Change Catalysts are important for inclusive gender equality implementation. In INSPIRE, change catalysts are both CoP facilitators and experts linked to each of the Knowledge & Support Hubs (KSH1, KSH2, KSH3, KSH4). 

This Open Training Unit (OTU) provides you with the necessary and relevant knowledge, tools and resources to form part of INSPIRE as either a CoP facilitator or an expert.

In this training unit, you will find:

Chapter 1: About INSPIRE

In this chapter you will find:

- INSPIRE Coordinator Rachel Palmén will give a short introduction to INSPIRE's objectives and policy standpoints, as well as expected outcomes. 

Go to INSPIRE's events' page to see more about upcoming events and news. 

Chapter 2: INSPIRE Change Catalysts

In this chapter you will find what we hope is relevant and useful information about two types of INSPIRE Change Catalysts: 

- CoP Facilitator

- INSPIRE Expert

This includes what being an INSPIRE Change Catalyst entails, as well as tasks in INSPIRE.

Chapter 3: Types of Support for CoP Facilitator & CoP member

In this chapter you will find basic information about the types of support available for INSPIRE CoPs:

- synthesised state-of-the-art research

- economic support

Chapter 4: Main Events & Outputs - Experts & CoP Facilitators 

In this chapter you will find basic information about the structure and logic of INSPIRE and the planned events to help you see where your involvement fits into the bigger picture. 

 

Authors: Rachel Palmén (Open University of Catalonia), Liv Baisner Petersen (University of Southern Denmark), and Eva Sophia Myers. 

The GEAM is a survey to help practitioners, activists, researchers or other staff to collect solid gender equality data in organisations. Targeting employees (academic & administrative) or students, it offers insights regarding people’s perceptions and experiences across several dimensions of gender and intersectional inequalities. The questionnaires have been translated into different languages and can be customised, i.e. reduced in length or amplified with additional questions. 

Since it initial development in 2020, the GEAM has been used by more than +50 universities and research centres across Europe, generating +10k responses. It offers a framework to collect high quality comparable data on working conditions that facilitate dialog and learning within and across organisations.

Launched in July 2024. 

OTU3 introduces the INSPIRE Change model, guiding users in understanding the six key factors that facilitate organisational change towards inclusive gender equality, and advancing indicators for each of these factors. It is divided into four chapters that showcase the research behind the INSPIRE Change model, what the model consists of, a detailed presentation of each of the six factors, as well a sneak peek into the upcoming book “Practice, Power, Status” dedicated to the model and edited by Jörg Müller and Rachel Palmén. 

You can access the PDF version of this Open Training Unit here. You can also check out the OTU3 Manual here. 

 

Authors: 

Jörg Müller, Rachel Palmén (FUOC), Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, Tjaša Cankar (ZRC-SAZU), Maria Karaulova, Carolina Wienand (FhG), Maria Caprile, Lorena Pajares Sánchez (Notus), Paola Chaves (RU), Marta Warat (JU)

 

Launched in January 2026.

This unit aims to provide an introduction into the basics of data monitoring, from exploring the various definitions of data and why inclusivity in data practices is crucial, to looking at the different methods to assess progress in gender equality (linking these to Gender Equality Plans) and explaining how to develop inclusive indicators for data monitoring. 

Authors:

Dr. Maria Karaulova, Merve Yorulmaz, Carolina Wienand-Sangare (Fraunhofer ISI)

Dr. Lena Weber (GESIS)

Launched in May 2025. 

This Open Training Unit builds on the workshop conducted on 22 May by Notus Social Research, the Open University of Catalonia, and the Jagiellonian University as part of the Task 3.5 of the Horizon Europe project INSPIRE. The workshop was divided into two main parts: a) statistical analysis for inclusive gender equality and b) practical guidance on how to analyse data resulted from the GEAM tool, and marked the the official launch of the online version of the handbook on Statistical Analysis for Inclusive Gender Equality edited by Jörg Müller, Dalia Argudo, Ewa Krzaklewska, and Paulina Sekuła.  

