CEOS.PP researchers strengthen international cooperation through the INSEAI Project

Anabela Mesquita and Sandrina Teixeira, lecturers at ISCAP and researchers at CEOS.PP, undertook a secondment at the University of A Coruña (Spain) as part of the European INSEAI project (HORIZON Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange, GA 101182756). The main objective was to consolidate collaboration between teams and deepen understanding of methodologies for studying informality, particularly when associated with digitalisation and gender.

From 20 August to 20 September, a systematic review of recent literature was conducted in the Web of Knowledge, SCOPUS, and SCOPUS AI databases, focusing on “informality”, “digital*”, and “gender”, restricted to the last five years. The selected articles were analysed based on Saunders' ‘Research Onion’ model, allowing us to map methodological practices, evaluate comparative and interdisciplinary approaches, and propose a research agenda for the next five years. This work is part of the Observatory being developed under the INSEAI Project, which is supported by CEOS.PP, reinforcing the consortium's comparative research capacity.

The secondment had a strong impact on institutional cooperation. In addition to the informal presentation of preliminary results, the two institutions intend to expand the group of researchers given the excellent results obtained - a process that is currently underway. This decision will allow for further study of a niche that is still largely unexplored and strengthen collaboration and knowledge exchange within the INSEAI network.

The next steps include the joint organisation of a workshop within the scope of the project, as well as the preparation of scientific publications and methodological training proposals for young researchers. These initiatives aim to increase INSEAI's impact on the academic community and decision-makers in Europe and Latin America.