the Gender Equality Strategy 2025 presented by rapporteur Marko Vešligaj, where he calls on the Commission to present an ambitious strategy with concrete tangible legislative and non-legislative measures in a number of key areas, such as gender-based violence, women’s empowerment in the world of work, or equal representation and political participation. The draft report also calls for efforts to advance gender equality through the principles of intersectionality and gender mainstreaming, and to ensure that a gender perspective is integrated into all Commission proposals, including budgetary procedures.

Importantly, this draff report on the Gender Equality Strategy post-2025 already affirms the need for gender mainstreaming and intersectionality. However, rural women are not visible within this framework. Recognising their realities would align with broader EU goals, such as the Rural Vision 2040, the European Pillar of Social Rights, and commitments to territorial cohesion.

Based on findings from the GRASS CEILING project (Gender Equality in Rural and Agricultural Innovation Systems), funded under Horizon Europe, it is clear that the post-2026 Gender Equality Strategy must take a comprehensive and rural-sensitive approach to ensure no woman is left behind. For Europe to become truly inclusive and resilient, the Gender Equality Strategy must not only reflect diversity in gender—but also territorial diversity. By explicitly addressing rural realities, the next Gender Equality Strategy can ensure that no woman is left behind, regardless of where she lives.

For that, to build a truly inclusive and resilient Europe, the Strategy should prioritise actions that address the unique challenges faced by rural women, including: combating gender-based violence in isolated areas and promoting rural women’s entrepreneurship. It must also recognise and support informal and agricultural work, which is often unprotected and undervalued, by ensuring access to social security, parental leave, and other benefits. Bridging the digital divide through investments in broadband and digital literacy for rural communities is essential. The European Care Strategy must be adapted to consider rural infrastructure limitations, such as transportation and staffing as well as the development of community-based care models that are affordable and accessible. Moreover, rural women’s active participation in local governance should be fostered, and all EU data collection related to gender equality must include rural–urban disaggregation to properly reflect territorial disparities and inform targeted policy solutions.

Authors: Blanca Casares and Miranda García (AEIDL)

On 24 March 2025, over 110 participants convened online for the new session of the European Policy Forum on Women-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas. The event focused on how public policies can better support rural women and women farmers across Europe, in particular, EU Funds.

Hosted by the European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL) as part of the GRASS CEILING project, the session showcased national good practices and encouraged open discussions about how to build stronger and more inclusive public support mechanisms for the post-2027 programming period.

Sally Shortall, GRASS CEILING coordinator, and Charlene Lambert from the Women Entrepreneurship Platform, presented recent findings from the project.

Blanca Casares Guillén, policy expert at AEIDL and coordinator of the Forum, introduced the Forum’s objectives and activities, further illuminating the EU’s political landscape and its ongoing commitment to gender equality and women’s rights.

One key part of the session focused on national practices using EU funds to advance gender equality in rural development. Isabel Aguilar Pastor from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food shared insights on Spain’s CAP Strategic Plan, highlighting opportunities for rural women through EARDF programming and their participation in rural communities and the agricultural sector; Ana Lite Mateo from the Institute of Women (Spanish Ministry of Equality) spoke about the Rural Women’s Challenge programme to promote female entrepreneurship in rural areas,  financed by the European Social Fund; James Claffey from the Irish CAP Network provided an in-depth explanation of Ireland’s mentorship programmes and the Women’s Farmer Capital Investment Scheme, highlighting key initiatives such as ACORNS (Accelerating the Creation of Rural Nascent Start-Ups) and TAMS3 (Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme) and Fiona Leslie (Scottish Government) described the policy journey that led in 2019 to the creation of Scotland’s Women in Agriculture (WiA) Taskforce and presented its current development programme.

A high-level round-table discussion, moderated by Blanca Casares, brought together high-level speakers to look at how public support can be systematised to support women in farming and rural areas.

Elena Schubert (European Commission – DG AGRI) highlighted the European Commission’s efforts to enhance women’s participation in agriculture through initiatives like the Vision and the Roadmap, the forthcoming Women in Farming Platfom, and the Generational Renewal Strategy, emphasising that greater gender inclusion can boost competitiveness and GDP while underscoring the need for improved gender tracking in the EU budget. Sally Shortall (GRASS CEILING coordinator) emphasised the importance of tracking funding for women, increasing female representation in STEM and corporate boards, challenging persistent stereotypes, and leveraging regulations like parental leave. Maria Nikolopoulou (European Economic and Social Committee) highlighted that regulatory measures like work-life balance and paid parental leave are crucial for supporting women and she highlighted initiatives like the EU Organic Awards that “promote women’s success stories.”

Maura Farrell (FLIARA project) called for gender equality to be “a permanent and structured part of public policy,” with dedicated funding, monitoring, independent audit and visibility for women’s contributions. Sari Rautio (European Committee of the Regions) underlined that “women are underrepresented in rural decision-making, and that must change,” and advocated for mentoring, better data, networking, local-level policies and positive discrimination measures, childcare support and other community-based care programmes. “The CoR Opinion on post-2027 LEADER also calls for greater involvement of women in decision-making public. Women are less involved in LAGs decision making for instance”.