Authors:

Jörg Müller, Open University of Catalonia

Dalia Argudo, Notus Social Research

OTU6 explores how intersectionality can turn from a theoretical concept into an actionable political strategy in Higher Education and Research organisations. It explains how to build momentum for intersectional equality policy-making and emphasises why the governance of equality policy-making is an important step to advance intersectional equality. The unit also provides insights into how to organise participation across all stages of the policy process: policy design, implementation, and evaluation.

Authors: Prof. dr. Patrizia Zanoni, Prof. dr. Koen van Laer, Joanna Beeckmans (Hasselt University)

INSPIRE Open Training Unit 7 is dedicated to Inclusive Gendered Innovation Policy. This online course is designed to help research and innovation funding bodies integrate inclusive gendered innovation principles into their policy frameworks and operational practices. It offers hands-on guidance, practical tools, and illustrative examples that funders can apply throughout all phases of the funding cycle.

Authors:

Sybille Reidl, Helene Schiffbänker, David William Walker - Joanneum Research

What is GENDERACTIONplus?

Building on the Horizon 2020 project GENDERACTION, the overall goal of GENDERACTIONplus was to contribute to the coordination of gender equality and inclusiveness objectives of the new European Research Area (ERA) through the development of two Communities of Practice, comprising National Authorities (Policy CoP) and Research Funding Organisations (Funding CoP).

The GENDERACTIONplus project developed important strategic policy advice on existing and emerging policy solutions, while also enhancing the policy-making process through engaging with stakeholders, civil society organisations (CSOs) and citizens. Furthermore, the project built capacities, competence and expertise for gender equality and mainstreaming in Research & Innovation among the policy and RFO community members, with special attention to countries with a less comprehensive policy.

Why is GENDERACTIONplus’ work important for INSPIRE’s OTU 8?

INSPIRE finds it paramount to provide a platform to share and promote the important work and findings coming from GENDERACTIONplus’ project, as its contributions to the contemporary feminist landscape regarding intersectional equality efforts both across policy-making bodies and research funding bodies across Europe are essential for the push for more equitable and inclusive research and innovation in the new ERA. GENDERACTIONplus’ insights into these two highly important areas are both important timely contributions, and its resources can assist both policy and research funding stakeholders and community members in building capacities and competences within their particular organizational or national context(s).

As such, each of the project’s five cutting edge work packages: WP2: Intersectionality and inclusiveness; WP3: Gender-based violence and Sexual Harassment in the European Research Area; WP4: Gender Dimension in Research and Innovation (R&I); WP5: Monitoring and evaluation of Gender Equality actions; WP6: Promoting institutional change, are described thoroughly in their given chapter, where the main findings, recommendations and resources are shared.

What is Let’s Talk, Let’s Act: Addressing Discrimination in Danish Higher Education?

The webinar series Let’s Talk, Let’s Act: Addressing Discrimination in Danish Higher Education   was organized within the EU GENDERACTIONplus project and headed by the Gender & Equality Team at The University of Southern Denmark (SDU), as part of the National Impact Plan with the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (UFM).

The webinar series includes five thematic webinars, each covering an important perspective on discrimination in higher education in Denmark. The series follows up on the recent #metoo movement in Denmark, and specifically VIVE’s 2024 report, “Sexisme og karriereforløb på danske universiteter,” [Sexism and carrier progression at Danish universities] which was commissioned by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (UFM) and aimed to capture early career researchers’ experiences of sexism and discrimination.

Each webinar is moderated by Dr. Bontu Guschke, who is herself a researcher and facilitator in anti-discrimination work, and Molly Occhino, who is a DEI consultant in GET at SDU, part of the GENDERACTIONplus project, and is currently finishing their Ph.D in the social sciences at Roskilde University.

Why is this series important for INSPIRE’s OTU?

