A New Project LUMA Seeks to Develop Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Measures at Vytautas Magnus University

From November 2024, a new project focusing on gender equality and equal opportunities has started at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) and will last for 18 months, until April 2026. The project team – project leader Laura Lapinskė, VMU Equal Opportunities Coordinator, and Natalija Mažeikienė, Professor at the Department of Social Work and Senior researcher at V. Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute, will implement activities and various measures to help create a safe, healthy, inclusive, respectful, considerate and tolerant environment and to ensure equal opportunities for all members of the university community.

One clear priority is gender equality. Following the recommendations of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), a team of researchers and experts from the University has developed a Gender Equality Plan for 2021-2025. The participation of VMU in the Horizon project SPEAR (“Supporting and Implementing Plans for Gender Equality in Academia and Research”, Horizon H2020) in 2019-2023 has strongly contributed to the development of the institutional gender equality policy.

The new VMU project LUMA is a national continuation of the international SPEAR project, which will ensure coherent institutional change in the field of gender equality and equal opportunities. The implementation of the project will contribute to facilitating the whole university’s participation in EU Horizon Programme projects by implementation of various measures, the development of necessary documents, cultivation of soft competences.

According to the project leader, VMU Equal Opportunities Coordinator Laura Lapinskė, the new Gender Equality Project LUMA will continue to focus on ensuring gender balance, fostering equal opportunities policy, reducing vertical and horizontal gender segregation, promoting gender mainstreaming in studies, and implementing measures to prevent discrimination, mobbing and sexual harassment.

According to prof. dr. Natalia Mažeikienė, Senior researcher at the V. Kavolis Institute for Transdisciplinary Studies and Professor at the Social Work Department, the implementation of equal opportunities and gender equality is a cultural phenomenon, whereas change is a time-consuming and demanding process.

„Changing organisational culture is based on changing behavioural norms, values and cultural attitudes. Therefore, institutional change requires a strong focus on educating staff (both academic and non-academic), promoting cultural attitudinal change through awareness-raising and the development of generic competences in the field of gender equality and equal opportunities”, says prof. Mažeikienė.

These changes will be achieved not only through the development and implementation of competence development programmes, but also through the development and implementation of strategic documents and guidelines; conduction of organisational research; the organisation of seminars, conferences, forums and other experience-sharing events; the implementation and coordination of internal and external communication on gender equality issues; the development of national partnerships.

The project will also include a series of training sessions on inclusive language and communication, inclusive conferences and scientific events, and the promotion of gender equality and equal opportunities in science policy and research team building. The LUMA project will develop a new Gender Equality Plan 2026-2030 and implement the measures of the existing VMU Gender Equality Plan 2021-2025.

The project “Developing Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Measures at Vytautas Magnus University (LUMA)” (10-040-T-0028) is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (Acceleration of the “European Horizon” Programme). The project is coordinated and implemented by Laura Lapinskė, VMU Equal Opportunities Coordinator and lecturer at the Department of Social Work (laura.lapinske[eta]vdu.lt).