CLIMB aims to support women living in rural and mountain areas, where starting a business is often more difficult due to a lack of training, financial resources, support networks, and digital skills.
The European CLIMB project is launched to promote female entrepreneurship in rural and mountain areas
Depopulation is one of the main challenges facing rural and mountain areas in Europe. Women, especially young women, are the ones most likely to leave these territories due to a lack of job and social opportunities. The CLIMB project – Empowering Women to Climb the Entrepreneurial Mountains in Remote Areas – aims to reverse this trend by offering specific training in business skills, financial literacy, and digital skills , as well as access to mentoring networks and institutional support. Researcher Bernat Claramunt, from the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology, and Ecology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and also a researcher at CREAF, is participating in the project.
According to European data, 40% of women who want to participate in training activities are unable to do so due to family responsibilities , and this barrier is even greater in rural areas. CLIMB aims to create flexible and accessible learning pathways to overcome these obstacles.
Training for more than 100 women
Training for more than 100 women
Running for 24 months, until August 2027, the project aims to train more than 100 women in business, digital, and financial skills; create an interactive digital platform with training resources, networking tools, and mentoring spaces; develop a set of tools and six training modules on business planning, digital marketing, access to finance, strategic management, sustainability, and female leadership; and publish a European report of good practices and policy recommendations to boost female entrepreneurship in rural areas.
Bernat Claramunt
Through the analysis of best practices, interviews, and a pilot phase, we will develop resources tailored to the real needs of rural women and foster dialogue with institutions and policymakers. As a result, the project will contribute to improving women's economic opportunities , strengthening the social fabric, and promoting fairer, more sustainable, and inclusive rural development, with long-term benefits at both the local and European levels.
The CLIMB project has five European partners who contribute complementary expertise : Meridaunia (Italy), which will be responsible for project coordination and the rural development strategy; OECON (Greece), which will carry out training, impact assessment and the implementation of gender equality policies; K-GEM (Turkey), which will focus on social inclusion and content validation with migrant women and vulnerable groups; Priority Trust Services (Cyprus), which will be responsible for the development of the digital platform and financial advice; and the UAB, where research, analysis of best practices and academic support will be developed, under the coordination of Professor Bernat Claramunt.
News source: UAB.
