The University of Deusto and the GEARING ROLES Project named as best practices in the Horizon Europe Guidance on Gender Equality Plans

The University of Deusto, the H2020 Gearing Roles Project and some of its partners, have been named as examples of best practices in the Horizon Europe Guidance on Gender Equality Plans, published last 27th of September.

The Guidance highlights the dedicated Website to the University’s commitments, goals and actions to promote gender equality, which includes the gender equality audits carried out in 2014 and 2020, the current gender equality plan (2020-2022) – available in Spanish, Basque and English – and its predecessor (2017-2018), as well as other relevant documents such as the University’s Guidelines for Non-Sexist Language. It also names as best practice the fact that the gender equality plan was developed by a university wide working group and was approved by the university’s governing body. This initiative was undertaken as part of the Horizon 2020 funded GEARING ROLES project (led by María Silvestre Cabrera and María López Bellos, both members of the Gender Interdisciplinary Research Platform).

The Guidance supports organisations to meet the Gender Equality Plan (GEP) eligibility criterion of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2021-2027. For Horizon Europe calls for proposals with deadlines in 2022 and beyond, applying public bodies, research organisations and higher education institutions, from EU Member States and associated countries, must have a GEP or equivalent strategy in place to be eligible for funding. This Guidance presents the components of the eligibility criterion as set by the European Commission, explains what these requirements mean in practice when developing and implementing a GEP or reviewing the equivalence of existing plans or policies, and provides concrete practical examples, building on existing materials, good practices and various resources that support gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) at national and institutional levels.

For more information on the Commission's gender equality strategy, please consult this Webpage.