The Education Department of the Council of Europe is organising a panel on 24 November 2023 at the Milan Games Week. The panel will discuss gender equality in video games address with a particular emphasis on the role of digital citizenship education in this regard. It is designed by the Video Game Culture Working Group.

While gaming should be for everyone, it is still very much gendered: women and non-binary individuals are underrepresented in many areas of gaming, and regularly encounter gendered harassment when gaming and participating in game culture events. Video game culture is not a monolith, however, and there is also cause for optimism: the past decade especially has seen increasing diversity and representation in both games and the gaming industry as well as pushback against discrimination and bigotry.

Prominent gaming academis and industry experts will discuss the complex gender issues in gaming cultures, and look for ways of building a more welcoming, inclusive, and sustainable future.

The panel will start with an introduction to the Council of Europe’s Digital Citizenship Education concept which will be followed by a discussion of the experts.

Moderator: Mikko MERILÄINEN, Game Research Lab, Tampere University, Finland

Introduction

Ahmet Murat KILIC, Head of the Digital Transformation and E-learning Unit, Council of Europe

Alessandro SORIANI, Council of Europe Expert on Digital Citizenship Education, University of Bologna

Sara "Kurolily" STEFANIZZI, Italian streamer on ”Twitch”

Discussion

Marcus MALONEY, Assistant Professor, Coventry University, UK

Maya LORÉAL, Senior Manager - Inclusive Games & Content, Ubisoft, France

Giovanna VILLANI, Senior Manager- Business Acquisitions, Digital Bros, Italy

Emma WESTECOTT, Associate Professor, OCAD University,Canada/UK

The proceedings of the panel will be made available on Digital Citizenship Education website.