The Gender, Environment and Development research cluster ...€¦ · Mekong River Basin Gender...
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FACT SHEET Gender, Environment and Development (GED) is a research cluster in SEI’s Asia Centre, a team of gender professionals with a particular interest in how inequalities affect the use of natural resources in the course of development. GED applies a gender and social equity perspective to environment and devel- opment issues, contributing to transformative policy agendas. We are working towards socially inclusive and sustainable development where decision and policy making processes are informed by research, represent interests of different social groups, and address key drivers of gender and social injustice. We bring our findings to the attention of decision makers, civil society actors and other knowledge producers, and apply our knowledge through engagement with networks of research- ers, practitioners and advocates. As researchers, we contribute to debates around gender and environment, feminist political ecology, ecofeminism, and other gender analysis and methodo- logical frameworks. SEI is a project-based and highly collaborative research institute. The GED research cluster works on projects sup- ported by international development cooperation agencies and other organizations. Our team has a strong social science background, with expertise drawing from development studies, political science, human geography and natural resource man- agement. While we are based in SEI’s Asia Centre in Bang- kok, we work with SEI colleagues in multidisciplinary teams across the seven SEI centres worldwide. GED members also have extensive experience in gender mainstreaming, capacity building and mentoring, and program management in partner- ship with local and international development organizations, research institutes, and government agencies. Key projects GED is involved in a range of projects across Asia. Below is a selection of projects that reflect the breadth of our work. Gender and Social Equity programme at SEI GED co-leads the SEI global programme on Gender and Social Equity, which is bringing together experts from across The Gender, Environment and Development research cluster in SEI Asia the institute to undertake cutting-edge research on gender and social equity issues in environment and development. The pro- gramme also aims to integrate gender and social equity issues in SEI projects wherever possible. Geospatial technologies in the Mekong Region The SERVIR-Mekong programme aims to help Lower Mekong countries develop and access satellite imagery and geospatial technologies for environmental management and climate change responses. GED is mainstreaming gender in SERVIR-Mekong by working with women’s organizations to access the tools. It is also engaging with geospatial special- ists for natural resource management, disaster risk manage- ment, and climate change resilience building in the Lower Mekong countries. Women’s participation in environmental impact assessments GED is investigating women’s public participation in envi- ronmental impact assessment processes in Vietnam, Cambo- dia and Myanmar as part of the Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE). Together with local research partners, the GED team is exploring how social, political and institutional constraints may inhibit equal participation by women and men Research themes GED is focusing its research on two sets of issues of prime importance for development in Asia: • Disasters and climate change Global efforts to build resilience through climate change adapta- tion and disaster risk reduction aim to be inclusive of women and men by addressing gender-unequal vulnerabilities while recognizing and strengthening capacities. However, it is unclear whether these efforts are achieving the necessary transformation. GED’s re- search investigates the drivers of gender inequality that shape vulnerabilities to disasters and climate change and efforts to mitigate them. Our interests include displacements, gender-based violence, care manage- ment, livelihood changes, and access and control rights to resources in disaster contexts. • Large-scale land and water investments Local and global demand for food, and more recently fuel, has been driving the expansion of agricultural, extractive and energy industries, as well as “green” investments, in Asia. Such investments have reshaped ecological systems and caused dispossessions, dis- placement, and changes in land and labour rights. All of these factors affect the overall livelihood secu- rity and well-being of rural women and men. GED research investigates the reconfiguration of gendered agricultural labour regimes and mobility; the negotia- tion of women’s water and land rights; investment transaction transparency and safeguards compliance; and the overall role of power in shaping negotiation processes in large-scale land and water investments. Community meeting. Woman raises hand to speak. Aurangabad, India. Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank
Transcript of The Gender, Environment and Development research cluster ...€¦ · Mekong River Basin Gender...
FACT SHEET
Gender, Environment and Development (GED) is a research cluster in SEI’s Asia Centre, a team of gender professionals with a particular interest in how inequalities affect the use of natural resources in the course of development. GED applies a gender and social equity perspective to environment and devel-opment issues, contributing to transformative policy agendas.
We are working towards socially inclusive and sustainable development where decision and policy making processes are informed by research, represent interests of different social groups, and address key drivers of gender and social injustice. We bring our findings to the attention of decision makers, civil society actors and other knowledge producers, and apply our knowledge through engagement with networks of research-ers, practitioners and advocates. As researchers, we contribute to debates around gender and environment, feminist political ecology, ecofeminism, and other gender analysis and methodo-logical frameworks.
SEI is a project-based and highly collaborative research institute. The GED research cluster works on projects sup-ported by international development cooperation agencies and other organizations. Our team has a strong social science background, with expertise drawing from development studies, political science, human geography and natural resource man-agement. While we are based in SEI’s Asia Centre in Bang-kok, we work with SEI colleagues in multidisciplinary teams across the seven SEI centres worldwide. GED members also have extensive experience in gender mainstreaming, capacity building and mentoring, and program management in partner-ship with local and international development organizations, research institutes, and government agencies.
Key projectsGED is involved in a range of projects across Asia. Below is a selection of projects that reflect the breadth of our work.
Gender and Social Equity programme at SEIGED co-leads the SEI global programme on Gender and Social Equity, which is bringing together experts from across
The Gender, Environment and Development research cluster in SEI Asia
the institute to undertake cutting-edge research on gender and social equity issues in environment and development. The pro-gramme also aims to integrate gender and social equity issues in SEI projects wherever possible.
