• The European WomenEquity project focuses on the integration of gender policies at local level.
• The event highlighted the importance of adapting European gender policies to local realities, through discussions and debates, enriching the collaboration between partners from Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia.
The fifth activity of the European WomenEquity project, entitled ‘More EU in the local context’, took place last Monday 22 April in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. This key event brought together project partners from Italy, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, and Belgium to discuss gender mainstreaming at local level and share innovative practices applied across Europe.
The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between EU countries and adapting European gender policies to local realities. Participants had the opportunity to discuss and analyse the future of gender policy in Europe, highlighting the importance of a unified strategy to improve women’s presence in the labour market.
The event in Thessaloniki is part of a series of seven activities planned over 18 months, aimed at organizing resources and developing tools such as audiovisual materials and a good practices guide. These resources are designed to showcase the reality of women’s work and collect successful local initiatives, providing practical examples that other municipalities can adopt or use as inspiration.
The project will culminate with a final event in Brussels organized by the Finnova Foundation, where the results and experiences shared in Thessaloniki and other project meetings will be analysed in depth in order to raise awareness and find effective solutions to the challenges identified.
About WomenEquity
With a budget of €137,435EUR, the project is led by Benaguasil Town Council togehter with a consortium of six other organisations from Italy, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Slovenia and Belgium.
WomenEquity is part of the Networks of Cities call of the Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), and seeks to address women’s access to the labour market from a European perspective, thanks to the collaboration between municipalities such as Benaguasil, Botosani, Lourinha or Guardistalo in cooperation with private entities such as Finnova or Fifty-Fifty. Through this public-private partnership, the aim is to raise awareness and seek solutions to reduce these barriers and improve their conditions. The project also aims to raise awareness and involve all citizens in this reality, as well as public and private entities, offering work tools based on equality to achieve greater inclusion of women in the labour market.
About the Finnova Foundation
Finnova is the Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels and Spain, working for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU. Finnova’s experience in leading communication and dissemination activities for European projects is combined with a proven track record in business creation and entrepreneurship support programmes, such as accelerators, incubators and events, as well as its commitment to training and employability of young people.
About the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme
The Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme funds citizens’ engagement, equality for all and the implementation of EU rights and values. The programme brings together the former Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme and the former Europe for Citizens programme. It thus promotes exchanges between people from different countries, strengthens mutual understanding and tolerance, and provides the opportunity to broaden perspectives and develop a sense of European belonging and identity through twinning and town networks. The programme follows a bottom-up approach while offering, in particular to town networks, the opportunity to focus on EU priorities.
