The European ‘Female-led innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas’ (FLIARA) project celebrated its official kick-off meeting on 26th and 27th January 2023 in Brussels, bringing together, for the first time, project partners, Advisory Board members, and EU officers.

Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme (Grant Agreement No 101084234), the FLIARA project involves fifteen public and private organisations from ten different countries across Europe. The project is coordinated by the University of Galway, Ireland and will last three years. In Spain, Consulta Europa will lead the dissemination and communication process of the project along with other member countries of the consortium aimed at research and evaluation of innovative practices led by women and which will make visible their role as drivers.

FLIARA’s main objective is to create a European-wide ecosystem, which supports women-led innovative practices in farming and rural areas. FLIARA proposes a unique and innovative approach to improve women’s recognition in rural areas, which is a crucial aspect in bringing forward a more sustainable future for rural areas, as well as developing more effective supporting policy and governance frameworks. Building on a thematic case study approach, project partners will investigate women-led innovations in rural areas of the four EU macro-regions – Atlantic, Central & Eastern, Nordic Baltic, and Mediterranean. Upon the case studies’ selection and analysis, FLIARA will create and grow a Community of Practice Network to establish a learning partnership amongst all key stakeholders engaged in rural and farming innovation. It will also launch a Campaign of Visibility to raise awareness of women roles in farming and rural areas.

The FLIARA kick off meeting was opened by the Project Coordinator – Associate Professor, Maura Farrell of the University of Galway. In her introductory speech, Prof. Farrell highlighted that “we face many challenges, and many issues go through gender issues. Transdisciplinary innovation, improving women recognition, is a crucial aspect to bring forward a more sustainable future for rural areas”. FLIARA vision will be, therefore, to bring women as innovation actors in the spotlight.

The FLIARA kick off meeting brought everybody to the same level of understanding of the project’s structure, interconnections and next steps. It was an occasion to exchange views and expectations about how each task would be carried out and to pave the way for all partner organisations to have a shared understanding of how the project activities will need to be executed.

To conclude, the FLIARA project will aim to challenge the gender norms, relations and stereotypes that fail to recognise the contribution that women are currently making and can make into the future in leading rural and agricultural innovation in the European Union. The project is expected to deliver changes in societal practices and in the behaviour of individuals, communities, public and private organisations, contributing to achieving the European Gender Equality Strategy and the Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality.

FLIARA – Female Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas

New initiatives, such as FLIARA, have initiated within the new year. The Horizon Europe project, which stands for Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Areas proposes a unique and innovative approach to improve understanding, awareness and recognition of women’s role in a more sustainable rural future. As well as developing more effective policy and governance frameworks that can support and enhance the capacity of women who live and work in these areas to contribute to it.

The diverse project partnership, includes universities, SMEs and other practitioners across ten EU countries. Last Monday 9 January, all partners met in order to get to know each other and to share the objectives and the challenges faced. At this meeting, Consulta Europa, leader of the communication, dissemination and exploitation tasks, had the opportunity to present the first actions that will be carried out in FLIARA in the framework of its work package.

The FLIARA project is led by a research team from the University of Galway’s School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, including Associate Professor Maura Farrell.

Outlining the vision for the project, Maura Farrell said:

“To overcome Europe’s rural challenges and embrace potential opportunities, there is a need for all individuals and communities to participate in rural innovation. […] Traditionally, rural women’s employment opportunities and contribution to innovation has been overshadowed, and often suppressed, by a patriarchal ethos.”

FLIARA will identify visions for sustainable farm and rural futures and the sustainability innovations needed to realise these visions.

By the end of January (26th-27th) will be held in Brussels, the official kick-off meeting, where all  work packages that need to be addressed during its 3-year duration will be presented.

TouriSME project aims to make European tourism SMEs capable and skilled to shift towards more sustainable business models. The most significant updates regarding the final quarter of the European project’s year were included in its third newsletter, which was released in December.

Two training sessions for SMEs, held in September in Valencia, offered the opportunity to learn about the impact that TouriSME was having on the companies participating in the project.

On the other hand, a second project meeting took place in Rimini, during Ecomondo. This meeting was the occasion for partners to confirm the extension of TouriSME until June next year. As the end of the project is approaching, the partners focused their attention onto the next main events, which would include a matchmaking event in Madrid on 17 and 18 January 2023, during the FITUR International Tourism Fair.

