EU4Advice at the FLIARA Project Final Conference

On the 17th of October, Louise Mehauden, on behalf of Innogestiona, attended the FLIARA project final conference in Brussels. 

FLIARA project “aims to create a European-wide rural innovation ecosystem, which supports women-led innovative practices in farming and rural areas”. The project has highlighted the significant contribution of women, in all their diversity, to rural communities and agricultural systems and their socioeconomic, cultural and environmental sustainability. 

During the 3 years of its implementation, FLIARA has spotlighted and supported women-led innovations and women ambassadors, learning from their experience and bringing them together in an EU-wide empowering network. The policy, cultural and socioeconomic barriers that are still hindering their equal participation in rural economies and agricultural sectors have been pointed out, identifying key leverage points and addressing them in policy recommendations. The lack of access to knowledge and innovation support and the need for supporting networks and improved AKIS were identified as significant challenges for women, which reinforces the idea that adopting a gender perspective in EU4Advice activities makes plenty of sense.

The findings and the work performed by FLIARA are highly relevant for our EU4Advice gender study. Louise had the pleasure of meeting Maura Farrell, from Galway University, coordinator of the project, during expert interviews Innogestiona carried out last year, and to count on her participation and invaluable insights in the focus group they organised in June.

Innogestiona’s presence at the FLIARA final conference was an opportunity to strengthen EU4Advice networking and to reaffirm our commitment towards gender equality issues.

This was the agenda of the event.