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On rangelands, which cover over half the Earth's land surface, pastoralists produce food and other products from livestock. Not only have rangelands and pastoralists received less investment in research and development; often, women's critical roles in pas toral systems are overlooked or undermined by development interventions. There are only a few examples where herdswomen and rangeland scientists have worked together to jointly understand the rangelands and possible futures. The United Nations declared 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP). This paper draws on own experiences of members of the IYRP Working Group on Pastoralism and Gender (WG)18 in their work with pastoralist women as well as from a desk study, which is underway, of publications and grey literature related to pastoralist women's initiatives in endogenous development and co-innovation, in self-organisation to have more influence i n public spheres, and in the women's collaboration with scientists. The paper brings some findings from this desk study, here specifically related to experiences in Argentina, Hungary, India, Eastern Africa and Spain, which will be used in the lead-up to and during the IYRP2026 to raise awareness globally about the strengths and potentials of pastoralist women. The findings will also feed into a global gathering of women pastoralists and researchers, designed to bring together their respective knowledge systems and intensify transdisciplinary collaboration in research and development in the rangelands.