ACT is a Horizon 2020 project that seeks to advance gender equality at European Research Performing (RPO) and Research Funding Organizations (RFO) by facilitating collaboration between experienced institutions in the implementation of gender equality plans with less experienced ones. It aims at addressing common needs and improving assessment on gender equality in R&I regarding three fields: human resource management, decision-making processes, and integration of the gender dimension into research content and higher education curricula.
The ACT project will set-up and support an international network of Communities of Practice (CoPs) as agents to develop gender equality actions at research organizations in the European Research Area. For this purpose, ACT will:
Establish the first European network of Communities of Practice by supporting 7 new or consolidated CoPs working on gender equality in R&I, assess their needs, and offer opportunities to foster synergies and innovation in this field.
Consolidate and strengthen existing infrastructure for knowledge sharing and mutual learning in the field of institutional change and gender equality across Europe (Knowledge Sharing Hub, online survey tool for gender equality audit and monitoring, and an evaluation framework for CoP collaborations and activities).
Develop an adaptable support toolkit, training materials and audio-visual resources for adoption of best practices on gender equality by R&I organisations.
Coordinated by Fundació Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, the project lasts for 3 years (from May 2018 to April 2021) and involves 17 institutions from 10 different European countries and Costa Rica.
Fundació Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (FUOC), Spain Portia, United Kingdom NOTUS, Spain Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft MBH, Austria Advance HE (formerly Equality Challenge Unit), United Kingdom Loughborough University (LoU), United Kingdom Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Costa Rica Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany Karolinska Institutet (KI), Sweden Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Ireland Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Germany Deutsches Elektronen-Synchroton (DESY), Germany Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG), Spain Uniwersytet Jagiellonski (UJ), Poland ZRC SAZU, Slovenia Haskoli Islands, Iceland