Six webinars to combat gender-based violence with Connecting Spheres
From 15 October to 19 November 2026, the online webinar series Connecting Thursdays: Cross-Country Learning Webinars on Inclusive GBV Prevention will take place as part of the Connecting Spheres project, in which Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini is involved as partner. The series aims to share innovative tools and practices for preventing gender-based violence against LGBTQIA+ people.
Funded by the European Commission under the DAPHNE Programme, Connecting Spheres is implemented by Oxfam Italia, Oxfam Italia Intercultura and Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini with the aim to support small and medium-sized civil society organisations working to prevent gender-based violence and promote the rights of LGBTQIA+ people in Italy and across Europe.
The webinars are aimed at professionals working in legal, social, healthcare, judicial and educational services, as well as representatives of institutions and academia, and activists involved in national and European networks working to prevent and combat gender-based violence.
Each two-hour session will give participants the opportunity to explore the results of the initiatives funded through Connecting Spheres, together with local services, tools and protocols.
"The format combines expert insight and field experience: each session will open with a framing presentation, followed by testimonies and tools from the projects, and will conclude with lessons learned and the recommendations that emerge" explains Roberta Paoletti, researcher in FGB's Social Justice Area, who coordinates the project on behalf of Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini.
The sessions will address key topics for those working to prevent and combat violence against LGBTQIA+ people. The first two webinars, scheduled for 15 and 22 October 2026, will focus on how to create safe spaces for survivors of violence and how to put an intersectional approach into practice by reaching those most at risk.
The following sessions, scheduled for 29 October and 5 November 2026, will explore how to improve training for front-line workers responding to violence and how to challenge gender stereotypes and transform social norms in local communities.
The webinar series will conclude with two sessions on 12 and 19 November 2026, focusing respectively on evidence, testimonies and policy recommendations, and on project results and protocols for sustainable cooperation among organisations working to combat gender-based violence.
The webinars will take place every Thursday from 15 October to 19 November 2026, from 16.00 to 18.00 (Italian time). Online simultaneous interpretation will be available. Participation is free upon online registration.
