On May 10th, the final meeting of the Women Making Waves project took place in Akureyri (Iceland), where the partners had the opportunity to review all the work done in the last three years and reflect on the lessons learned.
The Women Making Waves project has been successful in creating a training course to help in increasing women’s confidence, self-awareness, employability, and leadership skills, as well as supporting female representation.
The course, which is available in different languages (English, Icelandic, Greek and Spanish), can be accessed online through the E-learning Academy. It includes video materials, documents, interactive learning scenarios, additional resources and slideshows to increase user-engagement. The Women Making Waves also developed a competency framework, the Leader Circles and a Policy Guide, you can access these on our website free of charge.
As for the partners, they have gained new skills and knowledge, such the understanding of women discrimination in partner countries, their position in the labour market, the obstacles they face and the way to support double disadvantaged women. The partners are now more capable to provide training through the new methodology developed under the project.
Women Making Waves Final Conference
On the 11th of May a final conference in the project Women Making Waves was held in Akureyri, Iceland and 44 people attended. The event focused on the empowerment of women in a broad sense. Particular attention has been paid to women living with a double disadvantage.
Katrín Björg Ríkharðsdóttir, Director of the Directorate of Equality in Iceland opened the conference and shed light on the position of women in the labour market and the challenges that women have faced in a historical context. Hjalti Ómar Ágústsson, special advisor at the Directorate of Equality, then presented the project.
The aim of the project is twofold, on the one hand to encourage discussion on gender inequality in the labour market and on the other hand to develop resources to empower women so that they are better equipped in the labour market.
The foreign partners, Raquel Ortega Martínez from Spain and Dominika Tkacova from England, presented the study material created in the project, a course in five parts and the Leader Circles. Their presentations were recordings as they could not attend due to Covid-19. Anna Koronioti from Greece then presented the project’s e-learning platform where all the study material is available as well as study and teaching instructions.
After a coffee break, Anna Lilja Björnsdóttir, an expert at the Gender Equality Office, moderated a discussion on women in leadership positions. Hildigunnur Svavarsdóttir, director of the Hospital in Akureyri, gave a talk which she called “A leadership lunchbox: personal favourites”. In her presentation, she shed light on her journey in the labour market and gave good advice to women who are considering career advancement.
At the end, Helga Harðardóttir, an expert in the development department of the Icelandic Regional Development Institute, presented a policymaker’s guide for those who intend to use the project’s products.
Do you want to learn more about the training?
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Our project results
IO1 – Women Making Waves Competence Framework
To identify the skills needed for double disadvantaged women to pursue leadership positions and increase their leadership skills, the partnership developed the Women Making Waves Competence Framework. It analyses the current initiatives and projects promoting female leadership among the target group. You can find the competence framework HERE!
IO2 – Women Making Waves Training Programme
The Women Making Waves Training Programme was developed aiming to foster female leadership skills and strength and build double disadvantage women’s (NEET, migrant, disabled, in early career stages, women returning to work after a long absence or those pursuing a new career path) self-belief and confidence for employability. You can find the training programme HERE!
IO3 – Women Making Waves Leader Circles™
The Circles™ are comprised of 4-5 mentees in a group who meet with a facilitator for 3-4 sessions, each lasting up to 4 hours face-to-face. The goal and innovation of the Circles™ methodology is that the mentees do not only learn from their facilitator but mostly from each other in order to achieve a mutual objective (confidence, self-awareness and knowledge of employability, business and leadership opportunities) by sharing their stories with each other.
IO4 – Women Making Waves E-learning Academy
The Women Making Waves Academy contains the online adaptation of the training materials that are to be developed as part of IO2 and IO3 as well as other related OERs and MOOCs building on this information. Face-to-face training participants will be able to access extra materials in between the sessions. You can find the E-learning Academy HERE!
IO5 – Women Making Waves Policymaker’s Guide
The partnership has developed a Policymakers Guide targeting policymakers, businesses, formal and non-formal educational institutions, migrant and women support organisations and other stakeholders across Europe. The Guide sets out to emphasise the need of having more women in leadership positions to use the available human resources in Europe to its fullest potential and to increase the competitiveness of its internal market. You can find the Policymaker’s guide HERE!
Project’s partners from THE UK, Spain, GREECE, and Iceland have worked together in order to:
- Strengthen double disadvantaged women’s leadership skills and build their self-confidence.
- Raise awareness of the gender gap in leadership positions.
- Increase women’s self-awareness, knowledge of employability, business, and leadership opportunities.
- Narrow the gender gap between men and women in leadership positions and thus contribute to the increase of the number of women in leadership positions.
- Build closer connections between women seeking to develop their careers across Europe with a cross-border support system.
- Address social inclusion by helping women who face a double disadvantage.
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Who are the partners?
Jafnréttisstofa (Directorate of Equality- Iceland) provides counselling and education in the field of gender equality and oversees the administration of equality in Iceland in accordance to act. 10/2008: An Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men, act 85/2018: An Act on Equal Treatment irrespective of race or ethnic origin, and act 86/2018: An Act on Equal Treatment in the labour market.
Inova Consultancy (UK) Inova Consultancy Ltd (UK) provides a flexible consultancy service that responds to the needs of organisations and individuals internationally in diversity, equality, and entrepreneurship. Inova has specialist experience in the development and delivery of coaching and mentoring programmes for a range of different groups.
AMUEBLA (Spain) Founded in 2009, is comprised of group of stakeholders working together to address needs in the furniture and habitat sector, representing the interests of more than 80 companies and over 2,500 employees. AMUEBLA has participated in more than a dozen European projects within the Erasmus+ and Interreg programmes.
The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED) is a research organisation established in 2005, focused on the promotion of entrepreneurship for everyone. The organisation’s main activity is the implementation of projects under some of Europe’s most influential and groundbreaking Programmes like the HORIZON 2020 and the ERASMUS+.
The Icelandic Regional Development Institute (IRDI) is an independent institution owned by the Icelandic state. IRDI monitors and researches regional development in Iceland. Its main function is to contribute to regional development through the implementation of government policy via the introduction of regional strategies.
