Imagine a goldmine of great ideas for farming and country living that has been ignored because of old-fashioned thinking. This work finds the successful paths women have taken to start green businesses and solve rural problems. It creates a guidebook and a network to help more women lead the way toward a greener future.
Rural innovation is currently limited because women's entrepreneurial potential is under-recognised and suppressed by outdated social norms. This leads to missed economic opportunities and slower adoption of sustainable farming practices.
A set of policy proposals, practical tools for supporting women-led innovation, and a Community of Practice network.
If you are a software provider dealing with low adoption of new tools among female farmers — this project developed practical tools and a visibility campaign that helps identify and support women as key innovation actors.
If you are a government agency dealing with stagnant rural economic growth — this project developed policy proposals and a network of 20 Innovation Ambassadors that can be used to trigger more sustainable local investments.
If you are a lender dealing with a lack of diverse investment opportunities in rural areas — this project developed a way to identify successful pathways for women innovators across 10 European countries to better target funding.
Based on available project data, no specific pricing or cost structures for the resulting tools are mentioned.
The project has already demonstrated scale by engaging 200 female innovators across 10 different European countries.
Based on available project data, the outputs are described as policy proposals and practical tools rather than patented technologies.
The project specifically develops policy proposals and benchmarks to improve governance and support women's capacity to innovate in rural areas.
The project runs from 2023-01-01 to 2025-12-31, meaning final resources will be available by the end of 2025.
The consortium is heavily academic, with 11 universities and only 1 industry partner (a 7% industry ratio). This suggests the output is primarily knowledge-based and policy-driven rather than a commercial product, though the inclusion of 15 partners across 10 countries ensures a wide geographical data set.
University of Galway
Contact us to access the final policy proposals and practical tools for rural innovation.
