The FLIARA (Female-led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas) project aims to create a European-wide ecosystem, which supports women-led innovative practices in farming and rural areas. The project supports rural women by creating an improved ecosystem for innovation, which will highlight their successes, serve as a source of information and inspiration, link them to important players in the field, increase their visibility in institutional decision-making contexts at the national and international levels, and help them develop their capacity and skills so they can continue leading or begin leading innovative practices. Understanding how women engage in innovative sustainable practices on farms and in rural areas will be crucial to opening up new opportunities for rural women throughout the EU. To fill these knowledge gaps a comprehensive co-created conceptual framework has been developed. Deliverable 1.1 is divided into four parts to clearly depict the role of the conceptual framework throughout the life of the FLIARA project. The four parts include:

Part One: situates the conceptual framework within the broader contexts of the FLIARA project, outlining the key facets of the project, such as, why we need a conceptual framework, before addressing the context for women-led innovations in rural areas.

Part Two: introduces the six perspectives that were collectively selected to ground the Conceptual Framework.

Part Three: identifies the various strategies to be employed during the life of the FLIARA project to examine and also to promote female-led innovations in rural areas for gender equality and sustainable rural development.

Part Four: reflects on the process and production of 30 concept notes. To meet the project objectives and its multi-actor approach, a co-creative and collaborative approach was adopted to develop concept notes that informed the conceptual framework and the Knowledge Review (D1.2). The individual concepts notes form Appendix A. A Glossary of Terms (GoT) was collated and is referenced within the document. It has its own place in Appendix B.

The document commences with the following Executive Summary, which consists of key take home messages from each of the four parts of the document.

A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a common interest, collaborating and learning together about how to develop this interest and apply it in practice. In socio-ecological transition movements-such as permaculture, transition networks and eco-villages - CoPs have the potential to become systems and spaces that have real power and influence.

Over an 18-month period between May 2024 and December 2025, twenty innovative rural and farming women from ten European countries will play the central role as Innovation Ambassadors in the FLIARA CoP. Engagement in this EU-wide interchange platform for multi-actor exchanges will happen both offline and online, anchored around four CoP Networking Events in Ireland, Slovenia, Italy and Sweden.

These event locations have been determined based on a geographically spaced typology established in WP3 and WP4, considering four macro-regional hubs. The networking events will bring together relevant stakeholders, including 20 women Innovation Ambassadors. These 20 women are being selected from case studies conducted during WP3. The Innovation Ambassadors, who are women leading innovative practices in agriculture and rural areas, will play a central role in these events.

Building on the power of social networks, the CoP will be developed with these women ambassadors alongside key policy and governance stakeholders. The CoP Network will occur in conjunction with a Campaign of Visibility for women-led rural innovations, spotlighting women as key innovation actors for a sustainable rural future.

The FLIARA CoP Networking Events will serve as platforms for knowledge exchange, showcasing innovative practices, and fostering visibility for women in agriculture and rural innovation. The events will also facilitate engagement with key actors involved in rural and farming innovation, such as SCAR AKIS, EU and National AKIS Coordinating Bodies, EU and National CAP Networks, Policy Makers and the FLIARA Stakeholder Advisory Board. These events aim to promote collaboration, share best practices, and provide valuable insights for policy development and implementation. The CoP Network will also provide elements of the FLIARA Toolkit as an additional outcome of this practical user-centre interactive initiative.

This Strategic Action Plan (SAP) serves as roadmap to establish, organise, implement and monitor the FLIARA CoP. It provides a guide for partners to ensure that everyone understands what needs to be achieved. It identifies specific activities, assigns responsibilities and outlines specific actions. Links to all necessary support documents are provided. As the FLIARA CoP takes place over an 18-month timeframe, the SAP will be a living document and allow for adaptation to changing circumstances to ensure that the CoP stays relevant and responsive to the needs of the women.

The RURALIZATION project aims to look at ways to overcome rural decline issues that support rural regeneration and generational renewal. The empirical focus of the project is to develop, assess and disseminate novel instruments, strategies and policies that cater for rural regeneration. This is done specifically in relation to the future dreams of rural youth, facilitating rural newcomers and new entrants into farming and by addressing the issue of access to land. RURALIZATION will also carry out a trend analysis to uncover relevant trends for rural regions. This knowledge base will culminate in generating effective policy tools. Through this RURALIZATION aims to contribute to the development of a new rural frontier that provides exciting opportunities to new rural generations for social and economic sustainability and to realise their dreams in a rural context.