Gender equality is the 5th Development Goal of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. For Sanoma, it is one the most relevant goals, as we impact the lives of millions of people every day through our media and learning businesses. We support gender equality by developing a diverse workplace together with our people and offering equal opportunities. Our learning materials empower every student, regardless of gender and our media increases awareness on different viewpoints to equality.

Sanoma Italy’s work for gender equality also takes place in schools. The #GenerationEquality project, or #GenerazioneParità in Italian, was born out of desire to change the society for the better. 

“We are a group of colleagues who started this project because for us, gender equality and inclusion are a key value, and it has been a very present topic in Italy’s national debate”, says Lea Moro, Communications Manager at Sanoma Italy and member of the project group. 

Sanoma Italy’s editorial teams have always been attentive to include gender equality in textbooks through additional didactic content and activities. The #GenerationEquality group works in parallel to promote the topic externally by building and implementing other initiatives and extra materials targeting teachers, specifically.

“It has been a successful project. Teachers felt that they needed support to discuss equality in the classroom. We provided didactic content, insights, and educational activities to carry out in class with the aim of developing a new sensitivity to the topic. The first booklet we did back in 2021, over 15,000 copies were printed!”, Moro says.

For Sanoma Italy, gender equality is synonymous with collaboration. The team behind the equality project has built two important partnerships: one with a well-known Italian theatre school to create a series of videos highlighting remarkable women of history, and one with a shelter house to raise awareness of violence against women.

“Violence against women is an issue in many societies, but a difficult and sensitive topic to discuss with students. In the past years, we’ve done an awareness campaign on the topic, but now our plan is to conduct a survey and find out what kind of support teachers feel they need in order to possibly address the topic in the classroom”, Moro says.

In line with the UN 2030 goals, Sanoma Italia has equipped itself with a Gender Equality Management System and a policy to help overcome gender stereotypes. In addition to the external communications campaigns, the project promotes equality internally, at the workplace. 

“We are committed to taking action ourselves, through our Gender Equality Steering Committee. The committee has currently identified several areas where we could make improvements, such as the parental leave principles. In January this year, we obtained the Certification for gender equality according to UNI PDR 125:2022 standard, which is an important recognition of our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusivity issues”, Moro explains.

The Italian Gender Equality Certification System was created with the European union in response to the pandemic crisis to improve the economy and reduce territorial, generational and gender gaps. The Italian standardization body, UNI, defines the guidelines on the management system for gender equality, which provides for the structuring and adoption of a set of performance indicators (KPIs) and helps with measuring, reporting and evaluating gender data in organizations with the aim of bridging existing gaps.

“For this year, we are planning more communication campaigns on different platforms. We would like to bring different generations together to discuss gender and equality. I feel lucky to be part of this project. We are a close group of people from different parts of the company who put inclusion and equality at the heart of our activities, changing the society little by little”, Moro says.


Sanoma

Sanoma is an innovative and agile learning and media company impacting the lives of millions every day. Our Sustainability Strategy is designed to maximise our positive ‘brainprint’ on society and to minimise our environmental footprint. We are committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and signatory to the UN Global Compact.

Our learning products and services enable teachers to develop the talents of every child to reach their full potential. We offer printed and digital learning content as well as digital learning and teaching platforms for primary, secondary and vocational education, and want to grow our business. 
Our Finnish media provide independent journalism and engaging entertainment also for generations to come. Our unique cross-media position offers the widest reach and tailored marketing solutions for our business partners.

Today, we operate across Europe and employ close to 5,000 professionals. In 2024, our net sales amounted to approx. 1.3bn€ and our operational EBIT margin excl. PPA was 13.4%. Sanoma shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. More information is available at sanoma.com.