January 24, 2022. The Association for the Development of Campo de Calatrava (Almagro, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha) has held several workshops on gender equality within the areas within its scope of operation.

• This Local Action Group in Almagro (Ciudad Real) organizes workshops on rural women's empowerment, female entrepreneurship in the countryside, and debates on new male role models in rural areas.

Specifically, several sessions have been held on this topic from different perspectives, but always with the same objective: to raise awareness of gender equality in the rural areas of Campo de Calatrava .
Thus, the training sessions held at the Association's headquarters have focused on:

• Empowerment of women in rural areas
• Female entrepreneurship
• Positive masculinity

New masculinities, under debate
The president of the Association for the Development of Campo de Calatrava, Gema García, highlights the importance of introducing the focus on alternative masculinities into the agenda of the Calatrava region to strengthen equality policies: "In Campo de Calatrava, there are many entrepreneurial women who are driving the region forward, and women play a very significant role."

For the association's president, it is necessary to educate in new perspectives that invite breaking with stereotypes that leave behind the hegemonic male identity and the unequal relationships that originate from it, thus preventing gender violence .
Gender issues have been developed through the following seminars:

• Networking event on women's empowerment in rural areas : held on November 24, 2021, it brought together 30 entrepreneurial and self-employed women from Campo de Calatrava to promote the employment and entrepreneurship of rural women in the area's economic activity.
• Meeting "Masculinity(ies) under debate" : held on November 16 at the association's headquarters, the workshop reviews male identity as it is currently understood and therefore the unlearning of stereotypes associated with gender roles.

LEADER Approach
In addition to the socio-educational nature of the events, the Campo de Calatrava association aims to promote the employment and entrepreneurship of rural women in the post-pandemic economic landscape by creating networks and working together.

The Campo de Calatrava region is made up of 15 municipalities united in the Association for the Development of Campo de Calatrava, together with the area's social and economic stakeholders. This association fosters genuine community participation, promoting the region's history and traditions and expanding the economic activity of all its members.