The series is an important initiative that highlights the importance of working with an intersectional approach to anti-discrimination work, and at the same time, the series works to understand and specifically address and combat the specific ways that racism and xenophobia, sexism, queerphobia and transphobia, ableism, and other forms of interlocking discrimination manifest. In this way, the series also illustrates and beautifully weaves together the importance of intersectional solidarity and allyship, while also working to understand and address discrimination across identity axes in Europe. With internationally renowned speakers and moderators leading the discussions and who formulate research-grounded approaches for better solidarity and tools for anti-discrimination work, INSPIRE has found great value in amplifying the work done in the webinar series for INSPIREs stakeholders. We believe that these discussions can help to provide tools and frameworks for more inclusive and norm-critical equality work (including IGEPs) in academia, and ultimately, can greatly help to build intersectional, decolonial feminist solidarity and allyship in Europe.

As such, this OTU features the content developed within the webinar series and includes the webinars and the output referred to within the series, as well as the recommendations given to the ministry based on the cumulation of the series.

Target Audience

The webinars original target audience included university leadership, policymakers, research and administrative staff at Danish universities, students, as well as union leaders working with the higher education sector; however, given the richness of the discussions, the series can benefit any people in these positions across Europe, as well as anyone working with IGEP creation and implementation.

Additional Resources

To explore these topics further, we prepared a list of resources that are mentioned throughout the webinar. 

 

This Open Training Unit (OTU) addresses resistance, backlash and anti-gender campaigns in feminist work and organizing. The OTU is proud to feature the important work being done in two of the most cutting-edge, contemporary feminist Horizon Europe Projects, FIERCE and RESIST, which work to understand, address, and collectively strategize against resistance, backlash and anti-gender campaigns from an intersectional feminist perspective.

Many of us working within diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work are very familiar with resistance and backlash as they are something we navigate both professionally and personally, both in terms of professional consequences of resistance and backlash, which might be budget and resource cuts, policy bans and de-prioritizations at national or organizational levels, or more individual consequences such as burnout or even harassment. But these instances of backlash are not one-off, or individual instances, but rather, the resistance and backlash that DEI experts and researchers face are tied up to a larger, international movement against intersectional feminist thought and rights.

As such, we in INSPIRE find it highly important to highlight the important work that FIERCE and RESIST have been doing regarding resistance, backlash, and anti-gender campaigns in our Open Training Unit Series, as we believe that understanding more about how these things manifest on a transnational scale, what kinds of international developments and consequences there have been in recent years, and what kinds of feminist resistance, collaboration, and intersectional strategies countering anti-gender politics is crucial for feminist organizing. Indeed, we believe that having a deeper knowledge and understanding of these movements are paramount for sustaining and deepening intersectional change across organizations and across national contexts.

Design of the Open Training Unit

This Open Training Unit features a webinar video discussion between INSPIRE WP6 Leaders at the University of Southern Denmark, Liv Baisner Petersen and Molly Occhino, together with two of the central researchers from the FIERCE project,  Lise Rolandsen Agustin (associate professor) and Andreas Beyer Gregersen (post doc) from Aalborg University, and two central researchers from the RESIST project, Roberto Kulpa (associate professor) from Edinburgh Napier University and Marianne Blidon (associate professor) from Pantheon Sorbonne University in Paris. The video features presentations from each of the research teams into the main aims, work and findings of their respective projects, before moving into a panel discussion mediated by SDU.

Additionally, in chapters 1 and 2 of this open training unit you will find more detailed information describing both the FIERCE and RESIST projects, as well as relevant tools and resources for INSPIRE’s audience.

INSPIRE finds it incredibly important to promote and amplify the critical knowledge and resources coming out of these two crucial projects.

The EU-funded GenderSAFE project promotes zero tolerance for gender-based violence in the European Research Area and supports research and higher education institutions in establishing safe, inclusive and respectful environments by setting up comprehensive policies. It builds on the results and tools developed in UniSAFE.

The project aims to strengthen zero-tolerance policies, support higher education and research institutions in improving and implementing existing policies, build institutional capacities, monitor policies at national and institutional levels, raise awareness and conduct advocacy work for policies with zero tolerance to gender-based violence.

One of its key results is the GenderSAFE Institutional Self-Assessment Tool, a structured framework to evaluate an organisation's capacity and progress in addressing gender-based violence. The tool supports institutions in adopting coherent, sustainable strategies for prevention, protection, provision of services, prosecution, partnerships, and policy (7P model). 

Authors: the GenderSAFE consortium