Learnings from Ungheni with Impact Potential
Today, it is time to look back on one of our highlights from last year. Between 16-18 October 2024 we held our 7th interregional project meeting, this time organized by our new DEBUTING partner, Ungheni City Hall, Moldova, in their lovely city.
Versatile Programme with a lot to Learn
On the first morning of the meeting, we were warmly welcomed by the Mayor of Ungheni City, Vitalie Vrabie. In his speech, Mr. Vrabie highlighted the importance of SMEs for economic growth and how gender equality increases the resilience and efficiency of these companies.
We also got the chance to familiarize ourselves with the clusters of the region as the President of the Regional Touristic Cluster, Antolie Cladicov, introduced the work of the touristic cluster - one of the 7 clusters of the region, all involved in the DEBUTING project.
One of the highlights was a presentation by Antolii Oprea, Officer of Gender Equality for UN Women Moldova, who took us on a deep dive into national and regional gender equality work, giving us a lot of ideas to reflect upon.
The first day did not pass by without discussing also some of the good practices from Ungheni City Hall. One of our hosts Oxana Ciobanu, Local Project Coordinator, presented the EVA project, a good practice focusing in building stronger communities and advancing gender equality. In addition, we learned about the Socio-Economic Strategy of Ungheni City as an interesting example of local development.
Afterwards, it was time for site visits as we got to know the Ungheni Free Economic Zone, a local enterprise producing carpets and an outdoor museum.
The next morning was dedicated for a recap of the good practices already collected within DEBUTING project to support our new partner to quickly integrate in the project’s activities. This was followed by an excellent workshop organised by DEBUTING partner ADR North-West from Romania, where we learned about positions of power, domination techniques, and brainstormed for solutions when dealing with suppressive behaviours in workplaces.
Focus group discussions on the topics of gender budgeting and gender value creation took place before our final field visit to a thriving enterprise in Mircesti village.
The last meeting day was dedicated to a steering committee meeting to discuss our future activities in the project.
Influence of the Visit still Visible Months Later
Even some months after the visit, the learnings from Moldova seem to be fresh on the minds of the people who participated. Just a week ago in a DEBUTING regional stakeholder group meeting in Lapland, Finland, one of the stakeholders, Timo Tapaninen from Lapland Entrepreneurship Association, went through some of his learnings from the trip, saying that they are still influencing his thinking:
"The trip gave insights on how much more we should do also in Finland regarding inclusion and gender equality. We lose a lot of money when we are not gender equal." Tapaninen said in the meeting.