International Women’s Day 2022
8 March 2022
This year, UN Women’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’. It highlights the link between gender, social equity and climate change and calls for urgent policy and social reforms that centre gender equality and sustainability.
In particular, the resources offered by UN Women globally and in Australia show that ‘Climate change is a “threat multiplier”, meaning it escalates social, political and economic tensions in fragile and conflict-affected settings’. Conversely, women are ‘solution multipliers’, and their participation and leadership is associated with better environmental outcomes.
In the context of Australian architecture, equitable practice is a key driver for realising the vital contributions of women. It includes, among other tasks, achieving equal pay, incorporating flexible working arrangements, enabling mentorship opportunities and supporting women’s leadership.
Parlour, a research-based organisation advocating for gender equity in Australian architecture, published the Parlour Guides to Equitable Practice in 2014 and they have since been widely used to improve gender equity in Australian practices, including our own.
In a recent article on mentorship for women in Australian architecture, TRCB Associate Melinda Whelan shares the benefits that mentorship has had on her career, and why she now mentors young women at TRCB in their first years of practice. Melinda states, ‘When it comes to growing capable and diverse future industry leaders, everyone benefits.’
As Parlour notes, advocacy and action are a year-round endeavour and we all have a role to play, individually and collectively. In architecture and beyond, supporting women’s participation and valuing their leadership today is essential for a sustainable tomorrow.
For more information on UN Women’s work and how you can help, please visit their website.
Image source: Burcu Köleli for UN Women (2022).
A few TRCB projects:
