Coinciding with the celebration of International Women's Day, Barcelona will be the setting for the second edition of Barcelona Woman Acceleration Week (BWAW), a digital event whose objective is to accelerate and boost gender equality to contribute to the full participation and equal opportunities for women in the industrial sector at a local and global level.
Organized by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB) and the Incyde Foundation of the Spanish Chambers of Commerce, the meeting will feature ten debates that will address some of the main barriers women face in the workplace and the path to follow to achieve gender equality in the business and industrial sector and, especially, in the new economy.
International Women's Day, Tuesday, March 8, will mark the start of BWAW which, over three days, will be a meeting point for professionals from all fields, who will share their knowledge to accelerate gender equality. This second edition will bring together 50 professionals who will serve as speakers in 12 sessions, to address topics of different nature and various formats. The purpose is to make women visible within the different sectors of the economy.
The meeting aims to contribute to progress in the full participation and equal opportunities for women in the industrial sectorThe content is aimed at a heterogeneous audience to achieve real transformation and advance towards a future industry that is expected to be cleaner, much more technological, and with a greater female presence. For wider dissemination, the event can be followed virtually with the live broadcast of all content, from the RTVE Catalunya studios during the first two days, and from the RTVE facilities in Madrid, on its last day.
The special delegate of the State in the CZFB, Pere Navarro, highlights "the great added value of BWAW, a meeting led by and aimed at both women and men, because we are convinced that change must come from working together".
Among the speakers will be María Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization (WHO); José Luis Bonet, President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and the Incyde Foundation; and Natalia Bayona, Director of the Innovation, Education and Investments department of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The voices of Igone Bartumeu, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations for the East Area at Coca-Cola; and Maria Eugenia Gay, Government Delegate in Catalonia, will also be heard.
For her part, Blanca Sorigué, General Director of the CZFB, participant and promoter of the event, considers "the existence of events with the approach of BWAW essential, in which the problems to achieve this parity from society as a whole are addressed".
Also noteworthy is the presence of Josep Maria Martorell, associate director of BSC-CNS; Iñaki Ortega Cachón, professor at UNIR; Sara Berbel, municipal manager of the Barcelona City Council; Berta Canals i Renau, director of the SORLI Private Foundation; and Laura Pérez Castaño, Deputy Mayor for Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminisms and LGTBI of the Barcelona City Council.
The program has been distributed over three days. On the first day, after the inauguration ceremony, age will be analyzed as one of the factors that hinder the development of women in the workplace. The importance of educational projects with gender equality to continue advancing towards real parity not only at work but also socially will also be addressed. And the day will end with a debate to recognize what is The situation of women beyond the West.
On the second day of the event, four sessions will be held. In the first of them, advertising experts will present the progress in gender equality within the sector. Next, there will be a debate about how the fourth industrial revolution can favor the incorporation of female talent in a field that has been traditionally masculine and what is the natural process for this to happen. Under the BEntrepreneur axis, how Female Entrepreneurship is will be analyzed, highlighting great projects and brands that have been conceived and led by women. Finally, the second day will conclude with the Women and Mass Consumption space.
On the last day of BWAW 2022, sessions will take place under the BSTEM, BConciliation, and BEnergy axes. In the first of them, conclusions will be sought regarding how to close the gender gap in STEM professions. On the other hand, in the BConciliation panel, experts will talk about how conciliation affects inequality in the workplace and, finally, the BEnergy space will highlight the presence of women in the senior management of companies in the energy sector.
The president of the Incyde Foundation of the Chambers of Commerce, José Luis Bonet, emphasizes that "it is necessary to continue with the very important work of awareness and sensitization that the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona already started in 2021, and to which we join again in this new edition. Although the data shows that the presence of women in management positions is increasing, it is essential to continue working to achieve effective and real equality as soon as possible. Initiatives like this will undoubtedly help to achieve it."