Women In Blue Economy Intelligence Gathering and Capacity Boosting
WIN-BIG is a project that aims to address the current lack or uneven knowledge on the role women play across Blue Economy (BuE) sectors and EU regions, with a focus on three highly technological emerging sectors: Blue Bioeconomy, Blue Sports and Sustainable Tourism, Marine Energy and Robotics. The Blue Economy sector is still a traditionally male-dominated economy in almost all of its established and emerging sectors. Women represent only 29% of the overall workforce and are often employed in the lowest-paid, lowest-status positions. This is where WIN-BIG comes into play. Through a strong partnership that extends beyond EU borders, this project intends to advance the current knowledge on gender issues within BuE and present innovative solutions to support women in joining and advancing in their careers within the blue economy.
OBJECTIVES:
- Gender Mapping: Map, assess, and report gender representation in regional EU Blue Economy and across sectors
- Capacity Building: Identify and map capacity building needs per sea basin to empower women in leadership and promote their participation in BuE.
- Entrepreneurial Training: Provide tailored training and mentoring for women in various BuE sectors to boost entrepreneurship and innovation.
- Knowledge Sharing: Facilitate networking, collaboration, and best practices exchange among sea basins through Women in Blue-focused retreats.
- Awareness Raising: Raise awareness of BuE gender issues and communicate in an inspirational and impactful way the need for and benefits of gender balance in EU BuE.
RESULTS
WIN-BIG will work on all 6 EU sea basins (Atlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic, North Sea, Arctic and Black sea) to map the current gender balance in regional BuE and across sectors, to then work on and up the value chain towards determining the current, and yet remaining, capacity needs and gaps in the more emergent sectors for women to enter or climb the success ladder of the European blue economy. Having the current scenario as a starting point, and not disregarding the current geopolitical tensions and the extra burden brought up on women due to these, WIN-BIG will deliver on 10 specific objectives as represented in figure on the side. WIN-BIG results will be very relevant for the broader discussion of gender aspects in STEM disciplines, and will impact several levels and types of stakeholders as depicted in the next figure. But moslty WIN-BIG will also try to leverage men allies as they represente a very importnat player in the women career access and climibing of opportunities in European Blue Economy.
WIN-BIG is calling on everyone to actively participate in shaping the future of the blue economy. Unique insights, experiences and perspectives are invaluable in gathering data on women's roles and contributions across different sectors of the Blue Economy and informing the EU's efforts to promote inclusivity and diversity in this vital sector. But it is not just about data collection – it is about sparking meaningful conversations and driving real change. All voices matter, regardless of the gender and role, and WIN-BIG is committed to amplifying it through this survey. Join this project in Shaping the Future: Participate in the Women in Blue Economy Survey! The survey is available in English and Spanish at the moment, with plans to translate it into more languages soon.
Further information about the Project:
- Sectors: Marine Renewable Energies and Robotics, Blue biotechnology, Sustainable tourism and blue sports
- Budget: € 1.32101 Million
- Duration: –
- Coordinator: University of Aveiro
- Funding Programme: European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF)
- Project locations: Sea Basins - Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, Black Sea, North Sea
- Entities involved: Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal), University of Galway (Ireland), Geonardo (Hungary), BLUEBIO Alliance (Portugal), Business as Nature (Portugal), s.Pro Sustainable Projects (Germany), Marine Institute (Ireland), Cluster Marítimo Marino de Andalucia (Spain), Universidade Nova (Portugal), W4O (The Netherlands), Ghent University (Belgium), Federazione del Mare (Italy), Forum Oceano (Portugal), NCE Blue Legasea (Norway)
- CINEA featured project
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