After two and a half years of work, the Women Making Waves project partnership brings its activities to a close and presents the results achieved.
On 10 May, 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 succeeded in creating a training course to help increase women’s confidence, self-awareness, employability and leadership skills, as well as to support women’s 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. Women Making Waves has also developed a Competency Framework, a Leadership Circles™ methodology and a Guide for Legislators, which can be accessed free of charge on the project website.
As for the partners, they have acquired new skills and knowledge, such as understanding the discrimination of women in partner countries, their position in the labour market, the obstacles they face and how to support doubly disadvantaged women. Partners are now better able to deliver training thanks to the new methodology developed in the framework of the project.
Final conference
The final conference of the Women Making Waves project was held in Akureyri (Iceland) on 11 May and was attended by 44 people. The event focused on women’s empowerment in a broad sense. Special attention was given to women living with a double disadvantage.
Katrín Björg Ríkharðsdóttir, Director of the Directorate for Equality in Iceland, opened the conference and shed light on the position of women in the labour market and the challenges they have faced in a historical context. Hjalti Ómar Ágústsson, special advisor to the Directorate for Equality, then presented the project.
The aim of the project is twofold: on the one hand, to encourage debate 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 Martinez from Spain and Dominika Tkacova from England, presented the study material created in the project, a five-part course and the Leaders’ Circles. Their presentations were recorded as they were unable to 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 the study and teaching instructions.
After a coffee break, Anna Lilja Björnsdóttir, an expert from the Gender Equality Office, moderated a discussion on women in leadership positions. Hildigunnur Svavarsdóttir, Director of Akureyri Hospital, gave a talk entitled “A Leadership Lunchbox: Personal Favourites”. In her presentation, she shed light on her career path in the labour market and gave good advice to women considering career advancement.
Finally, Helga Harðardóttir, an expert from the development department of the Icelandic Institute for Regional Development, presented a guide for policy makers who intend to use the project’s products.
