Many European countries have seen a substantial deterioration in women’s training and working conditions in the context of an unprecedented crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the new 2021-2027 programming is increasingly focused (and funded) on gender issues, with numerous calls already published or coming in the next few months.
Within the CERV program, we can certainly point out the now traditional EQUAL calls, which are a continuation of the REC program within which the FREASCO.eu project has already been funded.
The next deadline is set for February 24, 2022, with respect to which it seems important to focus on the specific objective of promoting diversity management and inclusion at the workplace, both in the public and private sector, of great interest to all members of the Skillman network. Eu. BUT also the following call, with a deadline scheduled for 16 March 2022, seems very interesting as it is focused on “Equal participation and representation of women and men in political and economic decision making” and “Tackling gender stereotypes, including with a focus on youth, and in advertising and the media”. Finally, to complete the picture with the traditional Daphne program, which sees the next call expiring on 12 April 2022.
A sure important impulse to address gender issues was given by the Horizon program, within which several calls on these issues are already available, like the “Gender and social, economic and cultural empowerment” call (HORIZON-CL2-2022-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-05, Deadline: 20 April 2022), with respect to which we believe that a solid consortium of universities and research centers can constitute solid support for the development of the cognitive objectives indicated in the announcement. The topic is also further encouraged to adopt internal policies and strategies for research institutions through a further call: Support to the implementation of inclusive gender equality plans (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-81, Deadline: 20 April 2022) and the development of Living Lab for gender-responsive innovation (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-80, 20 April 2022).
But the opportunities do not stop there, considering for example the fact that within the entire Erasmus+ program the gender dimension is particularly important, especially in those school and training sectors where the underrepresentation of both genders continues to be particularly high. For this reason, the 2022 call is also of great interest for gender issues related to the TVET sector.
