The European Union supports the promotion of equality in many ways. The Union has, for example, a wide range of legislation promoting equal treatment, gender considerations are mainstreamed across different policy sectors, and women’s position is safeguarded through various specific measures. The EU has its own Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025. The strategy’s goal is a Union where every individual is free to live as they choose, with equal opportunities to thrive. From a local-level perspective, however, the strategy lacked any mention of cities and the work done within them, as the Committee of the Regions points out in its statement.
Concretely, other EU tools for advancing equality work include the European Pact for Gender Equality, the Women’s Charter, and the European Institute for Gender Equality. In addition, the Union allocates financial support to equality-promoting projects, for example through the European Social Fund+, the European Regional Development Fund, InvestEU and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. With the help of this funding, the aim is to promote women’s participation in the labour market and the reconciliation of work and private life, as well as, for instance, to reduce the unbalanced representation of girls and boys in certain fields of education. In addition, the Horizon 2020 funding programme includes a separate Gender Action programme.
Research has also been carried out at Union level on how cities can advance the realisation of equality. URBACT is a European territorial cooperation programme. The programme’s goal is to promote sustainable urban development in European cities. The programme’s report on cities promoting gender equality presents a set of measures that demonstrate gender-sensitive practices and initiatives to city authorities.
In addition to various studies and guidance papers, organisations such as Eurocities, of which the City of Tampere is also a member, carry out advocacy work related to promoting equality. Eurocities has, for example, held discussions with decision-makers about how the coronavirus affects women. Eurocities also works to raise the visibility of the European Pillar of Social Rights, particularly from the perspective of cities. Eurocities has collected commitments to advancing the pillars of social rights. Helsinki and Turku are already involved from Finland — now might be the time for Tampere to sign the commitment as well.
The City of Tampere has declared its ambition to be the capital of equality. Around this goal, the city has built, for example, the Tampere: Equally Yours initiative, which has also been selected as part of its bid for European Capital of Culture 2026. The city has advanced this goal, for instance, through grant calls. In addition, the city practises participatory budgeting, has established the Tampere Junior programme to reduce well-being gaps among children and young people, promotes equality among children and young people through the Taidekaari arts education programme, and supports, for example, accessible art and culture.
How has EU-level support been concretely utilised in the city? How does Tampere promote equality in an EU context? The City of Tampere is currently involved, among other things, in Eurocities’ CONNECTION – CONNEcting Cities Towards Integration actiON project, which aims to promote the implementation of integration work. Another concrete example, albeit more of an international-level approach in general, is the awarding of the Gender Equality Prize. Tampere-based actors, such as the research group led by professor Johanna Kantola, have received two million euros in funding from the European Research Council for their research. The purpose of the research is to examine the policies of the European Parliament’s political groups from a gender perspective.
Cities must continue to be pioneers driving the promotion of equality forward. This future-oriented way of working is possible not only through cities’ own resourcing but also with the help of EU support. Especially in difficult societal situations, such as in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, it is of paramount importance to ensure that the needs of different groups and the measures targeted at them actually meet. Let’s make sure that cities, Tampere included, don’t leave this opportunity unused, and instead boldly continue the work towards a more equal tomorrow!
Text: Neea Loimuvirta
The author is JEF Tampere’s second Vice President and EU affairs officer. The author studies administrative sciences, enjoying theories of bureaucracy especially in the company of good European wines.