17.05.2016

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment has published today, Tuesday, May 17, 2016, in the Official State Gazette, the Extract of the Order of April 29, 2016, which announces the 7th Edition of the Excellence Awards for Innovation for Rural Women, corresponding to the year 2016. These awards aim to recognize original and innovative projects based on agricultural, agri-food and complementary activities, which contribute to the diversification of economic activity and which promote and encourage women's entrepreneurship in the region and recognize their work in rural areas. The call for the 7th edition of these awards is made in accordance with the regulatory bases modified in 2015, which introduce the necessary changes to make new projects visible and promote them and offer the opportunity to associations, federations, entities or representative organizations to participate by proposing projects that they consider relevant to the economy. local area, and for the women who have developed them.

The call includes four categories:

• The "Excellence for Innovation in Agricultural Activity" award is awarded to projects that utilize agricultural, livestock, or forestry technologies in their development, leading to the advancement of a sustainable sector that is efficient in producing quality products, responds to consumer demand, and can integrate marketing and promotion strategies.
• The "Excellence for Innovation in the Diversification of Economic Activity in Rural Areas" award will be given to projects that diversify economic activity in rural areas, linked to complementary activities, agri-food production, local resources, and traditional aspects of agricultural and agri-food activity, which foster new economic sectors or generate employment in rural areas.
• The "Excellence in Communication" award recognizes communication projects that recognize the work and role of rural women in the activities described in the previous categories.
• The "Extraordinary Rural Women's Innovation Award" represents extraordinary recognition when outstanding or ongoing circumstances occur.

Individuals, legal entities, and media outlets that meet the requirements established for each category in the rules governing their award may submit their nominations. One of the new features of this call is that administrations, professional organizations, federations, entities, and associations may propose nominations for the awards in the categories "Excellence for Innovation in Agricultural Activity" and "Excellence for Innovation in the Diversification of Economic Activity in Rural Areas." The "Extraordinary Award for Innovation by Rural Women" will be awarded at the proposal of the President of the Jury.

The call for applications and the regulatory bases for these awards can be downloaded from the following link to the National Subsidy Database: WOMEN'S AWARDS 2016

The following links provide the templates for drafting the project description (please note: these templates are not mandatory; they are intended to facilitate the submission of applications and serve as a guide for drafting the description to be attached to the application):

-Descriptive document template for categories A and B

- Descriptive document template for category C