TouriSME ends the year with a webinar held by Consulta Europa on 16 December to guide beneficiaries through the financial aspects of the project in the run-up to the final stretch of the project.

Find out more about more news of the project and don’t miss any update of the Newsletter by clicking here!.

We are looking for a Senior EU Project Manager responsible for managing EU funded projects, writing EU tenders & project applications, and supporting in the coordination of the junior project managers of the company. He/she will work in close cooperation with the rest of the team and will be based at our office in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Main tasks and responsibilities include:

-Manage complex EU projects autonomously, especially in the field of healthcare/life sciences and technology;

-Support in the planning and coordination of the work of project managers and rest of the team; revising deliverables and ensuring quality of the work delivered;

-Writing tender proposals and project applications;

-Coordinate in conjunction with the Communication Team, all dissemination and communication activities related to funded projects and other initiatives or activities of the company.

Required profile:

· Master’s Degree in Healthcare, Life Sciences, Engineering, Economics or Humanities. Phd is an asset;

· Minimum 2 years of relevant professional experience in European projects development and management. Management of previous EU funded projects in the field of healthcare/life sciences/technology/AI will be considered as an asset;

· Excellent English writing skills (candidates not complying with the requested level will not be considered); good Spanish writing skills and other languages are considered as an asset;

· Good analytical and organisational skills and ability to meet tight deadlines;

· Open personality with strong interpersonal, communication, negotiation and networking skills and a flexible and dynamic attitude.

Please note that Consulta Europa is a small company but very active at European level. The team is multinational and multidisciplinary.

Interested candidates can send their CVs at beatrice.avagnina@consulta-europa.com indicating “Senior Project Manager position” in the subject of the e-mail.

Remote work is not eligible for this position. If you are not living in Gran Canaria or do not consider relocating, please do not candidate.

We are looking for a Junior EU Project Manager to support us with the management and execution of our EU funded projects.

Requirements:

– University Degree related to the areas of Environmental Sciences, Engineering, Geography and/or Economics.

– C1 English (candidates not complying with the requested levels will not be considered); good knowledge of Spanish; other languages are considered as an asset;

– Computer literacy (Office).

We will value positively:

– Study or work experience abroad.

– Flexible, proactive, and dynamic attitude.

Experience in managing European projects is not required as in-depth internal training will be provided, but flexibility is needed to carry out different tasks that may include research, administrative and financial management, communication, organisation of meetings and events.

Please note that Consulta Europa is a small company but very active at European level. The team is multinational and multidisciplinary.

Interested candidates can send their CVs at beatrice.avagnina@consulta-europa.com indicating “Junior Project Manager position” in the subject of the e-mail.

Remote work is not eligible for this position. If you are not living in Gran Canaria or do not consider relocating, please do not candidate.

The project coordinated from the Canary Islands and unique in Europe that links offshore wind energy and aquaculture production on a floating platform leaves great expectations at the Andalusian Conference Center, both in the field of fish farming and renewable energy and blue growth, strategic lines of the event.

Thursday, 24th November 2022.- Under the slogan “Aquaculture: seas and rivers of opportunities” of the XVIII National Aquaculture Congress, AquaWind has been presented at the Palacio de Congresos de Cádiz, a pioneering project in Europe by linking offshore wind energy and the aquaculture production of marine fish in the same floating platform. An innovative initiative that promises to bring real development opportunities at the national level, both in the field of fish farming, renewable energy and blue growth, as well as being an example of entrepreneurship and a potential source for job creation.

The coordinator of the project, Javier Roo, head of R+D+i projects at the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society of the Government of the Canary Islands (ACIISI), focused his speech at the congress on the research and development of prototypes, with the presentation of the AquaWind platform. “We must remember that it is the only European initiative that combines the production of renewable energy on the high seas and fish farming in the first floating wind platform in Spain, capable of jointly producing wind energy and high-quality fish,” said Roo, who also represents the University Institute for Research in Sustainable Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems (IU-ECOAQUA) of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).

