SUPPORTER “SecUring sPORTs Education thRough innovative and inclusive Gender Equality Plans” advances inclusive gender+ equality within the European Research Area (ERA). It supports 8 higher education institutions from Central and Eastern Europe to develop tailored intersectional, innovative, inclusive and impactful gender equality plans (4I-GEPs). It also explicitly addresses gender-based violence including sexual harassment (GBV). Building on state-of-the-art knowledge and the expertise of advanced gender+ equality institutions, SUPPORTER co-creates an innovative capacity-building and mutual learning programme, delivering support and mentoring towards the development of the 4I-GEPs.
Guided by inclusive and innovative epistemologies and co-creative methodologies SUPPORTER acts:
- horizontally: by fostering institutional capacity and culture based on the principles of Diversity & Inclusion within an intersectional framework, ultimately enhancing the sports institutions’ reputation, attractiveness, inclusiveness and research excellence;
- vertically: by triggering a transformative, institutional inclusive and sustainable change to sports institutions to address inequality-driven challenges and advance gender+ equality, focusing on Gender-based violence, thus also enhancing the institutions’ efforts towards meeting their gender+ equality objectives in the ERA context.
To achieve these objectives SUPPORTER adopts a twinning-inspired approach, methodologically based on 3 interlinked processes (analytical, reflective, implementation), combining 4I learning and mutual learning schemes with co-creation and dissemination activities, engaging a diverse range of stakeholders, and building on knowledge and expertise from previous projects and tools.
The multiplier effect of SUPPORTER, starting from the eight partner institutions and gradually reaching the sports ecosystem, has the long-term potential to trigger gender+ institutional change in a variety of further institutions, reaching society more broadly and contributing to wide-range systemic societal changes in line with the Ljubljana Declaration objectives.