As part of the Interreg Europe call that began in March 2023 and lasts for three years, Sodena has taken the lead as host for the first meeting of the initiative, which aims to achieve gender equality in the industry and position it as a factor of competitiveness and differentiation.

The project is focused on the productive fabric linked to the strategic areas established by the S4 in Navarra and will work towards developing or improving public policies to promote gender equality. Although the region already has a policy of equality plans and numerous initiatives in this field, there is still much room for improvement, and the DEBUTING project has set its sights on addressing this.

DEBUTING comprises of 11 partner entities from 10 European regions: Suomi (Finland), North-Vest (Romania), Niederösterreich (Austria), Magyarország (Hungary), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Navarra (Spain), Pomorskie (Poland), Grand East (France) and Baden-Württemberg (Germany). The project will enable the consortium to learn about policies and best practices for equality in the partner regions, participate in workshops, training, and discussion groups, and collaborate on interregional and regional activities.

The first meeting of the regional working group coincided with International Women's Day on March 8th, where the participating entities gathered to establish a coordinated working group to achieve the following objectives:

• Analyse the results of existing policies and initiatives
• Segment companies and identify in which sectors or types of companies the region presents the best and worst data
• Work with a sample of companies to understand their procedures and working environment to draw conclusions about gender inequality in the territory and its business fabric
• Create working groups to analyse the information and propose improvements in policies

Representatives from each entity have agreed on the need to collaborate and work together in a coordinated effort towards gender equality, with a shared commitment to move beyond mere compliance and towards genuine progress in this area. In the words of Eva Istúriz, director of the Navarrese Institute for Equality, "There is nothing more innovative than gender equality because we still haven't achieved it."

The DEBUTING project is a critical step towards achieving gender equality in the industry and creating a more competitive, diverse, and inclusive economic environment in Navarra and beyond. As a member of the project, Sodena is committed to this goal and will work tirelessly to ensure that it is achieved.

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