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're happy to invite you to the IGLYO Proud Pupils LGBTQI Inclusive Education Conference 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​, IGLYO 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 shape a common understanding and a renewed commitment towards the building, reinforcing and maintaining of 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.

You can read through the practical information below to know all about the conference. 

Register or Apply to present

• If you're only interested in attending: You can register for the conference by Sunday 2 May at 23:55 CEST to benefit from the early-bird discount. After that date registrations will be charged at the normal rate. You need to be 18 or above to register for the conference.
• If you're interested in presenting at the conference: Read our full call and apply by Sunday 23 March 2025 at 23:59 CET (extended deadline) to give a presentation during the conference.

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.

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.

Call for presentations

If you are a interested in presenting educational practices, research projects, or theoretical insights during the Proud Pupils conference, you can read our full call and apply by Sunday 23 March 2025 at 23:59 CET (Extended deadline).

Duration and Programme

The draft programme will be published shortly but you can already note that the conference will start around 16:00 (local time) on Wednesday 25 June and will end in the afternoon of Friday 27 June 2025.

Location

The exact location of the conference venue is only shared with registered participants. It is located close to the Urquinaona metro station in Barcelona, Spain.

Accessibility

The conference venue will be fully wheelchair accessible, a quiet room and stim toys will be available at all times, and International Sign Language interpretation can be arranged upon request. We kindly ask you to provide us with your accessibility needs and requirements when registering and we will do our best to accommodate them.

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. You need to be 18 or above to register for the conference.

Working languages

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

Participation fees

The fee comprises your full participation in the conference on 25-27 June, as well as lunch catering and coffee breaks on 26 and 27 June. Unlike our other events, IGLYO will not cover nor reimburse your travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs, which you are responsible for booking and covering yourself. If you or your organisation are unable to cover your participation and stay in Barcelona, you can apply for one of our few available scholarships.

The early-bird deadline is set to 2 May 2025 at 23:55 CET. After that, the regular price will be charged:

Early-bird fee (until 2 May 2025 at 23:55 CET)

• IGLYO Member Representative*: €110 
• Regular participant: €180

Regular fee (after 2 May 2025 at 23:55 CET)

• IGLYO Member Representative*: €140 
• Regular participant: €210

* Representatives (e.g. board members, staff, volunteers, etc.) of IGLYO Member Organisations can register with a discount. If you are a Member, please ensure to select the "IGLYO Member Representative" ticket before registering as we will not be able to reimburse you the difference if you choose the regular one. If you are unsure whether you are representing a Member Organisation, you can check the Members' list​, or contact IGLYO's network team Jeremy & Toryn at network@iglyo.org.

Scholarships

IGLYO is offering a limited number of scholarships to support the participation of stakeholders aged 18-30 years old and based in Council of Europe Members States, Russia, Belarus or Kosovo. If you or your organisation are unable to cover your participation and stay in Barcelona, you can apply for one of our few available scholarships by Monday 21 April at 23:59 CEST.

Code of Conduct



As a participant at an IGLYO event, we ask you to read and carefully consider our Code of Conduct, which you agree to when registering for the event. We are delighted to welcome you to an IGLYO space, and we hope your experience here is positive and meaningful. 

Questions & Contact

You can contact different people based on your request:

• 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.
• For press enquiries and issues with the registration form, please contact IGLYO's Communications & Network Manager Jeremy (He/him) at jeremy@iglyo.org.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Co-organisers

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​. 

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, the Council of Europe or Dutch Ministry.

Banner description: Colourful animated banner where objects related to school environments such as a ruler, backpack, apple and book are floating around. On each side of the banner are two pupils with a happy face expression.