The purpose of WINE is to provide a common platform for European women's libraries to participate in joint European projects in the field of education and research in gender, women's and feminist studies. In this direction, WINE already co-operates with ATHENA to strengthen the link between academic research and information/documentation.
It aims at:

• co-ordinating the development of the partners' facilities in the direction of training and research;
• creating positive synergies with university programmes in Women's Studies;
• fulfilling a representative function for its partners within different programmes of the European Commission in the field of information and documentation services on women and gender.
• setting up specific regional meetings for professionals in the field, which will take place in the time-slots in-between the larger international 'Know How' conferences.
• broadening the number of partner institutions from all the European countries. Therefore special attention is given in both WINE and ATHENA to the development of co-operative ties with Eastern and Southern European partners.