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Integrating gender into climate change research - an energy access perspective

Presented by: Whitney Pailman

Supervisor: Dr Jiska de Groot

ACDI SAF –ADAPT SUMMER SCHOOL

09 February 2022

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Outline

1. The climate change-gender-energy nexus

2. Gender concepts

3. Gender and climate change impacts

4. Why should we consider gender in climate change research

5. Ways to include in climate change research

6. Project case studies: TEA-LP and Umbane

7. Entry points for gender in research design

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The climate change, gender and energy nexus

Climate action as expressed in United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 'taking urgent action to combat climate change and it’s impacts’ is one of the pertinent global imperatives of our time and is situated at the nexus of many sustainable development goals including affordable and clean energy, clean water and sanitation, zero hunger and sustainable cities and communities. Globally and within the continent of Africa, various challenges continue to be a lived reality for millions of people including a lack of access to modern and clean energy, water scarcity, food insecurity, disease, natural disasters and conflict.

Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as highlighted in SDG 5, as a goal in itself, is increasingly recognised as a central part of climate action and achieving other sustainable development goals. The academic and policy discourses acknowledge the drivers and impacts of climate change are gendered and SDG 13 cannot be fully achieved without giving due consideration to the impacts of gender. This has been echoed in at COP 26 in Glasgow last year.

The focus of our projects have been the nexus between clean and affordable energy, gender and climate change. Energy systems in transition are faced with multiple challenges including ensuring energy security, providing access to modern and affordable energy services and minimising the effects of energy systems on climate change (Cherp, Jewell & Goldthau, 2011; WEC, 2016)

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Gender concepts

Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and status of women and men and diverse gender identities, the culturally specific characteristics defining their social behaviour, and the relationships between them.

Gender roles– status and relations vary according to place (countries, regions, and villages), class, ethnicity, generations.

Gender cuts across social identity, intersecting with a variety of other identities, including class, race and ethnicity, age, and family structures, among others.

That we should inform our understanding of

energy and ecology through gender audits of cultures: how the existing

norms and power relations between women and men within the household

and in the community shape our data production and analysis of energy transitions, as well as policies and institutions of energy governance.

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Gender concepts (cont.)

Gender equality means that the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favoured equally

Gender equity recognises that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

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Gender and climate change impacts

Source: World Bank, FAO, 2017

From the figure we can see a range of climate change impacts and the how gender inequalities exacerbate these impacts. For example as a result of crop failure women experience increased agricultural work and overall household food production burden. Many women spend significant amount of time collecting fuelwood for cooking and other energy uses. With regard to water scarcity UN Women finds that in 80% of water deprived households, women and girls bare the burden of water collection. We can furthermore see that women have higher incidences of mortality and in natural disasters and as as caregivers experience increased burdens for caring as well as a lack of access to health care facilities. While conflict and displacement similarly increase the vulnerability of women.

So from the above we can see that Gender inequalities have social, economic, political, and cultural implications for individuals responding to climate change. Examining gender is important because women, men tend to have systematically different experiences in relation to climate change based on the inequalities associated with socially constructed gender roles (1, 2).

Gender serves as an important dimension of both vulnerability and adaptation, that is, whether and how women and men are affected by and respond to climate change (3, 4). (GGCA 2016 report)

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Why should we consider gender in climate change research?

Vulnerabilities to impacts of climate change are gendered (Rao et al., 2019; World Economic Forum, 2020).
It impacts the nature of data and how it’s generated in terms of agenda setting and the methodologies used (Clancy et al., 2020).
It serves as an ‘audit of culture’ – showing how existing power relations between women and men within the household and community shape data production and analysis (Clancy et al., 2020).
It helps to make the gendered impacts of climate change more visible (Sawas and Bose, 2021).

‘It is important to consider, through a gendered lens, who has access to, control over and benefits from the assets and resources in your home and community in order to build resilience, target information, and facilitate mobility.’ (Annecke, 2010)

As several studies and development reports and academic literature concur, vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change are gendered. Rao et al. 2020 who explored the link between gender and climate vulnerabilities through an example of water scarcity in semi- arid countries in Africa and Asia finds that ‘policy approaches aimed at strengthening local communities adaptive capacity largely fail to recognize the gendered nature of everyday realities and experiences.

In their recent book Engendering the energy transition, Professor Joy Clancy and co-authors highlights that a gender perspective is important because it impacts

‘the nature of data and how data are generated—both in terms of agenda setting and methodologies employed.’

Still within the context of energy transitions Clancy et al 2020 states that that ‘we should inform our understanding of energy and ecology through gender audits of cultures: how the existing

norms and power relations between women and men within the household and in the community shape our data production and analysis of energy transitions, as well as policies and institutions of energy governance.

‘It is important to consider, through a gendered lens, who has access to, control over and benefits from the assets and resources in your home and community in order to build resilience, target information, and facilitate mobility.’ Wendy Annecke 2010

Furthermore it helps to make the gendered impacts of climate change more visible as well as to enhance the impact research

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Why should we consider gender in climate change research? (Cont.)

It affects access to climate information as women and men have different levels of access to important climate information (Henriksson et al. 2020)
It is necessary to recognise the important contributions of women as decision makers, stakeholders, educators, carers and experts across sectors and at all levels can lead to successful, long-term solutions to climate change.
Women have proven to be leading the way towards more equitable and sustainable solutions to climate change. Across sectors, women’s innovations and expertise have transformed lives and livelihoods, and increased climate resilience and overall well-being.
It helps to enhance the impact of climate change research.

In Understanding gender differences in availability, accessibility and use of climate information among smallholder farmers in Malawi Henrikson et al show how women small-holder farmers have differentiated access to important climate information and this impacts on their ability to respond to and adapt to climate events.

Impacts of variability and change in rainfall on gender of farmers in Anambra, Southeast Nigeria

O.I. Nnadi et al 2019

Men and women responses revealed that there were statistically significant (p < 0.005) changes in the onset of rainy season; alteration of growing seasons; frequent flooding and frequent drought. Women felt more impact of food insecurity, water shortage and had more burden of migration due to changes in rainfall. This study concludes that respondents perceived and experienced impacts of CVC which varied across gender. Hence, it recommends the provision of sustainable water and irrigation system which should encourage women's participation in the construction, maintenance and management among others.

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Ways to include gender in climate change research?

Gender Research Rubric
Gender-blind	Gender (the differentiated and intersectional experiences of women, men, and gender diverse groups) is not considered in the research project; not even in its conceptualization or its rationale.
Gender-aware	Gender is considered in the research project’s rationale, but is not an operative concept in the design and methodology.
Gender- sensitive	Gender is considered in the research project’s rationale, project design and methodology. Data is disaggregated by gender, and gender is also considered in the composition of the research team and reviewers.
Gender-responsive	Gender is considered in the research project’s rationale, design, and methodology and is rigorously analysed with a view to inform implementation, communication, and influencing strategies.
Gender-transformative	Examines, analyses, and builds an evidence base to inform long-term practical changes in structural gender power relations and norms, roles and inequalities. Gender-transformative research should lead to sustained change through action (e.g. partnerships, outreach, and interventions, particularly with women’s rights organizations).

Source: Oxfam, 2019

Depending on the scope, aims and nature of your research project there can be different ways in which to incorporate gender into the research design of your project.

Oxfam, 2019 provides a useful rubric for including gender in research projects, which includes gender blind, gender aware, gender sensitive, gender responsive and gender transformative research.

Gender blind: Gender (the differentiated and intersectional experiences of women, men, and gender diverse groups) is not considered in the research project; not even in its conceptualization or its rationale.

Gender-aware: Gender is considered in the research project’s rationale, but is not an operative concept in the design and methodology.

Gender- sensitive - Gender is considered in the research project’s rationale, project design and methodology. Data is disaggregated by gender, and gender is also considered in the composition of the research team and reviewers.

Gender-responsive - Gender is considered in the research project’s rationale, design, and methodology and is rigorously analysed with a view to inform implementation, communication, and influencing strategies.

