Experts in transport and equality plans meet in Valencia with the aim of addressing gender perspective in mobility policies

The breakfast meeting, held on December 18th at ITENE, is part of the European TInnGO project, funded by the programme Horizon 2020. 

Six experts in transport and equality plans met on December 18th at a breakfast meeting held at the Packaging, Transport and Logistics Research Center (ITENE), to address gender perspective in mobility policies and the empowerment of women in the transport sector. 

The Breakfast Meeting was opened by Carmen Sánchez, deputy director of ITENE,  and different female representatives participated in the event, coming from the Cabinet of Vice-presidency and the Regional Ministry of Equality and Inclusive Policies, Transportation, Equality and Gender, the platform ‘Mujeres en Movimiento’ (in English, Women in Motion), the Technological Institute of Packaging, Transport and Logistics (ITENE), as well as the companies Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) and Talent Growth Management. 

The meeting, held at ITENE’s headquarters in Paterna Technology Park (Valencia), arises in the context of the European project TInnGO (2018-2021), financed by the programme Horizon 2020. Its objective is the promotion of women’s participation in the transport sector in the EU through the generation and collection of knowledge which will be made available in a new observatory. 

As expressed by Carmen Sánchez, it is expected that “proposals such as the TInnGO observatory, led in Spain by this research center, whose aim is to collect data and create good practices in the area of ​​transport, will contribute to achieving a more egalitarian society, both in and out of work.” The TInnGO project is made up of a consortium of 20 entities from 13 European countries, including institutions, companies and research centers across Europe that will promote advances and innovative solutions in their fields of action. 

Anna Perpinyà, advisor to the Cabinet of Vice-presidency and the Regional Ministry of Equality and Inclusive Policies, welcomed the creation of the observatory and stressed the need to act in order to achieve equity in senior positions. “Although we are aware that achieving gender equality in corporate management boards is a great challenge, the presence of women as decision makers is vital to incorporate our experiences and our vision into policies related to transport and mobility”, she said. 

Marta Serrano, founder of Mujeres en Movimiento, highlighted the “great importance of a European observatory that promotes female presence in a sector which is still very masculinised, since the only possible way that exists to create a transport for everyone is knowing what each person wants and needs, and including these particular needs and demands in policies”. 

The Transport Innovation Gender Observatory (TInnGO) is conceived as a unique platform for politicians, academics, researchers and citizens involved in smart mobility, and includes a learning center, open mobility data and successful case studies collected. This all goes “beyond the traditional women perspective in order to focus on gender from a transversal perspective that establishes the needs of the entire population,” said Mireia Calvo, specialist of the Transport, Mobility and Logistics technology group at ITENE, who moderated the session. 

During the event, different innovative measures regarding equality in Spain were announced, as well as good practices to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities between women and men in employment and occupation. 

Moreover, equality plans carried out by companies in the transport and mobility sector were discussed, and different actions that are being implemented to promote equality in the work environment were also addressed. 

“It’s simply unacceptable that 50% of the talent is being left out of the work environment, and in order to prevent this from happening, we still have to work on breaking the existing stereotypes that generate limiting labels by creating female models and taking care of positive and inclusive language”, said María José Valero, CEO of Talent Growth Management. In this sense, the current head of Labour Relations at FGV, Virginia Castillo, added that “from a gender point of view, diversity greatly enriches any company; for this reason, it should always be welcomed and protected.”