Kick off conference of the UNESCO chair in education, gender equality and climate action

Chairholder: Ersilia Francesca
Co-Chairholder: Valeria Saggiomo

Focusing on North and Sub-Saharan Africa, this conference will gather a number of remarkable scholars, policy makers and international cooperation experts who will discuss how climate actors in the region, especially women, tackle the compound effects of climate change, gender inequalities, deepening socio-economic crisis, as well as conflicts and political instability.

The contributions by the Unesco Chair’s partners participating in the conference will address the socio-economic impact of climate change in their respective countries. The conference will explore how people in Africa experience climate-related threats, examining the discourses and narratives surrounding this issue. It will also identify bottom-up initiatives aimed at improving environmental knowledge and mitigating the effects of climate change.

This kick off conference marks the beginning of the Unesco Chair commitment to the following objectives:

• Promote research on the social impact of climate change and on the indigenous knowledge and practices for adaptation and resilience to climate change in the countries involved in the project.
• Support the involvement of women at all levels in climate change initiatives through training, exchange of best practices and networking.
• Strengthen the capacity of international cooperation to mainstream gender equality and diversity in climate action.
• Promote change in gender equality by tackling prejudices, myths and gender stereotypes.
• Contribute to strengthening the gender dimension in key national and international analytical tools, databases and measurement frameworks for climate action.
• Explore the contribution of new technologies to gender and climate change policy-making.

These objectives will be promoted through joint research initiatives, mobility of researchers, training, knowledge sharing, joint publications.

Conference organizers: 

• Ersilia Francesca efrancesca@unior.it
• Valeria Saggiomo vsaggiomo@unior.it

Co-organizer: 

• Federica Bucci f.bucci@unior.it