On November 24th and 25th, the EQUALS-EU General Assembly 2022 was held in Valencia, Spain. Dr. Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, on behalf of UNU Macau, attended the event.
Progress towards gender equality in Europe and worldwide was moving slowly, and COVID-19 pandemics has put that to hold or even regressed it. The information society presents new possibilities for generating and distributing wealth and knowledge. The participation of women and girls in research and innovation is crucial for promoting digital inclusion and addressing the complex social and economic challenges facing Europe. And digital inclusion is the key to providing new pathways and novel solutions for ensuring that women and girls can participate in the entire sphere of economic, social, political and cultural life.
EQUALS-EU is a regional partnership that originated from the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age. Funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme and implemented as part of the EQUALS Global Partnership, EQUALS-EU aims to promote gender equity in social innovation through capacity building and creating smart, sustainable and inclusive social innovation ecosystems in local communities and cities in Europe and the Global North and South.
This year, the General Assembly was held on 24-25 November 2022 in Valencia, Spain. Through looking back to the outcomes from previous hackathons and innovation camps as well as keeping track with project updates, partners and guests worked together to look ahead for the future work. Workshops on EQUALS-EU Summer School Pitch-Off and Applications Review, Dissemination with Impact were extended, discussing on details related to the summer school, key findings from all partners, projects, effective ways of communicating knowledges to the right audience as well as potential partners. Also, consortium meeting was held for planning work package activities, project milestones and deliverables, and partner commitments.
Overall, partners and international guests made the point showing results and suggesting innovative paths to foster gender equality in digital innovation and implement inclusive gender ecosystems through the GA. In the next year, more activities are in anticipation. And as one of the founding partners, UNU Macau will hold the hackathon among local youths in 2023. Stay tuned.