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Thursday 30^th May 2024 marked the launch of the FLIARA Community of Practice (CoP), an initiative designed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture and rural areas across Europe. Representatives from the project’s partners spanning ten EU countries, along with successful innovators and ambassadors, convened online for an engaging and collaborative introduction.

The FLIARA CoP incorporates vital networking and training hubs, where key actors and stakeholders come together to exchange ideas, share experiences, and disseminate innovative knowledge. This launch event will be followed by four more online events and four in-person events. These events are instrumental in encouraging future female-led innovations and entrepreneurship in rural Europe.

The FLIARA Project consortium has conducted extensive case studies, identifying 200 innovative practices that promote sustainable and viable rural environments across Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Romania, and Italy. From this pool of exemplary practices, 20 FLIARA ambassadors have been selected.

Meet our Ambassadors

Project Coordinator, Associate Professor, Maura Farrell, introduced the ambassadors during the event, emphasising the crucial role of empowering women to lead and influence policy, cultural, and social changes in rural Europe. “The FLIARA project is spotlighting women across Europe who are positively impacting the sustainability and development of rural areas and farming. Our FLIARA Ambassadors embody these efforts and in showcasing their innovative approaches, we can learn from their experiences and create an ecosystem that empowers more women to become agents of change in rural and farming communities”, Farrell, stated.

“Knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer is key to catalyse and facilitate innovation and the FLIARA Community of Practice provides a space for this to occur. Rural regions become more resilient when they actively manage their social, economic and environmental goals. Engaging people in rural areas, especially women, is key to this process”, Louise Weir, Project Manager of FLIARA, highlighted. FLIARA aims to enhance the visibility and awareness of current female-led innovations, highlighting their essential role in achieving EU environmental and inclusion policies. The project showcases the innovative capacity of women in farming and rural areas, focusing on all four dimensions of sustainability: environmental, economic, social, and cultural.

Victor Martínez, leading the Communication Team and partner from Consulta Europa, noted, “Through our visibility campaign, we will celebrate the success stories of these 200 women innovators. FLIARA is dedicated to spotlighting and amplifying the voices of all the FLIARA women.”

The CoP events will continue to be platforms for knowledge exchange, showcasing women-led practices, and fostering visibility for all ambassadors and innovators. Duncan Crowley, leading the CoP events and a partner from ECOLISE, highlighted the collaborative nature of the initiative, stating, “The very objective of the Community of Practice is to learn together and from each other, which today’s event has perfectly demonstrated. We now have a further eighteen months to really develop this conversation.”

The meeting featured a breakout session, allowing the ambassadors to share their expectations and discuss how the FLIARA CoP can support their work. This interactive format ensured a successful conclusion to the online event, creating a space for consortium members and ambassadors to connect and collaborate.

Looking ahead, FLIARA will host its first in-person Community of Practice event in Galway, Ireland, on July 1st and 2nd. This gathering will bring together key actors and stakeholders, along with the first group of project ambassadors. The event will feature networking opportunities, plenary discussions, and workshops focused on policy and participatory scenario development.

FLIARA is committed to challenging existing gender norms and stereotypes, increasing gender consciousness, and recognising the economic value women bring to rural economies and development. The project aims to create practical tools and policy proposals to ensure women are embedded in and supported by a more effective innovation ecosystem.

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