GRASS CEILING Project’s Post

🚀 Exciting News on the Horizon for Innovators! 🌾💡 Are you passionate about driving innovation in agriculture? Ready to collaborate on cutting-edge solutions that empower farmers and transform the food system? Stay tuned if you are a developer, researcher, or farmer—something big is coming your way! 🔍 What to Expect: Opportunities for collaboration between tech and agri-experts. Focus areas that address under-represented regions, diverse conditions, and emerging technologies. The chance to shape the future of sustainable agriculture. 👩🌾👨💻 Why You Should Care: Be part of a movement that is set to democratize agriculture. Network with a dynamic community of innovators. Contribute to impactful solutions that matter. 🌟 Curious about what is coming? Get a glimpse of the exciting opportunities ahead by reading our blog post. This is just the beginning—stay tuned for more details soon! 🔗https://lnkd.in/dHUmt9GX #OpenAgri #OpenCall #Innovation #Sustainability #HorizonEurope #Research #Gender

Trends in agrifood and foodtech investment scene I came across 3 interesting reports that were published recently on the state of agrifoodtech globally, in Europe and in CEE region: 1. Global Investment Trends by AgFunder: The agrifoodtech startup investment landscape has faced a severe winter, with funding at its lowest point in six years — a 50% decrease year-over-year. Agrifoodtech's share of the global venture capital pie has also shrunk to 5.5%. 2. Europe's Resilience - Insights from DigitalFoodLab: Despite a general downtrend, the decline in investment within European FoodTech has been far less severe and the number of deals (especially early-stage) has increased. Investments in AgTech (bio inputs and farm management) and Food Science (alternative proteins) even increased. Europe now commands 32% of worldwide FoodTech investments. 3. Spotlight on the CEE Region by EIT Food: interesting report that looks into less-explored waters of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, disparities are evident in the agrifood and foodtech startup ecosystem across the Baltics, Balkan, Central Europe, and Ukraine. Check out in case you are interested in country-specific analysis: https://lnkd.in/eMbtRfW5 ------------------- #investment #agrifood #foodtech Lydia Szantova Investor Platform Manager at EIT Food

🌐 Transforming Lives with Bioloc Project: Empowerment Across Europe We are proud to showcase the transformative efforts of the Bioloc Project in twelve European regions, each dedicated to empowering marginalised groups and facilitating their inclusion in the bioeconomy sector. Regional Highlights: * Bulgaria (Plovdiv): Innovative rural training programmes for the bio-based industry. * Croatia: Tackling energy poverty and promoting economic opportunities by integrating family farms into the circular bioeconomy. * Czech Republic: Focusing on Roma communities and unemployed youth to promote social and economic benefits. * Germany (Baden-Württemberg) - BIOLOC Hub BW: Educating NEETS about the circular bioeconomy, opening up new career paths. * Greece (Western Macedonia): Improving skills development and inclusion of people with disabilities in the sector. * Hungary: Implementing measures to improve winter heating efficiency in rural areas, focusing on the Roma ethnic minority. * Italy (Campania): Improving knowledge and networks for agro-forestry and livestock workers within the bio-economy. * Netherlands (Apeldoorn): Supporting vulnerable people in their daily lives through the 'Kitchen Garden Havenkwartier' initiative. * Romania: Tackling environmental problems with bio-economic strategies for soil remediation. * Slovakia (Nitra): Empowering small farmers, the homeless and the Roma minority through participation in bioeconomy activities. * Slovenia: Creating job opportunities for young people from vocational schools in the bioeconomy. * Spain (Aragón): Tackling the under-representation of rural women in paid employment and supporting empowerment initiatives for women over 40. Role of ZSI: The Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) plays a key role by organising monthly hub meetings, which are essential for knowledge sharing and joint development between the 12 hubs. Find out more about our efforts and read the project's second newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/dZRThEAK

🌟An initiative supported by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) underscores the importance of inclusivity. The initiative leverages a discussion-based method that supports innovation teams in scaling agricultural innovations in a gender-responsible and socially inclusive way to ensure thoughtful scaling. The aim is twofold: to increase the availability and accessibility of proven agricultural practices and enhance their adoption among farming households. By doing so, the initiative is pioneering a path towards an agricultural future where innovations are not only shared broadly but also deepened in impact by promoting behavioral change and empowerment. As we venture into the initiative's second year, the lessons learned and insights gained promise to enhance the approach to scaling agricultural innovations. This initiative represents a step forward in agricultural advancement and in building a more inclusive and resilient world. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ekavpukw #GenderInAg #GenderEquality

Women's entrepreneurship conference in Gornji Milanovac on April 16, organized by the Udruženje žena preduzetnica Šumadije i Zapadne Srbije / Association of Women Entrepreneurs I am pleased to be a participant in the panel "Green future: the path to sustainable development" which will be moderated by Ana Hadžić . I will try to explain how the Urban Farm concept has greatly changed the way we look at food production and how it's designed to meet as many goals as possible for the #sustainabledevelopment of our planet. From the challenge of climate change, the lack of energy sources to the preservation of an increasingly important resource - water, providing employment to the most sensitive categories in society and food security. New #agritech solutions aimed at the self-sustainability of the individual, family, local community and society in general. See you!

