Author: Digital Leader

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DLI Leads Belgian Youth Delegation to Barcelona

On 21-27 June 2026, as part of the E.C.H.O. project, the Digital Leadership Institute will lead a delegation of young people from Belgium to participate in a youth exchange in Barcelona, Spain, on the topic of “Breaking Barriers: Inclusion & Civic Engagement for Migrant Youth.”

Hosted by E.C.H.O. project partner Casa Eslava, the Barcelona youth exchange offers a unique opportunity for Belgian delegates to collaborate with representatives of partnering youth organizations from across Europe in a series of informative workshops hosted throughout the week. The workshops aim to encourage change-making attitudes among youth in order to strengthen their civic engagement in policies important to Europe’s young people.

Delegates will be given the opportunity to explore barriers that limit inclusivity, and develop the necessary multicultural tools to foster understanding and to empower those who come from migrant and refugee backgrounds. The exchange will also provide delegates a foundation for better understanding democracy in order to improve their ability to impact future EU policy.  

The Barcelona youth exchange is the second in a series of nine exchanges to be organized within the E.C.H.O. project whose mission is amplifying youth voices for a stronger Europe. The Erasmus+ European Commission-funded project promotes youth mobilty actions, trainings, fairs, and youth-led activities, and supports a pan-European platform for youth engagement. Through these undertakings, the project helps young people in Europe better understand and apply the EU Youth Strategy and the 11 European Youth Goals in real-life contexts.

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UNESCO GENSTEMED Project Showcase Event

On 6 February 2025 in Bucharest, the International School Hermann Oberth (ISHO – Romania), in partnership with the Digital Leadership Institute (DLI – Belgium) and the Association of Women in Engineering, Science and Technology (AFIST – Romania), hosted the final event of the UNESCO Gender and STEM Education in Romania (“GENSTEMED”) project, part of the UNESCO program Revitalizing STEM Education to Equip Future Generations with STEM Competency (*science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

In-person and online participants of the event enjoyed interventions by Mr. Bogdan Cristescu, State Secretary of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, Ms. Ligia Deca, Secretary General of the Romanian National Commission for UNESCO, Ms. Magdalena Landry, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Southeast Europe, and Amb. Simona-Mirela Miculescu, President of the UNESCO General Conference. Attendees were treated to a high-level debate featuring global thought leaders, and moderated by Ms. Corina Negrea, Romanian Science Journalist. Key findings of the project’s research activities, capturing Romanian success stories in promoting gender equity in STEM fields, were also shared by project partner AFIST, while DLI and key project stakeholders led several workshops towards young people that showcased best practices in gender inclusion in STEM.

Key project and event outcomes may be found below:

  • Video Presentation of the Final GENSTEMED Showcase Event (including English subtitles) – forthcoming.
  • GENSTEMED Research Outcomes Presentation – featuring Romanian success stories in promoting gender equity in STEM fields.
  • GENSTEMED Emerging Technology Workshop Train-the-Trainer Toolkit – embodying best practices for promoting digital equity through digital skills trainings toward young people
  • Interim Report of the GENSTEMED Project – including Research Activities carried out through the midway point of the project.
  • Final Report of the GENSTEMED Project – including Recommendations and a Way Forward based on project findings and outcomes.

If you would like to learn more about the GENSTEMED project, please contact us.

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NEW PUBLICATION: Study report on How Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystems Incorporate a Gender Lens

Social entrepreneurship has been under scrutiny for several years now. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, there is less of a gender gap in social entrepreneurship : “of the world’s social entrepreneurs, an estimated 55% are male and 45% are female – a gender gap that is less pronounced than in commercial entrepreneurship”. 

Nevertheless, many reports have highlighted the need for a better integration of women and gender minorities in the social economy, especially as social entrepreneurs. 

This initial study of the Coop4Equality project, co-developed by DLI, collected data about gender mainstreaming in the European social entrepreneurship ecosystem to better understand stakeholders’ practices regarding gender equality and inclusivity and aims to answer the following questions:

  • How do the social entrepreneurship ecosystems mainstream gender-lens?
  • Is the social entrepreneurship ecosystem adapted to women entrepreneurs? 
  • Does it take their needs into account?
  • Is there a good understanding of gender equality within this ecosystem? 

Read the full report here. 

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DLI Lands UNESCO STEM and Gender Project

2 women using VR headsets to build a machine

On 5 July, UNESCO announced the first five recipients of its program on Revitalizing STEM Education to Equip Next Generations with STEM* Competency (*Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Among awardees, the Brussels-based Digital Leadership Institute, a pioneer in promoting digital equity for girls and women, was tapped to lead a joint Romanian and Belgian project on “Gender and STEM Education in Romania” (GenSTEMed) with the International School Hermann Oberth and Association for Women in Engineering, Science and Technology.

The Revitalizing STEM Education Program is part of a Series of STEM Education Actions led by UNESCO

The Revitalizing STEM program builds on groundbreaking work in this field led by UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, including support for a regional STEM Alliance, a diverse group of stakeholders in STEM and Education from across Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean. For the past three years, Cheryl Miller, DLI Director, has contributed to the STEM Alliance and authored a report for UNESCO on Digital and Gender Policies in Southeast Europe which also helped inform the present action (see YouTube video here).

Cheryl Miller, DLI Director, authored “Gender and Digital Policies” Report for the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe

The GenSTEMed project aims to increase knowledge of factors influencing the decisions girls and women make about STEM studies and careers, an area in which Romania enjoys global leadership. The project’s Research Activities begin with stakeholder surveys and interviews starting in September 2024, outcomes of which will be shared at a hybrid event in Bucharest in February 2025. The event will also host practitioner discussions, inspiring role model talks, and Educational Activities, latter including hands-on emerging technology workshops targeting students and practitioners and aiming to showcase practices that increase participation of girls and women in STEM.

STEM Alliance
STEM Alliance Conference, April 2023

To learn more about the Gender and STEM Education in Romania project, please follow the UNESCO program website or contact us.

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Lights on Europe and Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck

by Lucia Klestincova – Originally posted on LinkedIn

Patriarchy is a real thing. The more you have to give to society, the harder it is. How to lessen the suffering? Check out this unique conversation with a founder of the Digital Leadership Institute, mother of four, policy influencer with decades of experience from Brussels to Washington, and my inspiration – Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, MBA

📣 How to deal with the overwhelm of women empowerment not really advancing? 
🔦 Why did she choose her focus on women in democracy as a national security issue?
📡 How to get more women into cybersecurity, and once that’s done, how to inspire them to choose policy careers rather than much better paying tech business? 
🇷🇺 The transatlantic differences in using women empowerment in AI as a national security strategy and how Russia managed to get it right?
🦋 Trap of ageism & sexism in the current paradigm forgetting native leadership talents of women?

Link to Video:

Where?
😎 #LuciaKlestincova channel on #youtube
🎧 Lights on Europe on your #podcast platforms and Spotify!