On-Campus Presence
Posters across Bellvitge Campus, slides in chair presentations, and oral pitches in classes so students could discover the project where they study and learn.
Dissemination & Activities
How We Spread the Word
A snapshot of the outreach and pilot courses behind VR Balance, across Europe.
Spread the word — our conference carousel
Fresh from the campaign — swipe the carousels
Why join us
The project at a glance
Introducing the guest speakers
Date
Friday, 25 September 2026
Venue
Best Western Santakos Hotel
J. Gruodžio g. 21, Kaunas, Lithuania
Partners are encouraged to book accommodation at the same hotel.
Languages
English & Lithuanian
Simultaneous interpretation provided throughout.
Format
Hybrid — on-site & online
Open to a wider European audience.
Guest speakers
Guest speaker
Dr. Giedrė Purvaneckienė
Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania and pioneer of gender studies in Lithuania.
Guest speaker
Dr. Jolanta Reingardė
Leader of the research and statistics team at the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).
Guest speaker
Dr. Virginija Šidlauskienė
Professor at the University of Šiauliai.
Guest speaker
Vanda Juršėnienė
Gender equality policy expert · Ministry of Social Security and Labour.
Programme — 25 September
Final agenda · local time (UTC+3)Morning session
09:30 – 10:00
Arrival & registration
10:00 – 10:20
Opening talks
Welcome by Dr. Pepita Giménez-Bonafé, Principal Investigator of the VR Balance project · The Status of Women in Lithuania: Thirty Years of Progress, Dr. Giedrė Purvaneckienė.
10:20 – 11:15
Experts block
Unveiling the socioeconomic costs of gender inequalities in informal care, Dr. Jolanta Reingardė · Unpaid Care Work as a Structural Barrier to Gender Equality in the Country, Dr. Virginija Šidlauskienė · Gender pay gap in practice: main findings, Vanda Juršėnienė · Questions.
11:15 – 11:20
Project overview
VR Balance: An Overview, Dr. Pepita Giménez-Bonafé.
11:20 – 11:50
☕ Coffee break
11:50 – 12:15
Collaboration and results
Feeling is Believing: Using Technology to Reconnect with Reality, Beatriz Zambrano (MetaMedicsVR) · VR Balance national project experiences and results: Spain (Dr. Pepita Giménez-Bonafé), Poland (Agnieszka Tomaszewska & Agata Zioło) and Lithuania (Daiva Damulevičienė).
Parallel workshops (12:15 – 13:05)
Participants split into two groups and swap halfway, so everyone takes part in both workshops.
Workshop 1
Unpacking biases · BBAT
The Unpacking Biases and Assumptions card activity, followed by a Basic Body Awareness Therapy session led by Andrés Marchant.
Workshop 2
The VR experience
Immersive first-person scenarios of gender bias at home, at work and in society.
Afternoon session
13:05 – 14:00
🍽️ Lunch
14:00 – 14:45
Roundtable
Chaired by Audronė Kisielienė, Director of the Social Innovation Fund (SIF). Progress and remaining gender-equality challenges in Lithuania, Poland, Spain and the EU · the socioeconomic value of care and the fair sharing of unpaid care · pay gaps, workplace barriers and stronger equality policies · how immersive VR and cross-sector cooperation can turn evidence into practical change. With Pepita Giménez-Bonafé (UB), Vanda Juršėnienė (SADM), Andrés Marchant (UB), Dr. Giedrė Purvaneckienė, Dr. Jolanta Reingardė (EIGE), Dr. Virginija Šidlauskienė (ŠU) and Agata Zioło (WEF).
14:45 – 15:00
Closing remarks
Interested in attending, partnering or learning more?
✉️ Contact us
🇪🇸 Spain · Universitat de Barcelona
Project Dissemination
From October 2025, we rolled out a step-by-step dissemination strategy at the Universitat de Barcelona to raise awareness of VR Balance and recruit participants for the workshops. We combined on-campus presence with a consistent social media presence and tailored visual material for both physical and digital channels.
Institutional Channels
Regular posts on Medicina UB (Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky) and the Department of Equality, reaching the university community with a single, recognisable voice.
Personal Networks
The team amplified reach via LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, sharing updates and calls to action with their own networks to attract engaged, interested participants.
Beyond the university, the project's principal investigator, Dr. Pepita Giménez-Bonafé, also presented VR Balance at the European Citizenship Point (Spain's Ministry of Culture) on 20 February 2026.
Dissemination timeline
In-Person & Online Events
15 Oct 2025
Project announcement
We launched the official project announcement with dedicated graphic material: one design for physical posters on campus and another for social media. The goal was to create early awareness and curiosity among students before the next phases of the campaign.
Featured links:
Project announcement poster used on social media and in print.
29 Oct 2025
Continuity
Two weeks after the launch, we ran a continuity campaign: posters stayed in high-traffic areas and we published new social content so the project remained visible and we could reach students who had missed the first wave.
Related links:
10 Nov 2025
Meet the team
We ran a "Meet the team" campaign so students could put faces to the project: who is behind VR Balance, what they do, and why they care.
Social media posts:
03 Dec 2025
Sign up
In December we launched a focused registration campaign: clear calls to action, sign-up links on every post, and a mix of posters on campus and social content.
10 Dec 2025
UB Equality Day
VR Balance had its own stand at UB Equality Day, where we presented the project to students and staff, answered questions and shared sign-up information.
Jan 2026
Registration reminder
At the start of 2026 we ran a reminder campaign to keep sign-ups coming in: new posters and handouts on campus, fresh social posts, and short reminders in class and by email.
27 & 29 Jan 2026
First Edition Launch
The first edition of the VR Balance project was successfully launched. Participants engaged deeply with our "Can You Flip the Script?" campaign, reformulating gender-biased phrases and sharing thoughts on our interactive post-it wall.
Featured links:
Inside the sessions:
Social media recap:
20 Feb 2026
Online Workshop Success
Due to the overwhelming success of the on-site events, a highly demanded Online Workshop was held. Led by Pepita Giménez-Bonafé, the session attracted over 80 participants who received comprehensive training on gender equity and engaged with our VR technology.
17 Mar 2026
Session for Technical Personnel
A dedicated session for technical and administrative staff at Campus Bellvitge. Participants engaged with VR technology, discussed structural inequalities, and recognised the importance of fostering collaboration and critical thinking in the application of gender equity awareness.
Promotional Materials
Event Flyers & Documents
🇱🇹 Lithuania · Kaunas
From awareness to action in Kaunas
Our Lithuanian partner, the Social Innovation Fund, brought VR Balance to Kaunas through four in-person course editions for two audiences — employers and students. Each edition combined guided discussion, group reflection and immersive Virtual Reality to explore gender inequality at home and at work. Participants valued the real-life examples and the chance to reflect — and came away with a clearer understanding of how inequality plays out in everyday life.
Participants
103 people reached
Two audiences
40 employers · 63 students
Four editions
April & May 2026
28 Apr · 4 May · 21 May · 22 May
Immersive VR
First-person scenarios of gender bias
The course, step by step
Equality at home
Stereotypes & the care gap
Gender stereotypes, socially assigned roles and the unequal share of unpaid care and domestic work.
Equality at work
Workplace discrimination
Bias in hiring and promotion, the gender pay gap, the career gap and barriers to leadership.
Experience
Immersive VR + reflection
Realistic VR scenarios of gender bias, followed by a discussion on figures who challenged the norm.
🇵🇱 Poland · Warsaw
The course in Warsaw
Our Polish partner, the Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation, brought the VR Balance course to Warsaw on 8–10 June 2026, running six course editions in morning and afternoon schedules. Following the project model, each edition combined three workshops of guided discussion, group reflection and immersive Virtual Reality. It engaged 108 participants — 36 leaders and 72 students — exceeding the recruitment targets, with 84.8% satisfied or very satisfied with the training experience (Course Completion Report, D4.3).
Audiences
36 leaders · 72 students
current & future leaders
The course
3 workshops per edition
discussion, cards & VR
Participants
108 engaged
103 attended in person
When
8–10 June 2026
6 editions · Warsaw
The course, step by step
Equality at home
Stereotypes & the care gap
Gender stereotypes, socially assigned roles and the unequal share of unpaid care and domestic work.
Equality at work
Workplace discrimination
Bias in hiring and promotion, the gender pay gap, the career gap and barriers to leadership.
Experience
Immersive VR + reflection
Realistic first-person scenarios of gender bias, followed by a group discussion and the stereotype-cards activity — the most valued part of the training.
🌐 Online · Across Europe
Three online webinars
Beyond the in-person courses, the consortium ran three live online webinars — in Poland, Spain and Lithuania — to open the project up to a wider audience. Each followed the same 90-minute format and gathered qualitative insights on how gender equality and caregiving are perceived across different European contexts.
Poland
56 participants
17 & 24 Feb · Google Meet
Spain
82 participants
20 Feb · UB Medicine · Teams
Lithuania
56 participants
20 Feb · Google Meet
Together
≈ 194 people reached
A shared 90-minute format
Introduce
Context & concepts
The European gender-equality picture at home, at work and in healthcare.
Experience
Web-based VR simulation
Six short scenarios of gender bias, each followed by a guided debriefing.
Discuss
Cards game & panel
An interactive cards activity and an open panel discussion with Q&A.
🔬 Scientific output
Sharing our results with the academic community
Beyond the courses and events, VR Balance is contributing to academic research on gender equity in health sciences.
Flipping the Script in Health Sciences: Immersive Virtual Reality for Structural Gender Awareness
9th International Online Health Sciences Congress (9CCS) · 1–3 July 2026 — accepted as a virtual poster and book chapter.
Anna Manzano Cuesta, Àurea Navarro Sabaté, Tomás Santalucía Albi and Dr. Pepita Giménez-Bonafé — University of Barcelona.
The work evaluates VR Balance with 161 participants, combining cognitive workshops on gender bias with immersive VR simulations to build structural gender awareness in the health sciences.
A full journal article developing this pilot study is also in preparation for a peer-reviewed (JCR-indexed) journal.
Journal articles in preparation
Immersive Virtual Reality for Gender Equity in Health Sciences Education: A Multicenter Cross-Cultural Study
A multicenter, cross-cultural study of the project's online webinars across Spain, Poland and Lithuania (194 participants), exploring how immersive VR raises awareness of occupational segregation, the motherhood penalty and structural sexism.
A third article, presenting the project's full results and cross-group analysis, is also in preparation.
VR Balance brings together partners across Europe to spread the word on gender equality and deliver immersive VR pilot courses. The project is co-funded by the European Union.
Spreading the word online
Throughout the project we've shared our events, workshops and results on social media to reach a wider audience. Here are some recent highlights — follow along for the latest, including the run-up to the final conference.
View our recent LinkedIn posts▾