The project had three main objectives. First, to define a common European framework of transversal competences for “unbiased citizens” in HE, linked to literacy, stereotypes and prejudice, intersectionality, societies and communication. Second, to design and pilot a blended training pathway for students and staff, combining online modules, international virtual collaboration and in-presence activities focused on invisible homophobia and pluralistic citizenship. Third, to translate the lessons learned into institutional guidelines, action plans and a Memorandum of Understanding among partner universities, ensuring that anti-discrimination and plurality become structural components of HE strategies, governance and third-mission activities beyond the project lifetime.
PRECIOUS was launched in response to the persistence of invisible homophobia, stereotypes and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Higher Education. Partner universities observed that LGBTQIA+ students and staff often experience micro-aggressions, unsafe spaces and a lack of institutional tools to address bias. Existing initiatives were fragmented, short-term and rarely integrated into university governance. The project therefore aimed to create a shared European framework to understand these phenomena, to strengthen staff and students’ competences to recognise and counter them, and to support HEIs in moving from isolated projects to long-term institutional strategies for building pluralistic, unbiased academic communities.