The INCLUDE project has officially launched its work plan to promote intersectional gender equality in the university community, particularly involving Biomedical Research and Innovation Institutions. The Kick-Off Meeting (KOM) of the international consortium took place in Venice on 14 and 15 January. This ambitious project, coordinated by Smart Venice and funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe Programme, brings together 11 partners from 10 European countries to form a geographically inclusive consortium covering Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Europe.
The INCLUDE project will address the structural challenges of gender equality in biomedical research by developing, piloting and evaluating innovative Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) through cross-sectoral approaches. It covers diverse policy contexts, gaps and challenges, drawing on best practices and knowledge to promote inclusion in Higher Education and Research organisations.
The project coordinators expressed their enthusiasm for the initiative: ‘INCLUDE represents a crucial step towards creating sustainable change by integrating intersectionality at the heart of Equity and Gender Equality Plans, ensuring that our actions are inclusive, impactful and transformative.’ The meeting was introduced by Jade Iafrate, policy officer at DG-RTD (the European Commission's General Directorate for Research and Innovation) and Silvia Abad, from REA (the European Research Executive Agency), who pointed out how gender equality continues to be at the top of the European Union's agenda and that they have high expectations for the INCLUDE project.
Intersectionality is ‘an analytical tool that examines the intersections of race, gender and class with other identities’. We should therefore use intersectionality as a means of informing our communities and empowering the INCLUDE project as promoters of change,’ explain Professors Dounia Bourabain and Victoria Showunmi, respectively from the University of Hasselt and the University College of London, partners in the INCLUDE project.
The two-day meeting served as a platform for the partners to align strategies, outline the project's objectives and begin the joint design of pilot actions to promote Equality and Inclusion. The discussions emphasised the importance of personalised training programmes, mentoring schemes, thematic centres and collaborative learning to foster internal capacities and promote knowledge sharing between regions and institutions.
The Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIIUC) is the organisation responsible for implementing the Include actions at the University of Coimbra, and is the leader of one of the working groups, focusing particularly on the implementation of pilot actions related to the improvement of the consortium's Gender Equality Plans and/or their adoption by members who do not yet have them.
More information about the Include Project at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/projectsdetails/43108390/101188452/HORIZON