Bilbao Berrikuntza Faktoria will host for three days a meeting in the PLOTINA project to promote and ensure gender equality in European research organizations. Experts from ten organizations from eight European countries will meet from 18 to 20 July to develop a methodology for implementing equality plans in research developing organizations. The meeting was organized by Elhuyar, as well as being an equal advisor to the project team. The meeting is hosted by Mondragon Unibertsitatea, the other member of the Basque project.

The PLOTINA project (Promoting Gender Balance and Inclusion in Research, Innovation and Training) began in early 2016 and for three years will work on the development, implementation and evaluation of tailored equality plans for research organizations through innovative and sustainable strategies. Several research centers, universities, professional associations and members specializing in monitoring and disseminating project development in eight European countries, including Elhuyar, as an equality consultant. The consortium reflects the diversity of European research centres and European social and cultural environments.

In order to develop equality plans for research organizations, it is about promoting a cultural change that takes into account the gender perspective, developing initiatives that promote the professional development of researchers and, above all, women researchers, so that talent is not wasted and ensure the diversification of approaches and methodologies both in research and teaching, taking into account in this case the dimension and analysis of gender and sex.

The development of a methodology that encompasses all of these objectives has been divided into four general stages: the analysis of the situation of research centers and member universities of the consortium, the design of a gender equality plan for each of them, the design, implementation and evaluation of actions in member research centers to achieve the objectives of the equality plan and the creation of a resource platform usable by the entities that develop research across Europe to design adapted gender plans.

By the end of this year, diagnostics have been planned to design equality plans for March 2017. From there, they will be implemented in different centers and organizations that will allow them to share experiences, learn each other, identify improvements and adapt methodologies, etc.

In this way, PLOTINA will help increase the number of women researchers, enhance their research trajectories and integrate the gender dimension in the design, evaluation and execution of research, with a higher quality and relevance, which in turn favors the excellence and social value of innovations.

The consortium of the PLOTINA project consists of the following entities: Project coordinator University of Bologna (Italy), University of Warwick (United Kingdom), Mondragon Unibertsitatea (Basque Country), Higher Institute of Economics and Gestao (Portugal), Kemijsdiverski Institut (Slovenia), Ozyegin Universitesi (Turkey), Zentrum fur Centre Germic, University.