Geospatial technologies in the Mekong RegionThe SERVIR-Mekong programme aims to help Lower Mekong countries develop and access satellite imagery and geospatial technologies for environmental management and climate change responses. GED is mainstreaming gender in SERVIR-Mekong by working with women’s organizations to access the tools. It is also engaging with geospatial special-ists for natural resource management, disaster risk manage-ment, and climate change resilience building in the Lower Mekong countries.
Women’s participation in environmental impact assessmentsGED is investigating women’s public participation in envi-ronmental impact assessment processes in Vietnam, Cambo-dia and Myanmar as part of the Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE). Together with local research partners, the GED team is exploring how social, political and institutional constraints may inhibit equal participation by women and men
Research themesGED is focusing its research on two sets of issues of prime importance for development in Asia:
• Disasters and climate change Global efforts to build resilience through climate change adapta-tion and disaster risk reduction aim to be inclusive of women and men by addressing gender-unequal vulnerabilities while recognizing and strengthening capacities. However, it is unclear whether these efforts are achieving the necessary transformation. GED’s re-search investigates the drivers of gender inequality that shape vulnerabilities to disasters and climate change and efforts to mitigate them. Our interests include displacements, gender-based violence, care manage-ment, livelihood changes, and access and control rights to resources in disaster contexts.
• Large-scale land and water investments Local and global demand for food, and more recently fuel, has been driving the expansion of agricultural, extractive and energy industries, as well as “green” investments, in Asia. Such investments have reshaped ecological systems and caused dispossessions, dis-placement, and changes in land and labour rights. All of these factors affect the overall livelihood secu-rity and well-being of rural women and men. GED research investigates the reconfiguration of gendered agricultural labour regimes and mobility; the negotia-tion of women’s water and land rights; investment transaction transparency and safeguards compliance; and the overall role of power in shaping negotiation processes in large-scale land and water investments.
Community meeting. Woman raises hand to speak. Aurangabad, India.
Phot
o: S
imon
e D
. McC
ourt
ie /
Wor
ld B
ank
Selected publicationsNguyen, H., Boyland, M., and Resurrección, B.P. (forth-
coming). Gender Analysis of GIZ Thailand Projects. Resurrección, B.P., Nguyen, H., Taalaibekkyzy, A., and
Gilmore, T. (forthcoming). Gender in EIA: Prospects for a Regional Standard. Bangkok: SEI.
Resurrección, B.P. (2015). Gender, floods and mobile sub-jects: A post-disaster view. In Gendered Entanglements: Re-visiting Gender in a Rapidly Changing Asia, R. Lund, P. Doneys, and B.P Resurrección, eds. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), Copenhagen.
Resurrección, B.P., Johnson, K. (2015). Gender and GIS: Guidance notes. Bangkok: SERVIR-Mekong.
Huynh, P.T.A. and Resurrección, B.P. (2014). Women’s differentiated vulnerability and adaptations to climate- related agricultural water scarcity in rural Central Vietnam. Climate and Development, 6(3). 226–37. DOI:10.1080/17565529.2014.886989.
Resurrección, B. P. and Nguyen, H. (2014). Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy: An Assessment of Gender Related Programs and Organisations in Lower Mekong Sub-Region. Project report for Mekong Partner-ship for Environment. Stockholm Environment Institute, Bangkok.
Resurrección, B. P., Segnestam, L., Swartling, Å.G. and Davis, M. (2014). SEI Research Synthesis: Gender, Development and Sustainability. SEI research synthe-sis brief. Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm and Bangkok. http://www.sei-international.org/publications?pid=2609.
Resurrección, B.P. (2013). Persistent women and environ-ment linkages in climate change and sustainable devel-opment agendas. Women’s Studies International Forum, 40. 33–43. DOI:10.1016/j.wsif.2013.03.011.
Resurrección, B.P. (2012). The gender and climate debate: More of the same or new ways of doing and thinking? In Human Security and Climate Change in Southeast Asia, L. Elliot and M. Caballero-Anthony, eds. Rout-ledge, Taylor & Francis, London.
sei-international.org2016
Twitter: @SEIresearch, @SEIclimate
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Stockholm Environment Institute15th Floor, Witthyakit Building 254 Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn Soi 64 Phyathai Road, Pathumwan Bangkok 10330 THAILAND +66 2 251 4415
Contacts: Bernadette P. Resurrección [email protected] Nguyen [email protected]
in environmental impact assessments and the equitable distri-bution of benefits gained. GED is recommending cost-effective and sustainable ways to promote gender-equal participation in environmental impact assessments for development projects. These findings will inform the development of a regional stan-dard for these assessments.
Gender mainstreaming in development projectsGED conducted a gender analysis on two development projects (Connecting Climate Action and National Adaptation Plan, and Effective In-Company Vocational Training-Mekong Region), and developed indicators for monitoring and evaluation.
Climate-related water stresses in peri-urban Southeast AsiaGED conducted research on gendered, social, political, economic and biophysical drivers of vulnerability in the peri-urban areas of Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as on people’s adaptive responses to water stresses. The project also launched a master’s degree programme on urban water, gender and climate change for development profession-als in the public sector, to build capacities for more holistic planning in peri-urban areas.
Mekong River Basin Gender Profiles in water and agricultureGED contributed to the Four Basin Gender Profiles project led by the International Water Management Institute by geo-spatially mapping the gendered aspects of water man-agement and agriculture in the Mekong River Basin. These maps provide policy-makers, donors, researchers, NGOs and civil society groups with a better understanding of how gender affects resource access and use with each river basin. That knowledge could be used to improve equity in future growth.
Phot
o: R
oeng
chai
Kon
gmua
ng
Women fisher in Tonle Sap, Cambodia.