During his speech at the Palacio de Congresos in Cadiz, the AquaWind coordinator clarified that one of the main innovations of the project will be to be able to “evaluate in a real environment the combination of production and use of renewable energy in fish aquaculture”. In addition, during the project, work will be done with two species of fish of enormous aquaculture interest, such as sea bream, and a new species for the diversification of marine aquaculture, such as seriola, (better known as amberjack) characterized by its high value and culinary interest, particularly in the Japanese cuisine. Another advantage of combining various activities is that the occupation of marine space and the visual impact on the coast are simultaneously reduced.

Although AquaWind has just started, the project features the pioneering W2Power prototype offshore wind generator, developed by EnerOcean. As the company based in Andalusia and the Canary Islands clarifies, the W2Power concept seeks to be the most profitable floating wind solution and reduce the overall cost of energy, thanks to the novelty of incorporating two large-capacity wind turbines. Due to its size and stability, the platform can accommodate additional functions such as energy storage or harnessing wave energy, as well as aquaculture.

An important part of AquaWind is understanding the commitment of the various stakeholders that the project may affect, so different actions are contemplated during the project to assess its impact and how it would affect the interested stakeholders. “We have taken this opportunity to share a survey that has been prepared to collect the expert vision of representatives of the entities participating in the congress, as well as the scientific community interested in the aquaculture sector”, concluded the coordinator. AquaWind has been 80% co-financed with more than one million euros by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, thanks to the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, the remaining 20% ​​corresponding to own funds from the partners of the Project. The project, led from the Canary Islands by ACIISI, has strategic partners in France, Portugal and Spain. In the Canary Islands, the consortium has key entities such as PLOCAN, the ULPGC or the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster, as well as companies specialized in aquaculture production and marketing such as Canexmar S.L. or in the management and communication of European projects such as Consulta Europa Projects & Innovation. Other strategic partners are the Portuguese company WAVEC, experts in marine renewable energy solutions, offshore aquaculture and ocean engineering, or the French company Innosea, specialists in multidisciplinary engineering, strategic advice and R&D consultancy in marine renewable energies, especially offshore wind.

The latest edition of the EU regional gender equality monitor is the first to capture aspects of gender equality at the regional level for almost all EU regions.

The regional gender equality monitor consists of two composite indices: the Female Achievement Index (FemAI) and the Female Disadvantage Index (FemDI). FemAI measures the level of female achievement compared to the best regional female performance, while FemDI assesses the level of female disadvantage by measuring if women are doing worse than men in the same region.

Results from the 2021 edition of the monitor show that the highest level of female achievement is seen in Nordic regions, with the highest score in the capital region of Helsinki-Uusimaa. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the lowest index score is observed in the regions Sud-Est in Romania. The French region of Auvergne has the smallest disadvantage, while the Greek region of Sterea Ellada has the biggest disadvantage.

A dedicated website within the JRC Urban data Platform offers a rich set of interactive maps and charts for a complete overview of how a region compares to the EU average, to a different region in the EU, or to the average region in more developed, transition and less developed regions in the EU.

Results are also available as INTERACTIVE DATA STORY in the European Commission Open Data Portal for the European Structural Investment Fund.

For more information, please visit: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/maps/gender-equality-monitor

Last Thursday, October 27, took place the Workshop ‘Gender Equality, Research and Transfer at the ULPGC’, in which our EU project manager Marlene Santacruz presented ATHENA, a project coordinated by Consulta Europa.

The seminar, organised by the Equality Unit of the ULPGC and hosted by the Institutional Headquarters of the university, focused on the II Equality Plan of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which is part of the European project Horizon 2020.

Carmen Grau Pineda, Director of Teaching Staff, highlighted in her speech the importance of equality plans as a way to achieve effective equality in research. Carolina Mesa, Director of Equality, discussed the measures envisaged for the new plan, which recently began its implementation phase.

Finally, the seminar included a round table with the participation of female university researchers who enriched the workshop by sharing their experiences regarding the barriers they have encountered in their academic and professional careers. In addition, they contributed with ideas and possible measures that could be carried out within the different research fields.

Currently, the ATHENA project is in the implementation phase of the equality plans entrusted to the project partners, with the aim of generating a cultural change that avoids barriers and discriminatory practices in research institutions. All this has taken place in a week in which the European Gender Equality Week is also celebrated.