EQUALIST EUROPE

Project partner schools developed tools and conducted studies to make their schools sensitive to gender equality, transformed gender equality into a corporate culture, changing the whole atmosphere of the school, reduced problems such early school leaving, peer bullying caused by gender inequality. We ensured that school teachers and students' families received gender equality training. We focused on students, who are determinants of Europe's future, equally regardless of gender, allowing them to demonstrate their potential without any hindrance and ensuring equal opportunities in all fields. University in Štip conducted scientific research on gender equality in European schools and expanded the European dimension of academic studies and trainings on gender equality. All project partners collaborated to engage with the EU gender equality policies and strategies, enhanced their applicability and functionality, and addressed the specific needs of the project partners related to the project's focus. We demonstrated to European youth that women and men are equal, have the freedom to choose their life paths and reach their full potential having equal opportunities to succeed, and ability equally lead our Europe society.

Gender equality instructor training was provided in C1 and C2 to participating teachers. Trained teachers then trained other teachers in their schools. Teachers who participated in the training cooperated in transnational project activities (C3-C4) and formed a Gender Equality Sensitive European School Guide (IO1). Gender equality became a corporate culture at partner schools. According to the strategies, teacher-administrator attitudes, the removal of sexism from textbooks, pro-equality activities, parent education, and other practices and measures created a school atmosphere where students were treated equally regardless of gender, could unleash their potential without any hindrance, and had equal opportunities in all areas. Consequently, problems related to gender inequality in partner schools, such as early school dropout and peer bullying, were reduced. University in Štip had the opportunity to conduct scientific research and analysis and to present data on the reflections of the gender equality strategies applied simultaneously in European schools on school culture and school members, assessing the consistency between the project activities and the realization of our goals.

The European School Guidelines Sensitive to Gender Equality and the European Gender Equality Portal, which were outputs of our project idea, were shaped by the cooperation of all partners in LTTA. Our project outputs met the needs of the institutions involved in our project regarding gender equality and supported the attainability of our project goals. Our project goal aligned with the EU's 2020-2025 gender equality goals, as we explained in the relevant section. Therefore, LTTAs enabled us to achieve our project goals and provided added value in the European dimension with the intellectual outputs created in LTTAs. In C1 and C2, teacher training on gender equality was given to the teachers of partner schools. Our goal of providing professional development for participating teachers was realized, and it was ensured that trained teachers provided training to teachers in their own schools. Our goal of increasing the number of teachers who received gender equality training in partner schools by 80-90% was achieved. The university that provided gender education to participating teachers in C1 and C2 prepared a "training package." This training package was shared on the internet indefinitely to contribute to the professional awareness of gender equality among many European teachers. Gender Equality Sensitive European School Guidelines were prepared in C3 and C4. The guide served our goals of adopting gender equality as a corporate culture in partner schools and ensuring continuity with specific strategies related to our project. Additionally, every school in Europe was able to access the guide free of charge and indefinitely, implementing the strategies in the guide. The contents of the European Gender Equality Portal, whose digital technical infrastructure was formed by the NGO partner, were prepared by participating teachers in C5.

We learned about Gender Equality Sensitive Educational Environments and Processes Standards, and Gender Equality Sensitive School Management Standards, and applied these standards in the partners' own schools. Schools and their teachers became aware of and joined the portal. Through the portal, schools became visible at the European level, allowing them to communicate and interact with many European organizations and teachers on the topic of gender equality. They accessed good practices, exemplary projects regarding gender equality, and established partnerships for potential studies and projects. After meeting the necessary conditions in their schools, they received the European School Sensitive to Gender Equality label. They also downloaded and reproduced the Gender Equality Sensitive European School Guide from the platform. Their motivation to participate in Erasmus+ projects and create new projects increased. In accordance with the Standards of Gender Equality Sensitive Educational Environments and Processes, through our project, school textbooks were screened within the framework of gender equality, and partner schools made suggestions to national authorities regarding the necessary regulations. With these recommendations taken into account, contributions were made to the preparation of school textbooks and course contents throughout the country, considering gender equality in the next process. At the international conference held in our project, many universities, NGOs, and school projects from Europe were informed. The institutions and organizations participating in the conference joined the European Gender Equality Portal, expanding the network on gender equality throughout Europe with our project. The University of Macedonia prepared a document containing the scientific research results and data obtained in the background of our project and shared it on academic platforms where European universities are located. This scientific study by the University of Macedonia served as a reference for future projects of European universities. Our project outputs and the results obtained contributed to the implementation of EU gender equality policies and strategies. The link to the European Gender Equality Portal: https://eu-test.equalisteurope.com/