GIRLPOWER: Interactive Stories of Women who Formed Our Lives
Thematic area of the project: Empowering girls through women’s achievements and cultural education/School education
Project leader: 6water Club – Hungary
Project partners: EDUcentrum – Czech Republic, Fundacja Rozwoju Demokracji Lokalnej – Poland, FutuReg – Slovakia, PRIZMA – Slovenia, Centre for Women’s Studies – Croatia
Timeframe: 1. 1. 2024 – 31. 12. 2025
Focus of the project: The focus of Project Girlpower is to empower and motivate girls aged 10-14 across Europe by showcasing the stories of successful women in various fields. The project aims to:
- Reduce Gender Discrimination: Promote gender equality and shift public thinking towards a healthier attitude regarding gender roles.
- Provide Positive Role Models: Feature stories of women who have achieved significant success to inspire young girls and boys.
- Educational Enhancement: Complement school subjects with cultural history and additional knowledge, especially focusing on the achievements and status of women.
- Support Disadvantaged Groups: Include students with disabilities and learning difficulties, ensuring inclusivity through features like closed captioning.
- Promote Social Inclusion: Encourage girls to participate in public life, take social responsibility and pursue their career goals despite adversities.
The project aims to achieve these goals through the development and dissemination of a mobile application that provides educational and motivational content.
Target group:
- Primary Target: Girls aged 10-14. The project aims to inspire and motivate this age group by providing positive role models and supporting their career choices and self-esteem during the transition to secondary education.
- Secondary Targets:
- Boys aged 10-14: While the primary focus is on girls, the content is also useful for boys to understand and respect the achievements of women.
- Students with disabilities and learning difficulties: The app includes features like closed captioning to support these students.
- Teachers: To provide them with additional educational resources that complement the school curriculum.
- Parents: To encourage them to support their children’s ambitions and provide opportunities for talent development.
Main project assumptions:
- Promotion of Gender Equality: The project seeks to address the relatively low proportion of women in leadership positions across various fields such as economics, science, politics, arts and sports. Despite legal frameworks ensuring equality, gender stereotypes and the ‘glass ceiling’ continue to hinder women’s progress. The project aims to reduce such thinking among young people by showcasing the achievements of women, thereby promoting gender equality and challenging outdated views.
- Inspiration and Role Models: By presenting the stories of remarkable women who have made significant contributions in various fields, the project aims to inspire young girls (and boys) to recognize their own potential. These role models provide motivation for young people to pursue their goals and overcome societal barriers.
- Educational Enhancement: The project complements traditional school curricula by providing additional cultural history content focused on women’s achievements. This enhances students’ understanding of history and the role of women in shaping it, which is often underrepresented in standard educational materials.
- Digital Inclusion: The mobile app format is chosen to fit the information consumption habits of the target age group (10-14 years). The app’s design ensures accessibility for students with disabilities and learning difficulties, promoting digital inclusion and making the educational content widely available.
- Combating Social Inequality: The project addresses broader social inequalities by promoting stories of women who have succeeded despite societal barriers. This approach aims to empower young girls, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, by showing that they too can achieve great things. This is in line with the European Union’s priorities of combating discrimination and promoting inclusion and diversity.
- Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: The project is built on a partnership of organizations from different countries, each bringing expertise in education and social integration. This collaborative approach allows for the sharing of best practices and methodologies, enhancing the quality and impact of the project. The transnational nature of the project also helps in understanding and addressing gender equality issues from a broader perspective.
By addressing these areas, the Project Girlpower aims to create a significant impact on young people’s attitudes towards gender equality and provide them with the tools and inspiration to pursue their ambitions regardless of gender-based barriers.
Main project activities:
- Partners will develop content featuring 30 women from history, cultural history, science and sports from partner countries. The content will be translated into English and all national languages of the project partners. Illustrations and animations will be created to accompany the text.
- A mobile app will be developed to present the stories of these women in an interactive format. The app will include features like a timeline of each woman’s life, short teasers, detailed descriptions and interactive elements such as quizzes and games.
Project results:
Mobile application will feature detailed profiles of 30 remarkable women from history, cultural history, science and sports, including data, information, texts and rich illustrations. Available in English and the national languages of the partner countries, the app will offer curated educational content, designed to complement school curricula and provide additional knowledge on cultural history and women’s contributions. It will include interactive features like quizzes and knowledge tests to engage the target audience of children aged 10-14, making learning more engaging and fun. The app will also be designed with accessibility in mind, including features like closed captioning for the hearing impaired and an easy-to-use interface for users with learning difficulties, ensuring it is inclusive and usable by all students
Contracting authority: Tempus Public Foundation (TPF)– National Agency of the Erasmus+ Program in Hungary.