Louise Méhauden (EU4Advice project) noted that “advisory services appear as a solution for many women,” but emphasised the need for “gender disaggregated data and accurate indicators.”. She remarked that the particularities of women in value supply chains should be taken into consideration. Mar Delgado (University of Córdoba) shared insights from the MOVING and DESIRA projects, revealing that women’s needs in farming and rural areas are still poorly understood. She reflected on the usefulness of certain online platforms because some major challenges for women farmers are the lack of time, digital skills, and financing, sometimes having to return the funding. Laura Kaun (European Women’s Lobby) concluded by stressing the importance of the equality framework including gender representation, care policies, and gender budgeting.

Cristina Guarda (Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development) also contributed to this roundtable via video message, echoing the shared view across the panel. Guarda called for gender equality to be set as a specific objective in the next CAP reform, with measurable targets, mandatory tasks to report about it, stronger coordination across EU funds, and gender-disaggregated data.

Presentations from all speakers are now available here, and the session recordings can be found on the project’s YouTube channel.

Read the Highlight Report

AEIDL and Copa-Cogeca are coordinating the European Policy Forum for women-led innovation to drive progress in women-led socio-ecological innovations within farming, rural economies, and communities. By mobilising a diverse range of stakeholders, the Forum fosters impactful dialogue and collaborative efforts toward sustainable change.

Do you want to be part? Sign up here!: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/GRASSCEILING_Forum

Author: Blanca Casares (AEIDL)

Over the past month, the European Commission has presented two important instruments, the Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Roadmap for Women’s Rights. AEIDL (European Association for Innovation in Local Development), in its role of developing policy recommendations and tools within the GRASS CEILING Project, has examined these instruments to assess the opportunities they provide for advancing gender equality and supporting agricultural and rural transitions for women.

The Vision for Agriculture and Food was announced by Ursula von der Leyen in the political guidelines for her new Commission and adopted on 19 February 2025. 

Building on the report of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture, and in consultation with the European Board for Agriculture and Food (EBAF), the Vision presents an ambitious roadmap for 2040 on the future of farming and food in Europe aiming to secure the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the EU’s farming and food sector for current and future generations.

The members of the Strategic Dialogue considered the necessity of achieving full gender equality for the future success of food systems, particularly through equal representation in leadership roles. Despite progress, gender inequalities persist, including unequal access to land, financing, services, and technology. Key recommendations includes integrating gender mainstreaming into agricultural and rural policies, ensuring legal protections and social support for women, and creating an observatory to monitor social conditions. Member States should promote women’s access to financial resources, strengthen land tenure rights, and enhance leadership opportunities in agricultural governance. The European Commission was urged to adopt gender-responsive budgeting, improve data collection on women in agriculture, and conduct a study by 2026 to explore legal status improvements and best practices across Member States.

The recently published Vision is structured around four main objectives, the Vision emphasises:

• The need to build an attractive agricultural sector that ensures a fair standard of living while unlocking new income opportunities.
• The importance of fostering a competitive and resilient agricultural sector capable of addressing global challenges.
• The future-proofing the agri-food sector by fostering a harmonious relationship with nature.
• The relevance of valuing food and fostering fair living and working conditions in vibrant rural areas.

It is worth noting from the Vision that to attract more women to farming and to allow for exchange of experience, the Commission will establish a Women in Farming platform that will strengthen women’s engagement and equal opportunities in the farming sector thanks to the actions brought about by the Platform members. It will also serve as a forum to discuss and exchange good practices.

The Commission will work towards establishing an ‘EU Observatory for Agricultural Land’, starting with a pilot project this year. It will enhance transparency and cooperation in land transactions and transfers of land use rights, price trends and market behaviour, changes in land use, and loss of agricultural and natural land. The Observatory will also help Member States take informed decisions on the regulation of their farmland markets.

The Commission is analysing further proposals at EU and at Member States level to facilitate access to land, credit and knowledge for young farmers. The Generational Renewal strategy, announced in the Vision for Agriculture and Food, will propose concrete and innovative measures in this regard.

Another key policy initiative was presented last month with the European Commission unveiling its Roadmap for Women’s Rights on March 7, just ahead of International Women’s Day.

Building on the progress achieved under the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the Roadmap sets out a long-term vision to address gender-based violence, ensure equal pay, promote work-life balance, and advance women’s political and economic participation. 

The Roadmap sets out long-term policy objectives for upholding and advancing the following key principles of women’s rights and gender equality: (1) freedom from gender-based violence; (2) the highest standards of health; (3) equal pay and economic empowerment; (4) work-life balance and care; (5) equal employment opportunities and adequate working conditions; (6) quality and inclusive education; (7) political participation and equal representation; (8) institutional mechanisms that deliver on women’s rights.

