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 UN.I.RE. (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 will confront the gap between commitments and reality. Day 1 brings together a European audience to address implementation failures, institutional responsibility, and growing backlash. Day 2 focuses on the Italian context, examining concrete policies and practices. The conference is conceived as a working space: through expert-led critical debate and interactive groups, participants are expected to actively contribute, share experiences, and challenge existing approaches. The aim is 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: to take part in person, anyone interested must submit a proposal via Google Form. Contributions received will feed directly into the conclusions of each day.
The detailed conference programme is available here. Participation in the conference requires prior registration through the Google Form available at the following link:
