Ethics and gender inclusion
We care about ethics and gender inclusion!
Gender inclusion can be an important factor in the success or otherwise of innovation projects and networks. We reflect on our own practices to make sure we provide an inclusive and safe environment with equal opportunity for all, which helps us to become aware of gender issues in the projects and networks we work with. It goes without saying that we take ethics into consideration in everything we do.
ETHICAL ISSUES
Research ethics are particularly important for research involving people and personal data, and we do handle personal and confidential data within the Liaison project. This means we have a legal and moral obligation to take care of that data. To be certain that we protect it properly, we have formed a Data and Ethics Committee who oversee decisions about data handling to make sure that we comply with relevant rules and guidelines.
In particular, we follow the European General Data Protection Regulations as well as following national ethics requirements. Informed consent is gained before data are collected, and all data are stored securely and are anonymized as soon as possible. Our aim is to work with our collaborators, so we owe it to them to make sure their data are safe and that they are never quoted out of context.
For further information, please contact the Data and Ethics Committee: LIAISON2020 (at) hnee.de
GENDER INCLUSION ISSUES
It is important to us in LIAISON that gender issues are mainstreamed, rather than treated as incidental thoughts. Innovation projects and networks feature an absence of formal power relationships and the inability for sanctions to be applied, while simultaneously providing a space in which interactions are long-term and interpersonal relationships are important.
These conditions are outside the usual palette of situations covered by gender studies, so ready-made strategies are not available. We take the position that the three dimensions that characterize the relationship between the issues of gender and science: research being ‘by women, for women, and about women’, are equally applicable to innovation projects and networks in general as well as being applicable to non-binary genders.
To operational this position, we appointed a gender delegate with the role of encouraging reflection to make sure that gender mainstreaming stays in the foreground within the project work. In that way, we work towards creating an inclusive and safe environment with equal opportunity for all: both in the project work and in the innovation projects and networks that we work with, so that beneficial outcomes are created for all genders.