Gender-transformative - Examines, analyses, and builds an evidence base to inform long-term practical changes in structural gender power relations and norms, roles and inequalities. Gender-transformative research should lead to sustained change through action (e.g. partnerships, outreach, and interventions, particularly with women’s rights organizations).

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Overview of the TEA-LP

Workshop 2 – Addis Ababa February 2020

The TEA Learning partnership is the first of the two case studies I will be discussing. This project is about design post-graduate Masters programmes for sustainable energy access including a gender perspective.

The TEA-Learning partnership seeks to support the achievement of SDG 7 through skills and capacity building to eight partner universities in Africa, recognising the importance of human capital for universal access to energy. To this end, partner universities are provided with technical and financial support to develop new MSc programmes in renewable energy and energy access specialisations that are responsive to SDG7, and have all launched their new MSc programmes with TEA-LP support.

In the context of the TEA-LP, gender mainstreaming is about equipping partner universities with positive practices and tools to create gender inclusive teaching and learning environments.

As part of the gender research component of the TEA-LP, we engaged with partner universities during the second capacity building workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2020, to better understand how we could support them to create more inclusive teaching and learning environments and sensitise Masters students in their programmes to a gender perspective for transforming energy access.

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Gender research methodology - TEA-LP

Qualitative research methods
Data collection: Semi-structured interviews with female and male academic staff at TEA-LP universities
Thematic analysis in NVIVO 12
Themes explored: championing gender awareness at a departmental level, gender and course enrolment, gender in the curriculum and pedagogy, gender roles in society and perceptions about energy professions.

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Six ‘levers’ for gender mainstreaming

Gender focused learning outcomes
Gender and energy access content
Gender and inclusive teaching and learning activities
Multi-disciplinary programmes
Enrolment and retention of female students
An enabling environment for all university staff

Combining these insights with a review of the current literature we recently published a Guidance Note on Gender on Mainstreaming in energy access teaching and learning programmes.

This Guidance Note highlights 6 opportunities or ‘levers’ for course designers, convenors and lecturers to embed gender considerations in the design and delivery of their Masters programmes.

It is worth noting that the TEA-LP has embedded gender in the curriculum design process itself through gender diverse curriculum design teams and workshop sessions.

Levers 1,2 &3

Looking at levers 1,2 and 3 which speak to the core of the curriculum design – partner universities have embedded gender as cross-cutting topics in one or more of their course learning outcomes, which have been informed by sector engagement with industry in their respective countries, with a key focus on the development of soft skills like communicaition, critical thinking and team work.

Or to be able to apply a gender lens to the design of mini-grids to enhance project outcomes, looking at women and men in the value chain, as producers and consumers of energy.

For content support students are provided with key readings exploring the gender energy access nexus in their country contexts.

Lever 4

Multi-disciplinary programmes create an opportunity to attract a wider range of students, of different genders, interests and undergraduate backgrounds into Masters programmes. This also allows for the integration of social, environmental and economic perspectives in the more technical engineering focussed MSc specialisations.

Lever 5 Enrolment & retention of female students (Lever 5)

Beyond the core curriculum support, financial support is really important,,, and engaging with our partner universities, they expressed that for female students in particular scholarships are needed to enable more female students to enrol in these programmes. Recognising the financial barriers TEA-LP partnered with the Liechtenstein Institute for Strategic Development (LISD) to create the REED / TEA-LP Scholarship Programme, launched in 2020.

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Overview of the Umbane Project

Newton Funded project - collaboration with UCT and the University of Exeter

The UMBANE project is located in Qandu-Qandu an informal settlement as part of an extension of Khayelitsha in Cape Town that is unelectrified.

