Cara-Friend Helps Set Up European LGBTQI+I Education Network

Last week the annual ILGA-Europe conference took place in Brussels. Our Deputy Director, Declan Meehan, attended on behalf of Cara-Friend. Over the course of the conference there were a number of talks and seminars on a variety of issues of vital importance to the LGBTQI+ community across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

As part of these discussions efforts were made to bring together organisations and individuals who are all working on LGBTQI+ issues in education and school settings, as well as those who want to learn more about how to do so. A meeting was held to set up the European LGBTQI+I Education Network, with participants from Ireland, the UK, Iceland, Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Italy, Estonia and Albania.

“There is so much duplication in each LGBTQI+ community sector across Europe. We are all working – or attempting to work – in the same area, so it made sense for us to share resources and learning” said Declan Meehan, Deputy Director of Cara-Friend. “Some of what we have learnt here in Northern Ireland, and a lot of what we have done and published, will be of use to others across Europe so collaborating and sharing is the best way to do that.”