LABEIN Tecnalia
LABEIN is a private, non-profit technological research & innovation centre, settled in Bilbao, Spain, with 50 years of experience in supporting enterprises and administration bodies in their technological and innovation needs. LABEIN support to their customers is carried out by means of RTD, Demonstration, Technology Transfer & Innovation projects, Technical Assistance, Knowledge Management Systems as well as Training and Dissemination activities.
LABEIN's fields of activities are Regional Development, Construction and Environment, Iron & Steel, Automotive and Energy. LABEIN has a total staff of 284 people with different background (technical, economical and social), 70% of them with high-qualified degrees and 10% doctors. About 33% of the researchers are women. Total turnover was 20,4 M Euro in 2004. More that 60% of the turnover comes from industry.
The construction and environmental unit of LABEIN deals with Nanotechnology for construction applications, new multifunctional and self-repairing materials, sustainable building, eco-design, cultural heritage and ICTs for construction processes.
LABEIN is working on the implementation of a Gender Issues Action Plan within the organisation. The Action Plan aims to determine the aspects that could be improved in order to promote equal opportunities. A diagnosis of the gender equality has been done to identify the strengths of the organisation and to design concrete and specific actions based on this diagnosis.
LABEIN is very active in performing projects in an international level, being involved in more than 40 European projects from the Sixth European Framework Programme for research and development (FP6) - leading 10 of them. It has been or is involved also in 40 European projects from FP5 - leading 12 of them. In relation with other programmes, LABEIN is involved in 28 ECSC-Steel projects, 1 EQUAL, 1 ASIA-URBS, 1 ASIA IT&C, 1 e-Content, 3 INTERREG III B Atlantic Area (leading one of them) and 3 INTERREG III C.
The Regional Development Unit of LABEIN contributes to sustainable regional development by means of building an innovative knowledge and information society within a global context. To reach this goal this Unit develops R&D capacity at local, regional, national and international level.
LABEIN is very committed to gender equality in Science and Technology especially through the Regional Development Unit. This Unit is a founding member of the European Platform of Women Scientist and is co-directing the study entitled "Monitoring progress toward gender equality in the FP6- Lot II", both Commissioned by the DG-Research of the European Commission. The Unit has also performed the projects WIBAT/ EMATEK under the European Commission-EQUAL Programme to empower women scientists and technologist and CAMARINES (European Commission-ASIA-URBS Programme) to build business management skills in small co-operative enterprises ruled by women in Camarines Sur.
Main projects on equal opportunities for women and men in the last three years:
Lot II - Monitoring Progress towards Gender Equality in the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). European Commission (February 2005 - October 2007)
It is a study commissioned by the European Commission to the Fundació CIREM and the Fundación LABEIN aimed at monitoring the progress towards gender equality in the Sixth Framework Programme covering the following five areas of activity of the programme Integration and Strengthening the European Research Area (2002- 2006): Priority 3 "Nano-technologies and nano-sciences, knowledge-based multifunctional materials, and new production processes and devices", Priority 4 "Aeronautics and space", Sub-Priority 6.1 "Sustainable energy systems", Sub-Priority 6.2 "Sustainable surface transport" and EURATOM excluding activities implemented by the Joint Research Centre.
The overall aim of this study is to monitor progress towards gender equality in these thematic priorities. The study examines the participation of women and the integration of the gender dimension in the research content, with a view of evaluating the success of current gender mainstreaming strategies and making recommendations for future action. The conclusions and recommendations obtained in this study will be a useful tool for policy makers to implement the gender dimension in the Seventh Framework Programme.
European Platform of Women Scientist. European Commission-DG Research- Science and Society (2005-2007)
LABEIN is a founding member of the European Platform of Women Scientist (EPWS). The EPWS will give European women scientists a voice in the research policy debate. The aim is to promote the understanding of the gender issue in science. This will be a democratic structure of existing networks of women scientists. It will develop activities designed to help women scientists to share experiences and network more efficiently at European level and to involve them more actively in research policy developments.
WIBAT (EQUAL) Promotion of Women in Innovation Management and Applied Technology. European Commission - EQUAL Programme (2002-2005)
The common objective for this project is to reduce, and possibly eliminate, gender inequality, horizontal and vertical segregation of women in the employment market, with special concern for the business sector.
The project EMATEK (2002-2005) was implemented in Spain at regional level (Basque country- provinces of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa). This project includes the following actions: to determine the causes that give rise to the gap in opportunities between men and women within the technological and industrial sphere, to propose a series of measures that addresses the above mentioned causes and to develop specific vocational training schemes in management and in innovative technological areas.
CAMARINES (ASIA-URBS): "Building business management skills in small co-operative enterprises ruled by Women in Camarines Sur" (PHL-3-18). European Commission. EuropeAid, Cooperation Office. April 2002-May 2005.
CAMARINES project consisted on developing a methodology for improving business management skills based on self-training materials adapted to small Co-operatives ruled by women in Camarines Sur.
The consortium consisted of: The Training and Employment Department of Diputacion Foral de Bizkaia (Regional Government of the Bizkaia Province). LABEIN (Spain). Kilkis Prefecture (Greece). Vocational Training Centre Epimorfotiki Kilkis Ltd (Greece). Camarines Sur Government (Philippines). AWCF. Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (Philippines).
