On 6 February 2026, the Gender Equality in the EU webinar took place. The event was organised within the HemaFAIR project in collaboration with HELIOS Cost Action.

The webinar was delivered by Annalisa Landi, researcher at Fondazione Gianni Benzi and Ethics, Gender Equality & Diversity Coordinator at HELIOS.

In her presentation, Annalisa outlined the main requirements of the European framework aiming to promote gender equality in the EU, clarifying the fundamental definitions of sex and gender, the concepts of discrimination and multiple discrimination, and the value of an intersectional approach to understanding inequalities. The presentation also illustrated EU data on gender equality in research and innovation, highlighting persisting critical issues, particularly in decision-making roles, and explored the role and the impact of Gender Equality Plans as key tools for organisational change, now mandatory to access Horizon Europe funding.

The webinar reaffirmed that gender equality represents not only a principle of fairness, but also a strategic factor in improving the quality, impact and sustainability of research.

A recording of the event is available on the HELIOS YouTube channel.