Commitment to Gender Equality
At the Center for Systems Innovation (CSI), we recognize that achieving gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but also an essential condition for innovation, sustainability, and social progress. Guided by the European Union’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025, CSI is committed to creating an inclusive environment where women and men, in all their diversity, can thrive equally as learners, researchers, professionals, and leaders.
We believe that diversity of thought and experience strengthens systems thinking and helps generate more holistic, resilient, and creative solutions to today’s complex challenges. Our Gender Equality Plan reflects CSI’s dedication to eliminating bias, promoting equal opportunities, and embedding gender perspectives across all aspects of our work – from education and research to partnerships, policy development, and organizational culture.
Our aim is to achieve a balanced gender representation, striving for at least 50% female participation where this is feasible from professional and organizational perspectives.
On this page, you’ll find dedicated strategic actions that have been developed and implemented to support our gender equality goals, including our approach to educational content development, data management, employment and hiring practices, work-life balance and organisational culture. These actions aim to ensure balanced participation, fair representation, and equal access to opportunities across all our activities.
While CSI is based in Hungary and primarily active in the EU, our work extends far to countries such as Mongolia, the Philippines, India, Singapore, China, Ukraine, untangling and making sense of some of the most complex problems in the world, where much is at stake. Despite our global reach, we maintain strong connections in the Hungarian civil sector, as well as academic, talent development, and business arenas, cultivated over a decade of local engagement.
We believe that global challenges such as climate change, ecosystem degradation, resource shortages and structural waste are symptoms of a lack of systems perspective in governance. While some are making slow, sporadic, incremental changes, there is a substantial gap between the promise of sustainable solutions, and actual uptake – our challenges are complex, embedded, ambiguous, difficult, and do not give in easily to shiny, just-so hotfixes. There is a burning need for ways to tackle complexity with systems mindsets, processes, and tools.
Our small, interdisciplinary team includes dedicated part-time interns, mentees, and a vast network of project-based affiliate experts and partners. Guided by systems innovation, we help individuals and organizations make sense of, navigate, and untangle complex challenges within intricate systems, and co-develop better solutions. If you wish to collaborate with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
CSI is legally registered as Systems Innovation Center Kft. in Hungary, 1106 Budapest, Gyakorló utca 18, fsz. 3., under ID 01-09-405895 and VAT HU32085879 since 2022. Its predecessor has been a legal entity since 2013 (license 8445040049, HU67819001).
Educational Content
At CSI, education plays a key role in advancing gender equality and inspiring future leaders in science, technology, and sustainability. We have developed dedicated learning experiences that highlight female participation and leadership in fields where women have traditionally been underrepresented.
- We’ve developed 2 courses for “Girls Go STEM” initiative: From Sand to Systems: The Chips of Modern Electronics and The Chip Labs: Advanced Semiconductors and Systems. Each course ensures female representation among course materials and examples, and during our Career Day events, we highlight female success stories to provide visible role models for participants.
- In addition, CSI has developed an e-learning course on Women’s Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, exploring how women can drive transformation toward more inclusive, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable futures.
Through these programs, we aim to empower women and girls to become changemakers equipped with the systems thinking skills necessary to shape a fairer, more resilient world.
Data collection and monitoring
Every project we implement includes systematic data collection and monitoring of participants, mentors, and speakers to ensure balanced representation and continuous improvement. By tracking gender distribution and participation across our programs, we are able to identify gaps, measure progress toward our equality objectives, and adjust our practices accordingly. This evidence-based approach helps CSI maintain accountability and transparency in achieving gender balance within our educational, research, and outreach activities.
All data collection undertaken for these purposes is carried out responsibly and in accordance with applicable data-protection requirements, including GDPR.
Work-life balance and organisational culture
CSI is committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive organisational culture that values the wellbeing of every team member. We recognise that a healthy work–life balance is essential for creativity, productivity, and long-term engagement.
Our policies include maternity, paternity, and parental leave provisions, flexible working hours, and remote work opportunities to accommodate diverse personal and family needs.
In addition, our working week intentionally allocates 0.5 of a working day per week for personal and professional development, encouraging staff to invest time in learning, reflection, and skill-building.
By promoting flexibility and mutual trust, CSI aims to create an organisational culture where everyone can thrive—both professionally and personally—while contributing to our shared mission of systems innovation and sustainability.
CSI provides gender awareness and inclusive leadership training opportunities for staff, mentors, and partners.
The Gender Equality Plan is coordinated by CSI’s management and monitored annually by the project coordination team. For any questions regarding its implementation or related initiatives, please contact us.