Press Release – Post-Event
IPOV Midterm Meeting in Tarragona Reinforces International Collaboration for Respectful Maternity Care
27 June 2025, Tarragona — From 25 to 27 June, the city of Tarragona hosted the Midterm Meeting of the European project IPOV – Innovative Tools for Respectful Maternity and Birth Care, funded by the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange programme (HORIZON-MSCA). The event, held at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), brought together researchers, healthcare professionals, civil society actors and policy experts from Europe and Latin America to assess the progress of IPOV and chart a shared path forward for the second half of the project.
Over three days, the meeting fostered rich exchange among diverse disciplines and professional backgrounds, combining training sessions, project presentations, interactive workshops, and high-level discussions with representatives from the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency (REA). The event exemplified the international, interdisciplinary and collaborative spirit at the core of IPOV’s approach to addressing obstetric violence and promoting respectful, rights-based models of maternity care.
Progress Reporting and Knowledge Transfer
The meeting opened with a welcome session led by Dr Serena Brigidi (URV) and Nicoleta Petre (REA). This was followed by comprehensive reports on each of the project’s four work packages:
- WP1: Digital Tool, presented by María Hidalgo Rudilla (Diseño Social, Spain)
- WP2: Documents and Data, presented by Prof. Patrizia Quattrocchi (UNIUD, Italy)
- WP3: Learning Scenario, presented by Dr Serena Brigidi (URV, Spain)
- WP4: Bridging Strategy, presented by Dr Virginie Rozée (INED, France)
Particular attention was given to the testimonies of seconded staff members, who shared their learning experiences during their institutional exchanges. This contributed significantly to the open discussion held with the REA representative, providing a space for transparent dialogue about the implementation of the MSCA mobility scheme and its impact on individual researchers and host institutions.
Participatory Workshops and Strategic Planning
The second day of the meeting was structured around five parallel co-creation workshops, addressing:
- Restorative justice approaches in maternity care
- Training and engagement of healthcare professionals
- Best practices in respectful care
- Content development for the IPOV digital platform
- Conceptual and legal definitions of obstetric violence
These workshops brought together expertise from anthropology, midwifery, health policy, legal studies and design, enabling interdisciplinary collaboration aimed at generating practical outputs. In the afternoon, the results of the workshops were integrated into a collective roadmap for the upcoming IPOV platform, coordinated by María Hidalgo Rudilla.
A joint dinner in the historic centre of Tarragona concluded the day, offering space for informal networking and further exchange among participants.
Plenary Results and Future Directions
On the final day, the Vice-Dean for Research at URV, Dr Galià Clua Marina, delivered opening remarks, highlighting the importance of IPOV’s commitment to socially engaged research and policy impact. The subsequent plenary session presented the consolidated outcomes of the working groups, supported by visual facilitation methods that captured the complexity and interconnection of the project’s goals.
Key strategic decisions were agreed upon, including:
- The development of a shared repository of best practices
- Advancing a pluralistic and context-sensitive definition of obstetric violence
- Finalising the design and functionality of the IPOV digital platform
- Strengthening dissemination efforts across institutional, professional and public spheres
The meeting concluded with a official photo, and closing acknowledgements, celebrating the achievements thus far and reaffirming the consortium’s commitment to collaborative progress.
The IPOV project continues to demonstrate that transformative change in maternity care requires not only evidence-based tools, but also spaces for critical reflection, transnational learning and interdisciplinary cooperation.
Media Kit · Midterm Meeting · IPOV
Welcome to the IPOV Consortium Midterm Meeting Media Kit. This resource has been assembled to provide journalists, partners and stakeholders with everything needed to cover our three-day event, taking place from 25–27 June 2025.
We invite you to explore these assets to support accurate, engaging coverage of our workshops, plenary sessions and networking events. Should you require further information or bespoke interview opportunities, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our communications team. We look forward to working with you.
IPOV (Innovative Platform for Obstetric Violence) is a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) project aimed at developing digital tools, training methodologies and prevention strategies to address and reduce obstetric violence in clinical and educational settings.
The Midterm Meeting in MSCA projects is a formal review held approximately halfway through the project’s duration. During this meeting, consortium partners present their progress and completed deliverables to the European Research Executive Agency (REA) and other stakeholders, receive feedback, and agree on the plan for the remaining project activities to ensure successful completion and knowledge transfer.
IPOV Consortium Midterm Meeting
Print-Ready A4 Posters (CMYK)
IPOV Midterm Meeting Social Media Toolkit
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Evento principal: del 25 al 27 de junio (URV, Tarragona)
Evento previo: del 17 al 20 de junio (VHIR, Barcelona)
Midterm Meeting (del 25 al 27 de junio, Tarragona)
La Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) será la sede del Midterm Meeting del proyecto europeo IPOV RESPECTFULCARE, un proyecto de investigación financiado por la Unión Europea a través del programa Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange (HORIZON-MSCA).
Este programa impulsa la colaboración internacional entre universidades, centros de investigación y organizaciones sociales mediante el intercambio de personal investigador y técnico. En este caso, el proyecto IPOV trabaja para visibilizar y abordar la violencia obstétrica desde un enfoque interdisciplinar y transnacional, promoviendo prácticas de parto respetado y cuidados basados en los derechos humanos.
La reunión servirá para evaluar los avances del proyecto, coordinar las próximas etapas y reforzar el trabajo conjunto entre Europa y América Latina.
Semana de Formación (del 17 al 20 de junio, Barcelona)
El Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR) organiza, en el marco del proyecto europeo IPOV RESPECTFULCARE, una semana de formación dirigida a investigadoras y profesionales sanitarias de Europa y Latinoamérica. Coordinada por la Dra. Serena Brigidi (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departamento de Antropología, Filosofía y Trabajo Social), integrante del Grupo de Medicina Materno-Fetal del VHIR, la iniciativa tiene como objetivo fomentar el intercambio interdisciplinar entre ciencias sociales y biomédicas, explorar herramientas formativas innovadoras y generar reflexión crítica sobre la violencia obstétrica y los caminos hacia su erradicación.
Evento principal: del 25 al 27 de junio
Evento previo: del 17 al 20 de junio