UMBANE (the isiXhosa word for ‘electricity’) delivers innovative renewable energy-powered sustainable business solutions through solar-powered fridges, powered by solar mini-grids

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Solar Tower in Qandu-Qandu (Source: Zonke Energy)

The Umbane project is a Newton funded project in partnership with the university of cape town, led by Dr Jiska de Groot, and Prof Federico Caprotti at the University of Exeter. This project cuts across various sustainable development imperatives including affordable and clean energy and building sustainable cities and communities

The UMBANE project (umbane is the isiXhosa word for ‘electricity’) delivers innovative renewable energy-powered sustainable business solutions to informal settlements in South Africa through renewables-based productive use appliance (solar-powered fridges) businesses, powered by solar minigrids. The key innovation in UMBANE is adding (for the first time) a refrigeration capacity that can be used to generate economic activity and employment relying on off-grid, renewable and safe electricity.

As this is an informal settlement on a wetland under transmission lines – as has been categorized as a type 3 settlement that is very unlikely to receive grid electrification. Ans as a consequence many residents in informal settlements are dependent on paraffin, wood and informal connections for lighting and cooking, which has many adverse health and safety impacts. Decentralised solutions like solar mini-grids can offer a cleaner and safer alternative, with the potential for productive uses of electricity

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Supporting women owned solar fridge businesses in Qandu- Qandu

Business development support and mentorship
The purpose of the entrepreneurial bootcamp is ‘educating, empowering and enabling’ women in the community to create micro-enterprises using solar powered fridges

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Umbane Entrepreneurship Training (Source: Story Room)

Through the core project team an ecosystem was created through tailored business support from our training partner Story Room (through an entrepreneurship bootcamp and ongoing mentorship) technology support through the mini-grid developer Zonke Energy, Thrie Energy Collective and the research team at the University of Cape Town and University of Exeter.
The purpose of the entrepreneurial bootcamp is ‘educating, empowering and enabling’ women in the community who are potential and suitable participants to create micro-enterprises using solar powered fridges (Story Room October progress report)
These sessions were instrumental in gauging participant's understanding of solar energy and their ‘appetite’ to acquire solar fridges and how this could enhance existing businesses which range from food-based enterprises like tuck-shops and fisheries to a need for a refrigeration in a local creche.
Thus far the training sessions have been very engaging and interactive

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Gender research methodology -Umbane

Project rationale: to support women entrepreneurs through solar powered productive use appliances and business development training. At the end of the project, we aim to 21 female female owned enterprises using solar fridges.
Data collection

Interviews with the female entrepreneurs in the programme – sharing their entrepreneurial journeys and aspirations to grow – also including questions on gendered impacts of running a business.
Participant observation and feedback from weekly training and mentorship sessions
Survey – mobile phone- based survey with entrepreneurs in the programme and other fridge clients
Cash flow and business plan data – analysing the business plan information during the training sessions

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Entry points for gender in climate change research design

Aims and objectives - consider the aims and objectives of your project and how a gender perspective could be incorporated
Sampling technique – purposive sampling for qualitative interviews or random sampling for a representative
Data collection - gender disaggregated data in qualitative and quantitative methods
Data analysis – consider how you will analyse your data. Thematic analysis of interview data or statistical analysis of quantitative survey data (e.g. looking at how gender as a variable relates to other variables in your study).
Research dissemination – consider the audience of your research e.g. academic, policy or practice. Using your data and these platforms to challenge the gender stereotypes or bring to light important gender perspectives or impacts in your research.

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Aims and objectives - consider the aims and objectives of your project and how a gender perspective could be incorporated

Sampling technique – purposive sampling for qualitative interviews or random sampling for a representative

Data collection - gender disaggregated data in qualitative and quantitative methods

And while this examples were qualitative in nature other studies .e.g. Impacts of variability and change in rainfall on gender of farmers in Anambra, Southeast Nigeria

O.I. Nnadi et al 2019 provides and example of how climate data has been merged through a household survey of perceptions of impacts on rainfall with household survey data.

Data analysis – consider how you will analyse your data. Techniques could include thematic analysis of qualitative data (key themes related to gender in your research questions) or statistical analysis of quantitative survey data (e.g. looking at how gender as a variable relates to other variables in your study).

Research dissemination – consider the audience of your research e.g. academic, policy or practice.

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Thank you!

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Useful resources

Oxfam. 2019. Integrating gender into research planning

https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/integrating-gender-in-research-planning-620621/

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