New Feminist Methodology Booklet. Awards, distinctions and gender: good practice

29/09/2021 - 12:08

Recommendations for the inclusion of the gender perspective in the awarding of prizes and distinctions.

The booklet is part of the collection of Feminist Methodology Booklets, offering proposals and tools for the feminist transformation of local policies in different spheres.

Awards and distinctions are a means of gratitude, appreciation and public recognition of the merit and prestige of people and organisations in the city, as well as a stimulus for action which benefits the community. In many cases, awards can also be a source of economic resources.

One area municipal action where the gender perspective must be applied is that of attributing recognition (awards and distinctions). For instance, the Gender equity regulation for Barcelona City Council (2018) establishes that there must be parity between men and women on all juries awarding prizes and distinctions.

This means that including the gender perspective in the awarding of prizes and distinctions, besides contributing to the development of a fairer and more equal society, responds to a framework which regulates and supports its inclusion.

Under this context, Barcelona City Council has put together a methodology booklet for the inclusion of the gender perspective in the series of processes to regulate, announce, promote, assess, deliberate and present recognition.

In particular, the booklet makes recommendations for including the gender perspective in various aspects such as: the goal and topics of awards and distinctions, the use of inclusive language, people the awards are aimed at, assessment criteria for projects and candidacies, parity in juries and evaluating committees, parity in those receiving recognition and in awards ceremonies.

The booklet has two main goals:

  • To introduce contextual data illustrating situations of gender equity and inequity in the awarding of prizes and distinctions in the city of Barcelona.
  • To facilitate guidance and practical tools to improve, from the gender perspective, processes to regulate, announce, promote, assess and present awards and recognition.

The booklet is mainly aimed at the following people:

  • Those who participate directly with processes to regulate, announce, promote, assess, deliberate and present awards and distinctions, whether municipal staff or members of organisations promoting them .
  • Anybody interested in learning about how to include the gender perspective into the realm of awards and distinctions, whether in public administrations, the academic and research sphere, or organisations or other private entities.

Feminist Methodology Booklets
The collection of methodology booklets offers proposals and tools for the feminist transformation of local policies in different spheres. The previous booklets focused on urban planning, culture and budgets:

  • #1 Urban planning and gender: exploratory walks of everyday life
  • #2 Good practice for parity in cultural programming
  • #3 Economic policy gender impact assessment: municipal budget and taxation

You can find them all here