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬? 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 🤷♀️ Earlier today I had a series of thought provoking conversations with my mentor Brian Gardunia about the struggles of Agriculture in developing countries. Securing needed funds are not easy and even when funded, it seems like these monies go down the drain. Data has showed that plant breeding approaches have consistently increased gains over generations. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦? 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧, 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚! Why has these potentials remained largely untapped? A key challenge we identified were the gaps that existed in the breeding pipeline and lack of structure to streamline this process. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬??? ➡️ Inadequate Human Resources ➡️ Communication problems ➡️ Inadequate technologies and innovations ➡️ Unexpected changes in climate conditions affecting yield ➡️ Inadequate seed systems and market development ➡️ Instability and freedom to operate 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞: ➡️ A holistic approach ➡️ Biotechnology alone can not solve the problem ➡️ Develop programs tailored for Africa’s unique situation E.g. WEMA: Water Efficient Maize for Africa ➡️ Make technologies available to design modern breeding projects ➡️ Develop seed systems and commercial markets ➡️ Standardize seed prizes ➡️ Curb fraudulent actions ➡️ Regulate Intellectual property rights 📌𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 🥾 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝! 📌 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡! 📌 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧. Before we wrapped up these conversations, I was feeling very pumped up! So much work needs to be done! As we celebrate International women’s day today and emphasize the need for inclusion, I believe its a good time to be a woman in STEM Our voices matter! We can contribute a lot to solving these problems! #internationalwomensday #womeninstem #ourvoicesmatter

#GreenNudge: Empowering Mexican Rural Women to Protect Forests Today's nudge comes from Sainsna Demizike, an Associate Consultant at Behave, a behavioural consultancy focused on helping companies achieve sustainable growth by understanding people. Sainsna holds a dual Bachelor's degree in Economics from Universitas Indonesia and the University of Birmingham, where she first explored Behavioral Economics. Recently, she has started using her expertise in Behavioral Science for social change through volunteer work. 👉 What unsustainable behaviour needs to change:   Natural Resource Management (NRM) initiatives are vital for economic recovery and environmental resilience. In Mexico, where many of the 12 million forest dwellers belong to marginalised communities, NRM programs have been implemented. However, in 2020, only 1.15% of forest sector funds went to women-led projects, with most funds managed by men. A 2017 World Bank behavioural diagnostic identified barriers to women's participation, including: ⛔ Time, financial, and aspirational scarcity: Women's dual roles in household and agricultural duties, combined with limited resources, cause them to miss opportunities to improve income and explore beyond immediate needs, such as government programs. ⛔ Gender norms and social identity: Cultural norms assign men to labour and income generation, while women are expected to focus on domestic tasks, ultimately discouraging their involvement in economic and environmental activities. 👉 The Green Nudge:  The World Bank, Rainforest Alliance, Climate Investment Fund, and Mexico’s National Lab for Public Policies conducted a Randomised Control Trial in 113 localities, by testing a specific communication strategy to explore what motivates rural women to join NRM initiatives. One treatment group used behavioural science-informed posters that: 💡 Addressed gender norms by showing women who had already applied and worked on similar projects, thus normalising their involvement. 💡 Created urgency with action-oriented messages like "Now fill sections C and D!" and leveraged loss aversion with phrases like "Don't miss this opportunity!" WhatsApp reminders and a simple one-page application checklist were also provided. ➡ The result: Localities using this strategy saw a significant increase in women applicants, showing that challenging gender norms and using targeted decision-making cues boosted participation in forestry initiatives.   By challenging traditional gender norms and employing the right decision-making cues, more rural women were motivated to participate in forestry initiatives. Are you aware of any other nudges that help marginalised communities to participate in pro-environmental behaviour? Feel free to comment or get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

Research | Empowering Rural Women Innovators Across Europe   Proud to share about GRASS CEILING, a Horizon Europe project aimed at empowering rural women and increasing socio-ecological innovations in agriculture and rural communities. This three-year initiative, spanning 25 partners across nine countries, is crucial for advancing gender parity and achieving the EU’s Green Deal, Farm to Fork strategy, and more.   At the heart of the project are nine living labs, where women innovators collaborate with scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders. These labs focus on digital inclusion, co-creating knowledge, and supporting women-led innovation in farming and rural areas. The project will also establish a European Policy Forum to improve policies impacting rural women.   Through in-depth case studies and multi-actor sessions, GRASS CEILING is generating insights that inform future policies and practices, helping to shape a more inclusive and innovative rural economy.   🔗 Learn more about this transformative project: www.grassceiling.eu   #GenderEquality #RuralInnovation #SustainableAgriculture #WomenInLeadership Bettina Bock, Valentina Cristiana Materia, Sophie Kollewijn-Hopkins, Business Management & Organization @WUR, GRASS CEILING Project

Check out this great article from an inspiring team of authors

International Day of Rural Women! 🌾 Today, on the International Day of Rural Women, we honor the incredible contributions of women in rural areas across Europe and beyond. Did you know…❓ 🔸 In rural areas across the EU, women make up less than 50% of the total population, with 45% of them economically active—and around 40% of these women are working on family farms. 🔸 In 2023, the employment gap between men and women in rural areas across the EU-27 stood at 10.2%. 🔸 Nearly 40% of rural women are self-employed, shaping their own future and the future of their communities. At the #GRANULAR project, we recognise the vital role rural women play in driving sustainable development, supporting local economies, and preserving agricultural heritage. #InternationalDayofRuralWomen #RuralWomen #GRANULARproject #WomenInAgriculture #SustainableDevelopment CIHEAM-IAMM, Nordregio, Wageningen University & Research, PAGE - Pisa Agricultural Economics, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), AEIDL (European Association for Innovation in Local Development), University of Southampton, The James Hutton Institute, Ecorys, Universidade de Vigo, Region Västerbotten, P10 Netwerk, Natural Resources Institute Finland / Luonnonvarakeskus, Pays Pyrénées Méditerranée, European Commission