Community of Practice
The GENDERACTIONplus2027 Community of Practice is the project's core policy coordination, mutual learning and support mechanism. It brings together national authorities and research and innovation funding organisations in a structured, trust-based environment for exchange, policy coordination, mentoring, tailored support and capacity building.
About the Community of Practice
The Community of Practice is organised in two connected circles: the National Authorities Circle and the Research and Innovation Funding Organisations Circle. Together, they support members in sharing experiences, reflecting on implementation challenges, contextualising promising practices and identifying concrete steps that can be adapted to different national and organisational settings.
The Community of Practice remains open to new members during the project. For more information on how to get involved, see below.
National Authorities Circle
The National Authorities Circle brings together representatives working on gender equality, inclusiveness and European Research Area-related coordination within national authorities responsible for research, higher education and innovation policy. It provides a trust-based space for peer exchange, practical policy learning and reflection on national implementation challenges.
What participants do
Members share developments from their countries, discuss emerging ERA policy issues, identify support needs and explore concrete steps that can drive policy advancement in their own national contexts. The circle works in iterative cycles of learning and action: members identify, discuss, document and revisit needs, challenges and priorities over time.
This helps ensure that activities remain responsive to members’ realities and that peer learning is translated into practical follow-up, policy adaptation and uptake at national level. Where relevant, learning from the National Authorities Circle also supports stronger links with research funding organisations and other national stakeholders involved in implementing inclusive gender equality policies.
Research and Innovation Funding Organisations Circle
The Research and Innovation Funding Organisations Circle supports funding organisations that want to strengthen inclusive gender equality in their funding policies, calls, evaluation processes and monitoring practices. It creates space for peer learning between organisations with different levels of experience and different national settings.
What participants do
The circle uses mentoring and thematic peer exchange to help research and innovation funders explore practical improvements across the funding cycle, from programme design and call text to evaluation criteria, monitoring and organisational learning, with a focus on prioritised ERA fields of action.
How to get involved
If you’re committed to protecting and advancing gender equality in research and innovation, we invite you to join us. Participation is particularly relevant for national authorities and research and innovation funding organisations working on gender equality, inclusiveness, and research and innovation policy. New members are supported through onboarding materials and introductory exchanges to help them join the ongoing work smoothly.
Interested in joining or learning more? Contact the GENDERACTIONplus2027 team: [email protected].
Mutual learning and capability building
The Community of Practice also serves as the project’s main platform for mutual learning and capability building. Activities respond to the needs identified by Community of Practice members and to findings from monitoring. They include peer exchange, mentoring, practical training, thematic sessions and reusable resources such as slides, checklists, templates and how-to notes.
What the capability-building offer covers
The programme will support the use of intersectionality in research and innovation policy, monitoring of inclusive Gender Equality Plans, and gender mainstreaming in selected ERA priorities such as research careers, research assessment and Open Science.