The fifth round of EPF Local Meetings was focused on women and ecologism. In four sessions, held in Corte, Berlin, Sassari, and Madrid, participants have joined the conversation on this topic.
ITKAM organized the event at the WeiberWirtschaft eG headquarters in Berlin (Europe’s largest women’s cooperative and owner of a women’s start-up and entrepreneurship centre). The aim of the event was to draw attention to the links between climate change and the role of women to foster a fairer and more sustainable future for all.
CNS organized the meeting “Women and climate change” at the Canopoleno Sassari National Boarding School. The event was opened by the Director of Confcommercio – Mr. Alberto Marrone, with a brief introduction to the EPF project presenting data at European level on the impact between climate change and gender inequality. Then, Dr. Laura Careddu – Councilor for Policies, Social Cohesion Services and Equal Opportunities of the Municipality of Sassari, spoke about “Climate crisis and gender issues”, followed by Dr. Antonella Derriu, Head of the Environmental Education Center of the Porto Conte Park (CEAS) and of the Capo Caccia Isola Piana AMP, addressing the topic “The contribution of women in environmental education” and Manuela Pisanu, a local entrepreneur, with her speech “Women and sustainable business” who raised awareness among young people and others about the effects of climate change.
The Spanish session organized by SSF and CCIS in Leganés (Madrid), at the Democratic School CEMU-Ciudad Escuela Muchachos was called “Mission Save the Planet: Tackling Climate Change with a Gender Perspective”. An interactive Escape Room was created to explore climate change through the lens of gender equality. This engaging experience was made possible in collaboration with Iroko, a Spanish organization specializing in sustainable forest development with extensive experience in environmental awareness programs for young people. Held across four sessions with different student groups aged 12-15, the activity welcomed a diverse range of participants, including youth from various cultural backgrounds, some under protective measures, and others from under-resourced communities. Additionally, each participant received an informational leaflet that detailed the activity of EPF and introduced the CALL4CREATORS initiative, encouraging them to contribute content related to the event’s theme, as well as other topics, including human rights and gender equality, which emerged as significant areas of interest during post-activity discussions.
The French sessions organized by the University of Corsica took place in two days, with the screening of two documentaries from the series “Sœurs de terre” (broadcast on the Arte channel) to an audience of students. During the first session, the episode “Poland: the seeds of sharing” was screened while the second session featured the episode “Inde, les gardiennes de l’eau”. These two episodes were chosen because they present very different facets of ecofeminism and raise awareness of the fact that these themes concern women the world over. In both cases, an exchange with the participants followed. The first step was to collect the emotions directly linked to the images in the documentaries, which were sometimes difficult in terms of women’s living conditions. Then, the students asked questions raised more broadly by the theme of ecofeminism. These questions led the students to question the structure of our societies from a gender perspective, and it was necessary to bring them other tools of understanding, such as the concept of patriarchal organization.
