9th transnational meeting of the EdSex Project took place at UÉ

Starting from an international perspective, which recognizes the great importance of skills and competences acquired through higher education, universities are currently assuming an increasingly important role. Thus, this project that has sought to develop a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary training approach in order to introduce comprehensive sexuality education in higher education, also aims to contribute to its reinforcement in other social domains (youth associations, women and immigrants), bringing new visions in the field of sexual competence and aiming at the modernization of sexuality education in the socio-health field.

Ana Frias, a professor at the Nursing Department of the São João de Deus School of Nursing, represents the University of Évora in this project in the role of principal investigator and highlights the importance of UÉ's involvement in this international project "which allows to give visibility to the pedagogical and technical-scientific dimension carried out here, promoting international relations that are materialized through partnerships with European Entities, stimulating the dissemination of scientific knowledge in international scientific events and in scientific journals with a high impact factor."

Through a model that promotes intercultural dialogue and raises awareness of a new Europe enriched by different cultures, the project aims to train in sexuality education to achieve gender equality through the empowerment of women and girls, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations Agenda (2030), more specifically, SDG 3, which promotes Gender Equality, and SDG 4, which guarantees Quality Education for all throughout life. "The EdSEX Project has great relevance in the current context because it promotes Sexual Education in different contexts, namely in Higher Education Institutions and Community context, thus reaching Higher Education students attending courses in the Health area. In the community, it reaches students of the 3rd cycle and secondary, women and migrants. Being a research project that includes training and research activities, it allows to intervene with training with these populations empowering them to live their sexuality in a healthier way and with greater well-being.  The results of the research allow us to standardize training practices in Education for Sexuality, make diagnoses of the situation and intervene where the greatest weaknesses are identified ", concludes Ana Frias.

The project, which recently obtained an extension until June 2024, is the result of a partnership between the University of Évora, the Polytechnic Institute of Santarén, the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (in Spain) and the Unimore group (Nursing Course of the Reggio Emilia Campus, in Italy), with Seattle Pacific University (USA) as a collaborating partner.