UVT institutional roadmap

The Faculty of Physical Education and Sports

Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara (UVT)

The SUPPORTER project aims to foster gender-related, sustainable, and transformative institutional changes in sports higher education institutions paying specific attention to the challenge of gender-based violence and leading to the development of inclusive, innovative, intersectional and impactful gender equality plans (4I-GEPs).

The transformation of existing institutional GEPs into 4I-GEPs is achieved through the co-design and implementation of individual roadmaps, tailored to the needs of each implementing organisation.

Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara (UVT) roadmap encompasses a set of Grounding Actions (GAs) to be implemented from March 2024 to June 2025. These actions address mandatory and recommended thematic GEP elements (Horizon Europe Guidance on Gender Equality Plans) under-addressed in their existing institutional GEP. A series of critical challenges, including engagement and participation barriers in implementing the roadmaps, resource limitations and organisational resistance, have been identified, alongside measures to effectively address them.

Learn more about the development of the roadmaps

About the Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara (UVT)

The West University of Timișoara is the largest higher education/research centre in Western Romania with 15,000 students. The Faculty of Physical Education and Sports offers study programmes for the three educational degrees, while research activities are developed within the Research Center for Physical Education, Sport and Kinesitherapy. A department is oriented to the intersection of Physical Education, Sport and Society addressing topics such as the integration of persons with special educational needs, ethnicity and sports, and the social reintegration of former athletes. The Faculty has also expertise in gender equality, and has participated in the Erasmus+ project “Women and Girls in Sports News and Media”, and is frequently organising workshops on gender equality. UVT has an institutional gender equality plan.

Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara

Summary of UVT grounding actions

GA1 – Establishing a gender audit mechanism and mapping knowledge on selected GEP elements GA2 – Creating a communication and dissemination strategy GA3 – Raising awareness on gender+ equality in the sports environment GA4 – Development of a Protocol for the prevention, assessment and intervention in situations of harassment in the workplace and among students GA5 –Raising awareness on GBV and sexual harassment in sports environment with internal and external stakeholders GA6 – Proposing inclusive actions within the teaching curriculum for practical/ sports activities towards gender+ equality

GA1 – Establishing a gender audit mechanism and mapping knowledge on selected GEP elements

Details: This activity aims to: Identify the problems within the institution regarding gender equality, and the level of awareness of the academic and research staff regarding the GEP and GBV principles and issues. It also provides an overview of the problems that could affect social relations and the work environment through the misunderstanding or defective application of some principles related to gender equality.

GEP elements: Mandatory: Data collection and monitoring; Dedicated resources

Thematic: Measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment; Gender balance in leadership and decision-making

Implementation plan:

Create a working team and assign roles to capitalise on relevant expertise and avoid confusion in task implementation. Members of the Communication Department may join to assist with the creation of tools for the recruitment of participants.
Create the survey quiz form
Collect data from the electronic platform that automatically ensures data collection and subsequent data analysis and processing
analyse the data using the quantitative methods identified during the development of the methodology
Elaborate the scientific report based on the analysed data
Disseminate the project's results

GA2 – Creating a communication and dissemination strategy

Details: This GA builds an effective communication policy and channels that cover the various dimensions of gender+ equality and focus on external stakeholder engagement.

GEP elements: Dedicated resources; Training and awareness-raising

Implementation plan:

Set up the working team and allocate tasks for building the communication strategy
Define the communication strategy objectives, tools and key internal and external stakeholders
Develop the communication strategy, including establishing regular channels to update stakeholders on GEP progress and initiatives related to gender+ equality.
Seek approval for the finalised communication strategy
Development of an InfoPoint at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport to serve as a repository for all the information related to gender+ equality. (All information regarding the project’s ongoing and upcoming actions and results will also be communicated via InfoPoint)

GA3 – Raising awareness on gender+ equality in the sports environment

Details: A series of awareness-raising activities on gender biases and stereotypes in the sports environments and the role of GEP in addressing these inequalities.

GEP elements: Awareness-raising, GBV

Implementation plan:

Set up a working team
develop the awareness-raising plan (defining the objectives, target audience, timeframe and budget, a detailed plan of the activities and the desired outcome)
Design of the awareness-raising material, including the creation of relevant content and visuals for all the dissemination material
Implementation of the activities, such as a) one info-day for students and staff to discuss basic concepts regarding gender equality, highlighting the role of the GEP and stimulating the interest for participation in the survey. b) A local stakeholder event for external stakeholders, and c) A social media campaign.
Evaluate the awareness-raising plan’s impact and the possibility of future relaunch

GA4 – Development of a Protocol for the prevention, assessment and intervention in situations of harassment in the workplace and among students

Objectives:

Development of a comprehensive protocol for preventing and addressing GBV cases within the faculty
Definition of gender-based violence content and fundamental principles regarding reporting of relevant incidents, such as confidentiality
Creation of a culture of zero tolerance towards gender-based violence and sexual harassment

GEP elements:

Mandatory: Dedicated resources

Thematic: Measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment

Implementation plan:

Assess existing policies and practices related to GBV prevention and treatment, and ensure their alignment with national and European legislation. This step also draws on the results of GA1 regarding perceptions and incidents of GBV at the faculty and university level.
Identify and appoint a competent body to handle reports on GBV incidents.
Develop the Protocol, which shall include: a) scope and guiding principles, b) prevention measures, c) reporting procedures, d) support services within and outside the University, e) investigation procedures, and f) consequences for violations.
Seek approval of the new GBV Protocol and related procedures.
Train the new GBV body in charge of implementing the protocol on understanding gender-based violence and its specificities, for example, understanding trauma and implementing a victim-centred approach.
Prepare for the implementation of the Protocol by establishing the stipulated procedures.

GA5 –Raising awareness on GBV and sexual harassment in sports environment with internal and external stakeholders

Details: This GA develops and implements awareness-raising activities on GBV and sexual harassment in sports environments at the university and local/national level.

GEP element: Mandatory: Training

Thematic: Measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment

Implementation plan:

Set up the working team
Develop a comprehensive scheme (Define objectives and message, target audience, timeframe and budget, outline the campaign’s activities and desired outcome)
Design the material for the planned activities (define appropriate channels, create the visuals, prepare the presentations)
Finalise the scheme and material and seek approval
Launch the awareness-raising activities. This may include one training event for staff and students and an introduction workshop for freshly enrolled students. It will also include a local stakeholder event (e.g. in the form of an awareness day) to raise awareness of targeted external stakeholders such as sports clubs, trainers, associations, umbrella organisations, and public authorities.
Evaluate the scheme’s impact and explore the possibility of future relaunch

GA6 – Proposing inclusive actions within the teaching curriculum for practical/ sports activities towards gender+ equality

Details: Several actions encourage a productive dialogue among academic and research staff members to agree on the GE principles and concepts that have to be incorporated into the teaching scheme. This will lead to proposed amendments to the existing curriculum.

GEP element: Mandatory: Training and awareness-raising; Dedicated resources

Thematic: Integrating the gender dimension into the teaching content

Implementation plan:

Create the auto-evaluation assessment form
Prepare a focus group discussion with the academic staff to explore: a) identification of GE differences, b) coping strategies applied during the teaching activity, c) topics and methods that need to be incorporated in the curriculum, d) the possibility of making amendments to existing modules
Discuss with the previous students to gather their views on whether and how the curriculum would benefit from a gendered perspective
Carry out focus group discussions with academic staff
Analyse the collected data
Report with results and recommendations for curriculum updates