Europeana champions female innovators in digital and culture this International Women’s Day (March 8)

For International Women’s Day and throughout the month of March, Europeana Foundation is working with cultural heritage institutions and professionals across Europe to spotlight current and historical female innovators and leaders across the arts, sciences and technology.

Europeana Foundation commits to a number of initiatives in March 2019 - from an online exhibition to Twitter take-overs and a commitment to gender-balanced panels - to promote a broader, ongoing discussion on the representation and role of women in the digital and cultural sectors.

Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said: ‘The stories of brilliant, determined and talented women must serve to inspire young girls and women all over Europe. Let the experiences of these female role models encourage the generations of women to come to continue to innovate, explore, create, push all the boundaries they might encounter, and finally, make their own contributions to a competitive, dynamic and inclusive digital Europe.’

Director General of Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and Chair of the Europeana Foundation Elisabeth Niggemann said: ‘Women have long been central to the important contribution that culture and technology make to our society, opening up access to knowledge, supporting research and promoting innovation and creativity. It’s fitting that Europeana helps tell their stories on International Women’s Day.’

On International Women’s Day, Europeana Foundation:

• Showcases unique content from Europe’s cultural heritage institutions to highlight groundbreaking women in the arts and sciences for the digital exhibition Pioneers, launched in conjunction with Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel.
• Talks to key female influencers in culture and tech for the interview series Women in culture and tech on Europeana Pro. Featuring an exclusive online profile of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel to be published 11 March.  
• Announces its commitment to No Women No Panel - Commissioner Mariya Gabriel’s initiative to address the lack of women in panels and public events.
• Calls on partner institutions and organisations across Europe to champion the women in their organisation, the Europeana Network Association and the wider sector and invites female professionals in the sectors to raise their voices and profile through a
  • ‘Go-viral’ crowd-speak campaign (March 8)
  • Twitter Takeover of @Europeanaeu (throughout March)
  • Sector-wide Twitter chat on challenges and future aims for women in the sectors (29 March)

ENDS

Media contact

Emily D’Alterio - Europeana Foundation

E: emily.dalterio@europeana.eu T: +45 5276 9210

Notes to Editors:

• The Europeana Pro interview profile series Women in culture and tech spotlights contemporary female innovators. The profiles provide a personal ‘behind the scenes’ look at the lives and work of women in the technology and culture sectors including, tech expert and founder of DigiPippi (an organisation which bridges the gender gap in technology) Eva Fog and renowned multi-disciplinary artist Nora Al-Badri.
• On Europeana Collections, the digital exhibition Pioneers, launched in conjunction with Commissioner Mariya Gabriel in February 2019, uses unique content from Europe’s cultural heritage institutions to highlight the groundbreaking lives and achievements of historical women in the arts and sciences from artists to engineers. International Women’s Day introduces the final chapter in the exhibition featuring Romanian engineer Amalia Lindegren.
• No Women No Panel campaign is an initiative developed to address the gender imbalance in panels and public events. People and organisations supporting the campaign are encouraged to only organise and take part in panels where women are represented.
• Pioneers digital exhibition
• Women in culture and tech series
• @Europeanaeu Twitter chat: follow the #womeninculturechat 15.00 CET 29 March

About Europeana

Europeana is Europe’s platform for digital cultural heritage with a mission to ‘transform the world with culture’. Europeana Collections is Europe’s digital library, museum, gallery and archive. From books, photos and paintings to television broadcasts and 3D objects, Europeana Collections provides online access to a vast store of cultural heritage material from across Europe for everyone to find, use and share: for research, for learning, for creating new things. (@EuropeanaEU). The Europeana Foundation is the organisation tasked by the European Commission with developing a digital cultural heritage platform for Europe.