However, GRASS CEILING notes that this roadmap lacks more development and mention of the gender gap in certain sectors, as well as of the specific needs of women in rural areas.

Alongside the Roadmap, it was presented the 2025 Report on Gender Equality. It highlights that sectoral segregation is a major factor contributing to the gender pay gap. Women tend to be over represented in sectors with average lower pay, often because the jobs in these sectors are undervalued and considered ‘women’s job’, such as care and education. As highlighted also in the European care strategy, these are also sectors in which labour shortages are increasingly prominent and likely to increase with population ageing, especially in rural areas.

In the area of agriculture and rural policy, in line with growing concerns around mental health challenges in rural regions, the Commission is paying more attention to the specific factors affecting mental health within the farming community. In 2024, the Commission, in cooperation with the CAP Network, organised an event supporting the mental health of farmers. The gender dimension was very important at this workshop, as women farmers and men farmers tend to cope with mental health issues in a different way.

Read here the Factsheet: Vision for Agriculture and Food

Read here the COM(2025) 75 final A Vision for Agriculture and Food Shaping together an attractive farming and agri-food sector for future generations

Read here the COM(2025) 97 final A Roadmap for Women’s Rights

International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the power and potential of women everywhere. It’s also a time to recognise the incredible contributions women are making to our world.

From grassroots activists to world leaders, women are at the forefront of the fight for equality and are creating socially and ecologically sustainable communities for all. The European Commission’s roadmap on women’s rights is a testament to the growing recognition of women’s leadership.

At GRASS CEILING, we believe that empowering women is essential to building a just and sustainable future. We are committed to supporting women in rural areas who are leading innovation in their communities.

GRASS CEILING key findings:

• The gender gap persists in land ownership
• Women are establishing sustainable businesses with short supply chains
• Women need more access to micro-finance, training and mentoring
• Rural depopulation impacts on women as well as men
• The resources and support networks for women are inadequate
• More gender data is essential
• Social and cultural norms are more influential than legal framework

Let’s celebrate women’s leadership and continue the fight for equality, together.

For this year´s International Women’s Day 2025, in line with the aims and objectives of the day outlined by UN Women, we will celebrate the strength and resilience of women (and girls)[1] around the globe. But we also recognise that true equality remains elusive.

For this Day, we aim to take concrete action through our messaging ensuring that every woman, regardless of circumstances, enjoys the same rights and opportunities.

The European Commission’s roadmap on women’s rights is a welcome step, but words must be followed by meaningful change. We need policies that address the specific challenges faced by women, particularly in rural areas.

GRASS CEILING key findings:

• The gender gap persists in land ownership
• Women are establishing sustainable businesses with short supply chains
• Women need more access to micro-finance, training and mentoring
• Rural depopulation impacts on women as well as men
• The resources and support networks for women are inadequate
• More gender data is essential
• Social and cultural norms are more influential than legal frameworks

Now, more than ever, with social rights under threat in a volatile international climate, we must protect and strengthen equality policies, and commit to driving their progress.

Join us in demanding a world where equality is not just a dream, but a reality for all women.

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[1] Official UN campaign refers to women and girls. For GRASS CEILING, we will focus on “women” in order to ensure consistency with the branding and messaging of our project.

GRASS CEILING partner Blanca Casares, Policy Expert at AEIDL (European Association for Innovation in Local Development), was interviewed by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) for a series of videos on women in politics, together with Ellen Nauta Van-Moorsel, member of the EU CoR and mayor of the municipality of Hof van Twente, in which they discussed the role of women in rural areas.

Women play a crucial role in sustaining, conserving, and developing rural areas, both culturally and economically. They are key to preserving and transmitting traditions and form a significant part of the agricultural workforce, supporting rural development amidst ongoing depopulation. However, they face substantial challenges due to prevalent issues in rural areas such as unemployment, poverty, inadequate transport, and the lack of essential, healthcare, and educational and social services. These difficulties are compounded by traditional mindsets that impose stereotypical roles, relegating women to subordinate positions in both private and public spheres.

Blanca Casares emphasized that women understanding of local needs positions them to create and drive initiatives that boost the local economy and enhance quality of life. Blanca noted the growing adoption of community involvement approaches in areas such as social innovation, new governance structures, and grassroots innovation. However, she highlighted a significant data gap, with few gender-differentiated statistics and no comparative studies on rural women across Europe. This lack of data hampers effective gender mainstreaming, obscuring the baseline needed to establish policy goals for supporting rural women. She stressed the importance of reviewing EU policies through a rural lens, incorporating rural and gender proofing to ensure these policies effectively address the unique challenges faced by rural women. Integrating a gender perspective into EU policies is essential for promoting gender equality and empowerment, particularly in regions grappling with depopulation. Strengthening women’s roles in public life should be prioritized, including the formulation of a new EU Gender Equality Strategy post-2025.

Have a look at the video.