Thrilled to form part of INSPIRE – European centre of excellence for inclusive gender equality in research and innovation!

Notus is thrilled to form part of INSPIRE- an exciting new project to build the European centre of excellence for inclusive gender equality in research and innovation. This builds on Notus longstanding experience in gender equality and research – through taking a leading role in two  Horizon 2020 projects ACT and TARGET, as well as FP7 projects such as GenPORT, SHEMERA and the meta-analysis of gender and science research. 

INSPIRE is a 4-year project of approximately 5 million euros funded by the Horizon Europe Research Funding Programme.  It will provide thought leadership and direction in the design, implementation, and evaluation of inclusive Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) from an intersectional perspective across Europe. This new Centre of Excellence brings together cutting-edge knowledge, ambitious policy approaches, and innovative practices, and involves a wide range of researchers, practitioners and institutions: 14 partners from Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Spain) as well as Latin America.

INSPIRE aims to provide a gateway for scholars, equality experts, practitioners and trainers to connect and share resources, co-create new ones, and link strategically with public and private institutions to benefit the European Research Area. INSPIRE’s ambitious research programme develops new, relevant indicators for inclusive GEP development, conducts a GEP monitoring survey throughout Europe whilst identifies key configurations of GEP success and failure. It will fill key knowledge gaps as a result of case studies on intersectional policies, whilst identifying promising practices in gendered regional innovation policy. INSPIRE strengthens the evidence base for informed policymaking and meaningfully engages decision-makers in policy and R&I funding for shaping the future.

INSPIRE counts on 4 Knowledge & Support Hubs (KSHs) led by renown academics and practitioners throughout Europe to develop cutting edge knowledge on sustaining change, widening participation, intersectionality and fostering innovation and change in the private sector. Building on the experiences of the ACT project -these KSHs will provide support to 12 communities of practice (involving more than 95 institutions) to facilitate GEP implementation and foster mutual support for the co-development of innovative practices, customised training, and pan-European data collection. INSPIRE will reduce disparities across Member States and strengthen the ERA through its distributed approach, spreading knowledge, know-how and new opportunities for more open and inclusive research and innovation across Europe.

Notus will lead the work-package Strategic Analysis and Steering. Notus will also co-lead one of the KSH (Intersectionality) and co-ordinate the country cluster reports that will examine the challenges of widening participation, sustaining change, intersectionality, and innovation and change in the private section. Notus also builds on the work undertaken in the ACT project and co-ordinates the development of a new version of the GEAM tool – amplifying this for students and the private sector.