EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MASCULINITIES IN THE WORKPLACE.

<< Background >>This project emerged from the misconception that gender mainly concerns women, overlooking its impact on men within patriarchy. The focus was on addressing negative consequences of traditional masculinity and fostering a new understanding. By delving into workplace issues like the gender pay gap, we aimed to contribute to a more inclusive environment. The goal was to challenge gender norms perpetuating power concentration.The project addressed needs arising from patriarchy's impact on both women and men. Traditional male identity, a root cause of conflicts, subjected men to machismo's adverse effects. Attempting to break free from gender roles, recognizing the necessity to challenge outdated masculinity through Emotional Intelligence, we aimed to contribute to a paradigm shift rectifying gender role inequalities. More and more men understand that gender equality benefits society and themselves. Thus, it directly indicated a path for developing a new form of masculinity, impacting men's individual sphere and their social interactions. The project targeted men and women in companies, especially SMEs, leaders, managers, and the companies themselves.<< Objectives >>Main goal was to redefine traditional masculinity in workplaces and public spaces, replacing stereotypes with more egalitarian ones through NEWMEN's focus on alternative masculinities and emotional intelligence. This involved a targeted training plan for workers and managers across sectors, aiming for a positive impact on men's authentic gender expression and contributing to combating sexism and gender-based violence. The approach included applying emotional intelligence with a gender perspective to influence individuals and organisational structures in companies. We aimed to revise traditional masculinity, discard power and violent perceptions, nurture empathy with women and men, promote care and co-responsibility, and recognise shared parenting duties, enabling men to express their masculinity authentically, and fostering freedom of choice for both genders. Advanced understanding of gender theory, pinpointing the origins of gender inequalities, identifying stereotypes driving role differentiation, familiarising participants with men's socialization in the current system, conducting critical assessments of prevailing male models, and facilitating the identification of alternatives to macho structures were aimed to be achieved. << Implementation >>The project was divided into 2 types of work packages:- PROJECT RESULTS (PR): Responsibility for each PR lay with a Result Leader.- MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION WORK PACKAGES – (financed under the item Management and Implementation) covered the entire project duration and were realized at two levels: Three main work packages fell under the item Management and Implementation, encompassing the following fields of activity:1. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION: DOCUMENTATION, COMMUNICATION, AND MEETINGS; PROGRESS REPORTING; BUDGET CONTROL AND FINANCIAL REPORTING; TIME MANAGEMENT; HANDLING RISKS. The responsibility for work package 1 lay with the Project Coordinator (IKF), who cooperated with the Management Group (MG) regularly.2. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND EVALUATION: Preparation of Quality Assurance Plan; setting qualitative and quantitative indicators; quality checks and quality assessment of the PRs; evaluation of the project, including aspects beyond PRs such as the quality of management, communication, meetings, and promotional activities; final evaluation of the project’s success – whether it met the goals, potential of results, and sustainability. The responsibility for work package 2 lay with the Quality Assurance Leader (in NEWMEN, this responsibility laid with IKF), who cooperated with the Quality Assurance Group (QAG).3. PROMOTION: Promotion plan with measures and indicators; Graphic standards; Visualization of the project including logotype, colours, templates of documents; Coordination of promotion in partner’s Social networks (FB, LinkedIn, YouTube); Newsletters; Project leaflet/one page for promotion. The responsibility for work package 3 laid with the Promotion Leader (NP2E), who cooperated with the Promotion Group regularly.The procedures followed from the start of its implementation were completely aligned with the environment and climate change fight. Thus, especially given the TPMs, the following list of action items forming part of the values of the project set out to protect the environment for all partners: Zero emissions of plastic waste at face-to-face meetings; Removal of paper in all project processes; Search for transport means of the TPMs with the greatest environmental responsibility; Preferential use of collective and less polluting means of transport (train, if possible); Priority for airlines committed to fuel efficiency; Call for car sharing whenever possible; green travel wherever possible; Conduct zero-kilometer meetings, eliminating the need for transport between lodging and the venue.<< Results >>NEWMEN produced three Project Results:In PR1, the project consortium developed a training system of 20 instead of 18 (originally written in the project proposal) podcasts for managers, leaders, and HR managers, applying Emotional Intelligence and Alternative Masculinities to deconstruct stereotypes and roles in the workplace based on traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity.In PR2, the consortium assembled a collection of 20 videos (instead of 18) as case studies showcasing how gender equality and equity led to successful and transformative initiatives, improving society, the economy, and culture. These videos served as a didactic resource, generating a positive impact in Europe.In PR3, the consortium created an educational resource bank with 24 learning resources online and offline activities for employees, especially SMEs. The toolkit based on EI and Alternative Masculinities, aimed to develop and foster diversity, egalitarian values, equal opportunities, and the prevention of sexism and gender-based violence in the workplace and any public space.During the multiplier events (E1-E5), the project consortium conducted workshops to ensure the sustainability of the project results beyond the partnership and project life. In more detail, the project produced the following outputs:Reports related to the Management activities (as described in this application form): Management guidelines, Reporting procedure and administrative guidelines, 4 Transnational meetings + minutes of meetings.Monitoring and evaluation-related products (as described in this application form): Evaluation tools, including meeting evaluation questionnaire, project progress questionnaire, PR evaluation tools, and multiplier events evaluation questionnaire. Evaluation reports, including mid-term and final evaluation reports, and PR reports. Project risk analysis.Deliverables related to promotion and sustainability activities (as described in this application form): Graphic design of the project, Project website, Project mailing list, Newsletters, and Information leaflet.