June 27, 2017

The 2017 call for entries for these awards, which have been presented annually since 2010, has been published today in the Official State Gazette. The awards aim to highlight the work of rural women in the diversification of economic activity and the entrepreneurial initiatives they carry out in rural areas. Their objective is to recognize original and innovative projects based on agricultural, agri-food, and complementary activities that contribute to the diversification of economic activity and promote and encourage women's entrepreneurship in the region, recognizing their work in rural areas.

As established in the regulatory bases , four categories are contemplated:

• “ Excellence in Innovation in Agricultural Activity ” Award: 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.

• “ Excellence Award for Innovation in the Diversification of Economic Activity in Rural Areas ”: This 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 promote new economic areas or generate employment in rural areas.

• “ Excellence in Communication ” Award: designed to recognize communication work that recognizes the work and role of rural women in the activities described in the previous categories.

• “ Extraordinary Rural Women’s Innovation Award”: This award represents an extraordinary recognition when outstanding or ongoing circumstances occur.

In the 2016 edition, the awards went to eight projects from Andalusia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Navarre, and the Valencian Community.

The deadline for submitting applications is from June 28 to August 28, 2017 .

The call for applications and the regulatory bases for these awards can be downloaded from theNational Subsidy Database: AWARDS 2017

Application forms can be downloaded from the Ministry's website .

Similarly, the following links provide sample templates for drafting the project description (these templates are not mandatory, but are intended to facilitate the submission of applications, serving 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