GENDERACTIONplus is the new European project for gender equality

GENDERACTIONplus, a consortium of 26 organizations, including FCT, comprising 21 European countries, kicked off its work on June 8 with a presentation meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. Its fundamental aim is to promote gender equality in Research and Development in the context of the European Research Area (ERA).

Funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union's funding program that began in 2021, GENDERACTIONplus seeks to align itself with the guidelines for gender equality in the new ERA Policy Agenda for the period 2022-2024. The project focuses on five thematic areas: intersectionality and inclusion (inclusive research careers); gender-based violence in academia; the gender dimension in the content of research; monitoring mechanisms and indicators; the development of a monitoring and evaluation system for the implementation and impact of Gender Equality Plans as a tool to promote institutional change in the new European Research Area.

Marcela Linkova, project coordinator, points out that "gender-based violence and sexual harassment remain a fundamental problem, and we need to develop better tools to promote intersectionality and diversity. Another important issue is the monitoring and evaluation of gender equality plans and their impact [...]. This is a great opportunity to generate progress on all these topics in an excellent and motivated European consortium."

GENDERACTIONplus is the successor to GENDERACTION, developed with funds from the Horizon 2020 program, and seeks to continue the work already done and respond to the new (and old) challenges identified, incorporating contributions from the Standing Working Group on Gender in Research and Innovation (active from 2017-2021) and the FORGEN community of practice.