Led by the Scottish Crofting Federation in partnership with NICRE, Wild Streams is a programme of coaching, support and peer networking for a group of women crofters across Scotland to further their innovation in agriculture and enterprise. Wild Streams launched in January 2026 and is funded by the Scottish Government.
The name ‘Wild Streams’ was suggested by the women themselves and reflects the twists and turns of their personal and professional journeys, and their commitment to knowledge and support flowing out into their communities.
The Wild Streams network began as part of the GRASS CEILING academic research project, funded by Horizon Europe, to better understand and support women innovators in agriculture.
The Scottish Government supported the GRASS CEILING Living Lab in Scotland, and continues to support the Wild Streams programme, signalling their ongoing commitment to rural women’s innovation across the country.
This phase marks a transition from academic project to a business network initiative. Wild Streams aims to expand the existing network of crofting women through a peer-led support and coaching programme that reflects the participants’ ambitions:
The Wild Streams network welcomed three new participants in January 2026. This enabled existing participants to share their experiences and advice, and the newer members to bring new ideas and challenges to the group for discussion.
Phase 1 had a strong focus on sharing and peer learning, particularly through croft visits led by participants (for some this is a new skill). Participants also visited other inspiring, established crofting businesses, with the opportunity to ask questions and observe good practice.
The Living Lab sessions focussed on coaching skills, goal-focussed discussions and advice. This has helped equip participants with the tools to develop solutions to their own challenges, and to engage with other women in their communities seeking innovation-related support.
In this phase, participants embedded the skills which they had learned previously in the GRASS CEILING research programme. Practical skills, such as around prototyping and testing, were demonstrated. For example, one participant brought testing kits with new products to the living lab sessions along with a form for feedback.
The coaching sessions delivered through Phase 1 of the programme were a form of innovation support. The sessions equipped participants with the tools to deliver innovation support to other rural businesspeople, but also to self-support in their own innovations in between the group meetings.
Peer-to-peer innovation support was available through group sessions, networking at mealtimes and while travelling, and in bespoke sessions tailored to individual business challenges. As mentioned, one participant developed their own questionnaire to test their prototype business idea and receive feedback from the group. This was an example of the participants supporting one another’s innovations.
Training and support needs were mapped, highlighting additional innovation support opportunities for the network. This included training on the administration required for an agriculture business, guidance on strategic business planning, and models of cooperative working.
In addition, participants would like support to develop resources for others, such as a poster or booklet sharing their experiences.
An online meeting will take place over the summer of 2026, to maintain the network's connection and momentum. This will be followed by an in-person workshop in the autumn.
The organisers have submitted a funding bid for Phase 2, and hope that the Wild Streams programme will continue to deliver training, networking, and share and learn visits in the near future.
The Wild Streams programme evolved from a network of crofting women who were brought together as part of GRASS CEILING, a €2.8m project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme.
GRASS CEILING aimed to increase the number of socio-ecological innovations led by women in agriculture, and to empower rural women. NICRE and CRE led the UK ‘Living Lab’ in Scotland, which was one of nine Labs set up in countries across Europe.
In partnership with the Scottish Crofting Federation, the Lab explored attitudes to innovation in the Highlands and Islands area, providing women with a set of tools to support their ideas and drive future innovations across a three-year programme.
When the GRASS CEILING project ended, the women engaged in the Scottish Living Lab worked with the Scottish Crofting Federation and NICRE to secure funding to maintain the network, and develop it into an innovation coaching programme for crofting women across Scotland.
I’m Head of Business and Innovation at NICRE. With 25 years working in rural business support in a variety of roles from practical environmental projects, supporting businesses to start, grow and export as well as training both businesses and community organisations, I bring a wide range of practical and applied experience to NICRE. My role is to engage with the wide range of organisations, businesses and stakeholders operating in rural areas to promote the work of NICRE, to help them find the support that they need to grow and to provide a range of training and best practice sharing events. I also support the Living Lab innovation projects, supporting organisations and communities to get involved and disseminating their findings to interested parties. As someone who lives, and raises a family in a rural community, the work of NICRE provides an exciting opportunity to play a part in shaping the future of those communities and helping to tap into their natural ability for innovation and extend their business talents for a sustainable future.
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