• Igualab is born, a project to stop the masculinization of rural areas.
• The initiative is the result of cooperation between Local Action Groups of Andalusia and Navarre

Rural women have traditionally suffered from double discrimination: lack of access to various opportunities (jobs, housing, connectivity) and gender discrimination.

However, more and more rural development groups and agents are becoming aware of this situation and are taking action to educate society in general, and rural residents in particular, to lay the foundations for a more just and egalitarian society in terms of access to the same number of opportunities.

Such is the case of the five Local Action Groups (LAG) - Guadalhorce (Málaga), Guadix (Granada), Pedroches and Subbética (Córdoba) and Zona Media (Navarra)- who have joined forces to launch the Igualab project, with the following objectives:

• Create a network of equality experts
• Promote the participation and involvement of women and young people in the development of territories
• Boosting and making visible women's employment and entrepreneurship

Igualab is a cooperation project that aims to consolidate a development model in its territories in which equal opportunities between women and men are central. To this end, the five participating groups will implement three lines of action throughout 2022, encompassing 12 specific initiatives.

Lines of action

1. 'Mainstreaming and application of the gender perspective in rural development groups and territorial entities' .

Its main actions include:

• A communication plan to disseminate the project.
• Analysis of good practices in the territories.
• The development of a guide for incorporating gender mainstreaming into work areas and future projects, which will be applicable to other rural development groups.

2. 'Citizen participation and revitalization'

This line includes actions such as:

• The exchange of experiences between women's associations.
• The creation of a youth driving force in each region.
• A joint meeting will be held in April 2022 in Alhaurín el Grande (Málaga) and will bring together young people and women from the regions involved.

3. 'Dynamizing employment and the business community with a gender perspective'

This approach will be developed through:

• The development of 5 podcasts on women's entrepreneurship.
• Five seminars were held in the regions of Pedroches, Guadix, and Subbética.
• The development of a digital publication that showcases female entrepreneurs.

Figures and data

The inter-territorial cooperation project targets 359,206 people, of whom 179,436 are women and 179,770 are men.

The initiative's budget is €186,236.43, financed by the European Union's European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the autonomous communities of Andalusia and Navarre.

The National Rural Network was involved in the coordination process for this project in 2020, creating an online working group and coordinating the various stakeholders (managing authorities and GAL).