IGLYO LGBTQI Inclusive Education Conference: Save the Date & Call for Presentations

While we wait for registration to open

On 25-27 June 2025, IGLYO, the SOGI Unit of the Council of Europe, FELGTBI+, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’s Departament de Psicologia Social, the research group  Epi4health, and Observatori Contra l’LGBTIfòbia are co-organising an international conference on LGBTQI Inclusive Education in Barcelona, Spain. 

While we wait to officially open registrations in early March, you can already do the following:

• If you’re interested in presenting: Read our full call and apply by 9 March 2025 at 23:59 CEST to give a presentation during the conference.
• If you’re only interested in attending: Save the date in your calendar and fill out our expression of interest form to be informed as soon as registrations open in early March.

Read on the information below to know all about the conference and decide whether you’re interested in presenting or only attending.

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About the Conference

Children and young people who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or intersex (LGBTQI) endure hostile conditions at school, experiencing or risking physical violence, bullying, and discrimination. Such violence negatively affects students' health and well-being and leads to worse education outcomes and higher school drop-outs, showing in higher absenteeism and lower educational attainment and aspirations. Moreover, social cohesion and caring practices between peers are also disrupted when violent behaviour is displayed.

Over the last decade, IGLYO has been working with its Members and wider civil society organisations, European institutions, international organisations, UN agencies, and national governments to benchmark policy and legal standards to prevent and address school violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics. Through our work, we have been able to identify challenges and provide actionable recommendations, enhance international cooperation and good practice exchange and mobilise resources to ensure education systems are safe for LGBTQI learners.

As a continuation of this work, we are proud to announce our “Proud Pupils” international conference on LGBTQI Inclusive Education from 25 to 27 June 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, co-organised with the Council of Europe Unit on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics, our Member FELGTBI+ — Federación Estatal LGTBI+, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’s Departament de Psicologia Social, the research group Epi4health, and Observatori Contra l’LGBTIfòbia.

With this conference expected to gather between 200 to 300 participants, we seek to build a common understanding and a renewed commitment towards the building, reinforcing and maintaining safety and inclusion in education for LGBTQI children and young people among children, young people, policymakers, education practitioners, civil society organisations, NGOs, UN agencies, development partners, and the private sector.

Objectives

The conference aims to:

• Promote educational policies and practices that foster inclusion.
• Share promising policies and practices designed to ensure schools are safe and inclusive for LGBTQI learners.
• Review progress in policy and practice since UNESCO’s Call for Action by Ministers on inclusive and equitable education for all learners in an environment free from discrimination and violence.
• Bring together children and young activists, policymakers, education practitioners, national and international civil society organisations, researchers, UN agencies, development partners and the private sector to discuss youth-led approaches to inclusive education.
• Understand the potential threats to inclusion in education in a digitalised educational space in view of technological, economic and social transformation.

Key streams

The Conference will be organised around the following key themes: 

1. Addressing Bullying: Tackling violence and ensuring safer education systems for all
2. Queering Curricula: Inclusive learning materials development and implementation on gender and sexuality 
3. Resourcing Health & Well-being: Practices to promote physical and mental health through education
4. Trans Inclusion: Addressing gender identity and gender expression in schools
5. Resisting Opposition: Tackling anti-rights and anti-gender discourse through education
6. Teaching Practitioners: Skills building for school staff
7. On the Field: Empowering youth and grassroots educational work
8. Improving school policies: Making school governance inclusive
9. Queering the Educational Environment: Fostering inclusion in extracurricular activities, sports and non-formal education

Expected outputs

As a result of the conference, we expect to achieve the following outputs:

• The creation of an international LGBTQI inclusive education platform that fosters dialogue and cooperation on this topic.
• Concrete guidelines on LGBTQI inclusive education produced by young people that are relevant to other key stakeholders.
• Good practice exchange and good practice compendium, summarising key elements of the Conference.
• The renewal of UNESCO’s Call for Action on Inclusive Education addressing the current challenges faced by some countries to protect and promote the rights of LGBTQI children.

Duration and format

The conference will provide a space for exchange, debate, learning, and sharing. It will consist of interactive plenary discussions, parallel focused discussions and workshops, and youth-led exhibitions and artistic presentations.

It will feature:

• Interactive plenary sessions.
• Parallel sessions, including panel discussions and workshops to share grassroots initiatives, research findings, education practices, policy developments and lessons learned*.
• Exhibition spaces and artistic social programme, offering an opportunity for partners to present their activities, and to interact with young participants**.

* If you’re interested in holding a presentation on concrete educational practices, research projects, or theoretical insights during the conference, you will find a call for presentations further down this page or in this document (Application deadline: 9 March 2025).

** Please note that the call for artistic presentations will be published at a later stage, when we open registrations. This second call will be open to artistic presentations of more flexible formats (performances, installations, exhibitions, etc). However, you are still welcome to submit proposals for artistic workshops, discussions or presentations linked to the thematic streams through the call for presentations above.

Participants

We expect to welcome 200 to 300 participants, including young people, education practitioners and educators, researchers, ministries of education, policymakers, private sector stakeholders, representatives of media and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations supporting inclusive education.

Working languages

The secured working languages of the Conference will be English and Spanish, with interpretation available for both these languages (for plenary sessions). 

Dates and location

The conference will be held from 25 to 27 June 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.

Participation fees

More information on participation fees will be provided when registrations open in early March. Unlike for our other events, IGLYO will not cover travel and accommodation for participants. 30 Scholarships will be available for selected presenters under 30 years old — more information on scholarships will be provided at a later stage.

Apply to give a presentation during the conference...

While we wait to open official registration for regular participants in early March 2025, we are already opening the call for civil society representatives, young activists, researchers, education practitioners and policy-makers interested in presenting educational practices, research projects, or theoretical insights during the conference. Oral paper presentations will be organised in thematic sessions lasting 90 minutes, including time for questions and discussion. Each presentation will be around 15 minutes.

If you are interested in giving a presentation, you can read our full call for presentations and apply by 9 March 2025 at 23:59 CEST. Please note that we will also open a separate call for artistic presentations (performances, installations, exhibitions, etc.) at a later stage, when we open registrations.

... or save the date and express your interest

If you are only interested in taking part in the conference (without presenting) and would like to be reminded directly when we officially open registrations, you can fill out this short expression of interest form. Please note however that expressing your interest through the form does not count as registration and does not guarantee a spot at the conference.

Questions & Contact

If you have any questions about the call for presentations, the content, the programme or partnering, please contact IGLYO’s Deputy Executive Director and Policy & Research Manager Rú Ávila Rodríguez (they/them) at ru@iglyo.org.

If you have any questions about registration or scholarships, please contact our Programmes Manager Viola Bianchetti (She/her) at viola@iglyo.org.

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Co-organised by

The conference is co-organised by IGLYO, the Council of Europe Unit on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics, our Member FELGTBI+ — Federación Estatal LGTBI+, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’s Departament de Psicologia Social, the research group Epi4health, and Observatori Contra l’LGBTIfòbia.

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With the support of

The conference is organised with the support of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) 2021-2027 programme of the European Union, the Dutch Ministry of Education Culture & Science, and the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. The contents of the conference are the sole responsibility of IGLYO and can be taken in no way to reflect the views of the European Commission or Dutch Ministry.