UOC receives EU Award for Gender Equality Champions from European Commission

The OpenEU coordinator is recognised by the European Commission for its leadership in gender equality

The European Commission has presented the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) with the EU Award for Gender Equality Champions, a prize of excellence given to universities and research organizations with outstanding results in the implementation of gender equality policies. The UOC received the award in the Sustainable Gender Equality Champions category, which acknowledges institutions with a robust and sustained track record and a high level of implementation of their Gender Equality Plan. Àngels Fitó, UOC Rector and OpenEU President, received the award in Brussels on Tuesday 3 February, at an event organized by the European Commission.

The award is part of the Horizon Europe programme, and seeks to highlight and raise the profile of institutions that act as benchmarks in organizational transformation, by creating more inclusive and diverse academic and research environments which are free of gender bias.

Accepting this award on behalf of the UOC is not only an honour, but also a shared responsibility. It belongs to our entire community, and it reaffirms our long-standing commitment to gender equality as a structural cornerstone of academic excellence and institutional transformation”, said Fitó.

The award is recognition for the UOC's Gender Equality Plan 2023-2025 and its implementation at all levels of the institution. The Plan addressed gender equality in structural terms, focusing on the workplace and the university's key responsibilities: teaching and learning, research and innovation, knowledge transfer and communication.

This leadership goes beyond the institutional level and is closely linked to UOC’s commitment to European cooperation, university alliances and active participation in international initiatives. As coordinator of OpenEU, the European alliance of online universities, UOC plays a key role in translating its experience in gender equality into shared frameworks at alliance level. OpenEU works to build a common European Higher Education space grounded in shared values such as equality, inclusion, diversity and social cohesion.

Within this context, UOC has led the development of the Inclusive Gender Equality Plan (IGEP) for OpenEU, transferring its institutional expertise to the European arena and supporting the harmonisation of equality policies across universities in different countries. This contribution strengthens OpenEU’s collective capacity to foster more inclusive, bias-free learning and working environments across Europe.

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