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.
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Sign up here: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/GRASSCEILING_Forum
For any clarification contact Blanca Casares (bca@aeidl.eu)