What has really changed in European universities since the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention? This second pan-European conference - following the 2023 edition and organised by the Academic Network UNIRE (UNiversità In REte contro la violenza di genere) with OCEAN (Open Council of Europe Academic Networks - Council of Europe) - puts this question at the centre of a critical and timely debate.
Over two days, participants confronted the gap between commitments and reality. Day 1 brought together a European audience to address implementation failures, institutional responsibility, and growing backlash. Day 2 focused on the Italian context, examining concrete policies and practices. The conference was conceived as a working space: through expert-led critical debate and interactive groups, participants actively contributed, shared experiences, and challenged existing approaches. The aim was to move towards a concrete outcome, that is the development of a shared European Code of Conduct for universities, strengthening accountability and driving real structural change.
In designing the programme, the Scientific Committee chose to invite mainly speakers holding institutional or representative roles, believing that bringing these roles into dialogue was the necessary starting point for discussing accountability and implementation at both European and national level. To avoid this criterion becoming a form of exclusion, and to ensure transparency and the widest possible participation, the Committee complemented the speakers' programme with a series of open working groups. Contributions received will feed directly into the conclusions of the conference.
