Three years of GRASS CEILING: Reflections from the Final Showcase Event in Brussels
Last week, we celebrated the GRASS CEILING Final Showcase Event at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels, marking the culmination of three years of collaboration to advance women-led innovation in agriculture and rural areas across Europe.
The event opened with welcoming remarks by Oana Neagu (Copa-Cogeca) and Stoyan Tchoukanov (EESC), followed by an introduction from our project coordinator, Professor Sally Shortall (South East Technological University, SETU).

We then explored the work of the European Policy Forum for Women-Led Innovation, including a Welcome Dialogue with MEPs Georgiana Teodorescu (ECR) and Maria Walsh (EPP).
Blanca Casares Guillén (European Association for Innovation in Local Development, AEIDL) presented the project’s policy recommendations, setting the scene for the first round table discussion led by Serafín Pazos (AEIDL), Inclusive pathways for farming and rural futures: EU policy solutions for the transition, featuring: Elena Schubert (European Commission, DG AGRI – Social Sustainability Unit), Maria Nikolopoulou (European Economic and Social Committee, EESC), Faustine Bas-Defossez (European Environmental Bureau, EEB), Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament, MEP), Sally Shortall (SETU – GRASS CEILING Coordinator), and Blanca Casares (AEIDL).
Blanca also presented the project’s policy tools, followed by the second round table, coordinated by Sally Shortall (SETU), Inclusive policy tools: integrating gender responsiveness into EU innovation and monitoring frameworks, with Giulia Bizzo, European Commission, DG RTD – Bioeconomy & Food Systems, Maura Farrell, University of Galway – FLIARA Project Coordinator Sari Rautio, Committee of the Regions (CoR) and Blanca Casares, European Association for Innovation in Local Development (AEIDL).


Policy forum round tables.
In the afternoon, we hosted the Living Lab Dialogue, highlighting the outcomes, impacts, and remarkable journeys of our nine women rural innovators through short presentations: Vesna Jakić (Croatia), Emer Lawrence (Ireland), Letizia Cuonzo (Italy), Daiva Šinkevičienė (Lithuania), Albertine Ekkels (The Netherlands), Torunn Hernes Bjerkem (Norway), Haley Shepherd (Scotland), Marta Llorente (Spain), Ulrica Björnhag (Sweden), with closing reflections by Felicity Kelliher (SETU).

As a surprise, during this session, we also premiered the GRASS CEILING project results video, showcasing the main results and achievements from across our nine Living Labs—soon to be shared publicly on our social media channels!
We also celebrated the ceremonies for the GRASS CEILING Rural Women’s Social Innovation (RUWI) Award and the Parental Leave Champions Award (PARCA), recognising outstanding leadership, resilience, and transformative rural innovation of Grenoucerie S.L. and Asti Agricoltura. These Awards were coordinated by AEIDL and Copa-Cogeca, respectively.


A heartfelt thank you to all speakers, partners, stakeholders, and especially the women innovators who shaped this project. Their work continues to pave the way toward more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable rural futures in Europe.

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