EPWS Lunch-Debate in the European Parliament

“Towards a Gender Balanced Science Culture 
to Foster Innovation”
Brussels 
31st January 2012 
11.00 to 14.00 – Room A5G1 
 

At the invitation of MEP Leonidas Donskis, of Lithuania, EPWS will hold a lunch-debate at the European Parliament in Brussels, on 31st January 2012, entitled “Towards a Gender Balanced Science Culture to Foster Innovation”. 

Context 

“Against a backdrop of rising societal concerns and lagging economic performance, in 2010 the European Union launched the Europe 2020 strategy to guide Europe’s economic recovery and present an agenda towards becoming a more competitive, sustainable and inclusive economy. At the core of this strategy, the Innovation Union Flagship Initiative sets out how Europe will tackle the innovation emergency it is facing, through a strategic approach integrating research and innovation instruments and actors.” (Innovation Union Competitiveness report 2011)
In these circumstances, the European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS stresses the significance of women’s potential for contribution in science as an important way to reach these ambitious targets.

Aim 

The aim of the debate is to inform Members of the European Parliament, officials from the European Commission, and representatives of other European and international organisations about the science culture in Europe and to put emphasis on the situation of women scientists. The debate should provide participants with up-to-date information on the current situation and give them tools and measures for a gender-balanced architecture of science culture to foster innovation. We hope that the conference will help to establish a dialogue that will allow women scientists to better contribute to European policy-making in the future.

We trust that you will find this debate interesting and hope that you will be able to attend this meeting between MEPs, policy-makers and European women scientists. Lively discussions with audience participation are expected.

Brigitte Mühlenbruch 
EPWS President

 

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Read the Programme 

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