Yesterday, AgRibot participated in the 1st meeting of the Rural Pact Community Group on Women in Rural Areas, joining stakeholders from across Europe working to strengthen the visibility, participation, and representation of women in rural communities.
The Community Group, coordinated under the EU’s Rural Pact and building on the work of the Horizon Europe project GRASS Ceiling and its European Policy Forum for women-led innovation, aims to create a space for exchange, collaboration, mutual learning, and policy dialogue around the realities faced by women in rural areas.
Today, the wider Rural Pact network brings together more than 4,100 members across 27 EU Member States and beyond, alongside 13 thematic Community Groups and 8 committed governments.
The discussion highlighted many of the challenges still affecting rural areas today, including barriers to entrepreneurship and decision-making, ageing populations, labour shortages, accessibility of services, and the need for stronger rural innovation ecosystems. According to the European Commission, women currently manage only around 32% of farms across the EU, while women under 40 represent just 3% of farm holders.
The meeting also explored how initiatives such as the Rural Pact and GRASS Ceiling are contributing to stronger rural communities through policy dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaboration between projects, researchers, policymakers, and rural stakeholders across Europe.
For AgRibot, participating in initiatives such as this is important because innovation in agriculture cannot be disconnected from the realities of rural life and the people working within these communities.
As agricultural robotics, AI, and AR/XR technologies continue to evolve, accessibility cannot be treated as an afterthought. AgRibot aims to develop technologies that support people working in agriculture by reducing physical strain, supporting safer working conditions, and making advanced technologies more approachable and usable for diverse user groups.
One of the key messages throughout the meeting was the importance of ensuring that rural innovation is shaped together with rural communities, while also strengthening the visibility and voice of women in rural policy discussions. This echoes the message within AgRibot as well: the future of agricultural innovation must remain not only technologically advanced, but also inclusive, accessible, and grounded in the realities of rural life.