Energetic Women in the Environment
Energetic Women in the Environment
Increasing rural women’s mental health and wellness.
Capacity to Deliver -
LP14-003
The issue
Women make up approximately half of the international agriculture workforce and dominate a high proportion of essential “off-farm” work. Various studies into the importance of “off farm” activities such as community participation, alternative income support and technical efficiency among farm households indicate that the typically unrecognised form of work has a positive and significant effect on farming outputs. The impact of drought followed by the outbreak of Covid has meant that rural woman have not been able to connect with their local community and neighbours to meet their social and knowledge building requirements resulting in increased feelings of isolation.
The solution
The Energetic Women in the Environment (EWE) project was created with the aim to facilitate communication and assist with increasing resilience within the Little River catchment by bringing together women from across the Little River Landcare Group district. The EWE project has recently hosted its annual community engaging event after a significant hiatus due to the drought followed by Covid.
The impact
More than 25 local women turned out to a workshop with Sally Bourne Landscape Design at the beautiful Toongi Hall. This community engaging event provided an opportunity for rural women to reconnect with each other and the EWE network and gain useful information on plant selection and garden design specific to the central west. The workshop appealed to a wide range of the local demographic, with attendees ranging in age from early 20’s to women in their 80’s.
Key facts
- Little River Landcare’s EWE project fills a gap in local community resources and provides regional women across a broad age demographic with social and skill development opportunities.
- Little River Landcare’s EWE event fosters social health of rural women in the region.
- Local communities are dependent on functioning and engaging local Landcare networks to support environmentally sustainable events relevant to their needs.