Rural women are the driving force for the maintenance and development of these areas, both in cultural and economic terms, as they contribute to the preservation of traditions and the development of the countryside in the face of a constant process of depopulation.

In recent years, women engagement in traditional handmade products in rural areas is getting wider. Unfortunately, due to conditions such as unemployment, poverty, lack of basic services in the field of education and traditional stereotyped roles for women role, rural women are confronted with major challenges in the achievement of gender equality.

Although today, traditional handmade products are becoming more valuable in the eyes of the customer/tourists, most of the women who are interested in their production are not always aware of the real value of the products or how to make use of them in the commercial perspective. Only a small proportion of women find the opportunity to generate regular income through their talent.

W@W project consists in extending and developing the competences of long-term unemployed women without proper education, living in marginalized rural areas in order to assist them in the long run, to access the labor market and further exploit their hobbies. The project is grounded on EU 2020 Strategy with specific measures responds to learning needs of women living in rural areas which are considerable uncapped human potential that are sorely needed to boost economic growth and create new jobs required in todays difficult economic climate.

This will be done via following outcomes:

  1. Developing An Entrepreneurial Mindset Capacity Building Course
  2. W@W One-Stop Portal
  3. Success Stories Videos
  4. Self Test tool of Appropriateness as an Entrepreneur

The project has been funded by ERASMUS+ programme, Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education and will run from October 2019 to October 2021.