Minister Simona Kustec: “The Ljubljana Declaration on Gender Equality in Research and Innovation is one of the achievements of Slovenian presidency. It highlights the need to be proactive in mainstreaming gender equality across research and innovation, to ensure a just twin transition, triggering new inclusive ways of life for all. The Ljubljana Declaration will bear fruit in the new, revitalised European Research Area (ERA) as an ERA Policy Agenda Action on promoting gender equality and fostering inclusiveness, delivered over the next 3 years.”

37 parties, including Member States, the Commission, Associated Countries, Accession Countries and third countries, have endorsed the Declaration:

The Republic of Albania, The Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Czech Republic,  the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Estonia, the European Commission, the Republic of Finland, the French Republic, Georgia, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, Iceland, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Kosovo, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Malta, Montenegro, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of North Macedonia, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland (Statement)*, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Serbia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Slovenia, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Swiss Confederation.

Additionally, three countries expressed general support for the principles of the Declaration: the Commonwealth of Australia, the Republic of Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Ljubljana Declaration refers to shared European values and calls on Member States and other countries to fully acknowledge gender mainstreaming as a horizontal principle and jointly work on improvement in six priority areas of gender equality:

• Ensure fair, open, inclusive and gender equal career paths in research, and consider intersectional perspectives on gender inequalities;
• Facilitate mutual learning opportunities through form-follows-function robust governance;
• Employ existing and newly developed tools, such as Gender Equality Plans, to facilitate systemic institutional change and remove institutional barriers;
• Address and counteract gender-based violence;
• Support active monitoring and evaluation to ensure continuous improvement; and
• Leverage synergies to enhance gender equality achievements within the European Research Area, but also within complementary fields such as the European Higher Education Area, Cohesion policy funds, innovation ecosystems, as well as in international cooperation.

The Declaration was drafted ”bottom up”, with the support of the current and upcoming Trio Presidencies European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC) Standing Working Group on Gender in Research and Innovation (SWG GRI) representatives.

* The Republic of Poland provided the following statement alongside their endorsement.