• The 'Granada Rural Gender' project aims to move towards a circular, green, and gender-sensitive economy model in the territories of the participating Local Action Groups.
• The creation of networks and spaces for understanding and communication complement gender training, which allows rural women to be attracted to the worlds of administration, business and associations.

The promotion of rural women in rural areas, so that they stay, find employment opportunities, and have their work recognized, is one of the fundamental pillars of the new CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 . Thus, the LEADER approach is one of the most useful tools for taking action at the grassroots level, thanks to its direct participation of public and private stakeholders, associations, and those who fully understand the characteristics of their regions.

This is how 5 Local Action Groups ( LAG ) from Granada have started this 2024 a LEADER cooperation project :'Granada Rural Gender' .

A new green and purple economy

The fundamental objective of the initiative is to contribute to the transition to circular, green, and feminist economies in the five LEADER areas of operation. This is realized through so-called "intra-regional cooperation," that is, the creation of communication networks between Granada's LAGs, businesses, women's and youth associations, organizations, and regional driving forces.

The project revolves around seven axes of intervention:

1. Training : on the circular economy, digitalization of SMEs, and association management 3.0.
2. Spaces for sharing experiences: with networking experiences to create networks between the 5 LEADER zones.
3. Consulting: through guidance and support for micro-SMEs and local governments to design equality and environmental measures and/or plans.
4. Research: Creating networks between entities with networking experiences.
5. Self-assessment: Through spaces for companies and city councils to assess the gender impact of their own organizations. "There are many areas of our daily work where language tends to be masculinized and women are not given visibility," the project states on its social media. To address the problem, it has created a "Guide of Recommendations and Best Practices . "
6. Communication: A cross-cutting activity across all actions, it requires image creation, media, social media, and the holding of an evaluation and closing event for the 'Granada Rural Gender' project.
7. Coordination: through the technical, administrative and financial management of the coordinating GAL and a steering committee that meets three times.

Accompaniment

Ultimately, all the objectives and lines of action are embodied in actions that serve as meeting and advisory spaces. In this way, the goal is to introduce knowledge management with a territorial gender perspective.

The project already carries out awareness-raising activities with companies and local governments, mentoring them on the need to incorporate the circular economy and feminism into their actions and organizational operations. Application forms are available for the mentoring courses—completely free of charge—for associations , local governments , and companies located in the territories served by the GALs.

Activism thrives through digital immersion , an approach that the GALs introduce in their organizational management training for women's associations and local participation bodies for equality. Companies are supported with training, networking, and the dissemination of resources and management tools with a gender perspective.

Municipalities receive support through analyses and proposed modifications to their municipal equality plans and green resource purchases.

Furthermore, it is essential to raise the profile of women by including them in heritage conservation initiatives that involve young people from the region.

Partners and financing

The LEADER cooperation project 'Granada Rural Gender' is made up of the Vega-Sierra GAL Elvira ( Promovega ) —which acts as coordinator—, Northwest Arc of the Vega de Granada ( Alfanevada ), Poniente Granadino , Los Montes de Granada ( Apromontes ) and Lecrín Valley, Temple and Costa .

It consists of a budget of 151,280.96 euros financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development ( EAFRD ) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of the Andalusian Government .