Diverse Rural Identities and Politics of Belonging - Innovation, Intersections, and Entrepreneurship
Diverse Rural Identities - Innovation, Intersections and Entrepreneurship
Activity- 15 October 2026
- 10.00 - 12.30 h
- Aurora B 9216
- Online link upon registration
- Occasion of International Rural Women's Day and UN Year of the Woman Farmer
Diverse Rural Identities and Politics of Belonging - Innovation, Intersections, and Entrepreneurship
How can research and policy better recognise diverse rural and agricultural women’s identities, agency and perspectives on innovation and entrepreneurship? This is the main question for this colloquium.
First Valentina Materia (SSG-BMO) highlights the striking take aways of three recently finalized international research projects on women-led innovations in agriculture and rural areas. A crucial one is that rural women's notions and agency in innovation and entrepreneurship are different and diverse in comparison to commonly promoted innovation and entrepreneurship schemes.
The second part is interactive through group-work in person or online. At the end we share and discuss group insights and options in plenary.
Diverse Rural Identities and Politics of Belonging:
Innovation, Intersections, and Entrepreneurship in Rural and Agricultural Territories
On the occasion of 15 Oct. International Rural Women's Day and the 2026 UN International Year of the Woman Farmer, we invite to gather and focus on the question:
- How can research and policy better recognise diverse rural and agricultural women’s identities, agency and perspectives on innovation and entrepreneurship?
Women-led innovation and entrepreneurship
Valentina Materia (WUR, SSG-BMO) first presents the most striking take aways from three international research projects recently finalized. These projects, conducted at WUR with Jessica Duncan, Bettina Bock, and Valentina Materia in the lead, are:
- SWIFT: Supporting Women-led Innovation in Farming Territories,
- Grass Ceiling: Gender Equality in Rural and Agricultural Innovation Systems and
- FermFood.
Although all three had their specific focus, we can draw crucial common conclusions. One is that rural women's notions and agency regarding innovation and entrepreneurship are diverse and quite different from commonly promoted innovation and entrepreneurship schemes.
An interactive session
After the presentation, we continue in an interactive group-work set-up.
Participants joining in person will work in groups while online persons will join through breakout rooms.
You are invited to exchange your insights and perspectives on new avenues for research and policy to better embed diverse rural and agricultural women’s identities. We close with a plenary exchange and final conclusions.
Four main questions will kick-off the discussions:
- What from your research or practice resonates or dissonates with the presented takeaways?
- What accordingly needs to be added or changed in the mainstream concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship to better include women’s notions and agency?
- What might be the underlying root causes to address and what research or policy can help to leverage these?
- What ways forward do you see to collaborate and tackle these in research and/or policymaking?
