The final conference of the AGRIGEP project, held on September 25th at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, featured Associate Professor Maura Farrell, coordinator of the EU-funded FLIARA project, as a prominent speaker on advancing gender equality in agriculture.

The conference, which marked the culmination of a three-year effort to implement Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in higher education institutions across Central and Eastern Europe, provided a platform for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss persistent challenges and chart future pathways for sustainable institutional transformation.

Farrell was a key panellist during the session, “Advancing gender equality in agriculture and life sciences.” She shared critical insights from her work as coordinator of the FLIARA project.

During her address, Professor Farrell underscored the need to empower women as innovators, emphasising that true innovation cannot be achieved without their full participation. She highlighted that despite facing significant challenges—such as gender stereotypes, care responsibilities, and barriers to accessing land, finance, and education—women are at the forefront of social and environmental innovation in the agricultural sector.

The insights from the FLIARA project, based on extensive research and interviews with women innovators, demonstrate that “soft and social measures are much more effective than hard administrative ones to advance women’s agenda.” The project also advocates for “local, bottom-up approaches to engage women meaningfully” and for policy frameworks that are adaptable rather than “one-size-fits-all”.

Professor Farrell’s participation in the AGRIGEP conference underscored the importance of a unified European approach to gender equality. The collaboration between “sister projects” like FLIARA and AGRIGEP is seen as crucial for translating research into actionable policy recommendations and empowering stakeholders to foster inclusive academic and professional environments.