Social sustainable Impact Model: a prototype toolkit for gender inclusive innovation ecosystems

After three years of working with gender inclusive social innovations, the EQUALS-EU project has developed a toolkit for interrogating the sustainability and inclusive characteristics of innovation eco-systems. This is a prototype and we invite you to our seminar to learn more about how to use it to ensure that your innovations are gender inclusive

The EQUALS-EU project is finalising activities focused on gender inclusive innovation eco-systems. Among the outputs of the project is Sustainable Social Impact Model (SSIM), that has been produced to inform a broader policy framework for promoting gender-inclusive social innovation ecosystems.

“Sustainable social impact means actively managing and identifying the effects businesses have on employees, workers throughout the value chain, customers, and local communities.”

The aim of the SSIM is to ensure that any new idea, product, or service has a positive gender-inclusive impact.

This matters because:

• 17% of the almost 8 million ICT specialists in Europe are women
• In 2022 women only held about 25% of the leadership positions in tech and only 14% of the software engineering positions worldwide
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in businesses can lead to:
• Improved financial performance
• Increased innovation
• Enhanced employee satisfaction
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To ensure innovations have lasting impact, the prototype should be embedded in the innovation processes, as a litmus test for gender inclusivity.