Gender in climate action training pack: A resource for practitioners

• Level: Introductory
• Time commitment: 15 hours
• Learning product: online self paced course
• Sector: gender, climate, development
• Language: English
• Certificate available: No

This course is hosted on the Resources tab of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN). CDKN is a global Southern-led programme founded in 2010. The programme is managed bySouthSouthNorth, and implemented in partnership withFundación Futuro Latinoamericano andICLEI South Asia. Please find the Gender in climate action training pack: A resource for practitioners, where you can register for full access.

Introduction

CDKN has developed and recently updated (July 2023) a pack of presentations and exercises for facilitators to use in training settings, to help climate and development professionals to integrate gender perspectives into climate projects and programmes.

The resource pack is developed in response to requests by many climate and development practitioners around the world for a ‘how to do it’ guide on integrating gender and other aspects of social inclusion into climate projects and programmes.

*This article provides an overview of the training modules. The full course with all exercises and learning material can be accessed here through registration on theCDKN site.

Institutional background and trainer

The pack was developed by staff of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN). Since 2018, CDKN has been led by South Africa-based organisation SouthSouthNorth (SSN), working closely with its partners Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA) in Quito, Ecuador, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, South Asia in Delhi, India and ODI in London, United Kingdom.

The principal author of the training pack was Mairi Dupar, ODI, and with significant substantive contributions throughout by Bedoshruti Sadhukhan and Geeta Sandal (ICLEI South Asia) and Patricia Velasco (FFLA). Further elements of the pack, particularly the games, were based on concepts developed by Patricia Velasco and Camelia Sofiea (FFLA) and Janot Mendler de Suarez, a colleague at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre; these colleagues have been credited for their specific intellectual property, in the relevant exercises.

The current edition of the training pack was finalised in June 2021 and has been updated in July 2023.

Who would find this useful?

The training pack is for firstly facilitators – people who will present the pack, or components of it, to others for example:

• Gender and social inclusion specialists who are looking for a wider range of tips, tactics, tools and exercises with which to raise the awareness, understanding and capacity of other colleagues to integrate gender and social inclusion in climate action.
• Climate and development professionals with some knowledge of and openness to gender and social inclusion issues, who can use the modules and references contained therein to deepen their own knowledge and so gain the confidence to use the materials for training others.

Secondly, trainees will benefit – i.e. those people who will benefit from trainings that use the materials in this pack:

Climate and development professionals who are charged with designing, delivering (including budgeting for), monitoring, evaluating and adaptive programming of climate change resilience, adaptation and mitigation interventions. The materials in this pack have very broad applicability across these domains. Given the evidence that we present on the importance of gender-responsiveness and social inclusion in running effective climate projects and programmes, we assert that the approaches suggested in the training pack are not just for people with a formal mandate in these issues; the approaches are for everyone who is working on climate compatible development.

Training materials

The facilitator may use these short introductory slides, which summarise the contents of the full course and can be tailored to suit the circumstances.

• The different sections in the pack maybe used independently or in combination, based on participants’ interests and needs.
• The material is all ‘creative commons’ and may be used freely, we just ask that you attribute it to CDKN or to the original source (where noted).
• Interactive games are included in the training modules to keep the trainees engaged during the sessions.
• Case studies and handouts are all available, alongside the slide presentations, to help participants learn and discuss together.

Module 1: International and national frameworks

• Powerpoint slides: Gender in international policy frameworks that are relevant to climate action (Updated! July 2023). For the facilitator.
• Participant handout: Gender in the international frameworks: A guide to key texts.

Module 2: Why a gender approach is needed

• Powerpoint: Why a gender approach is needed (Updated! July 2023). For the facilitator.
• Powerpoint: Bonus slides for group work and discussion on how women and men experience water insecurity differently (New! July 2023) For the facilitator.
• Participant handout: Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) project handout, for use in the group exercise. For distributing, ideally in hard copy, either to every participant or at least, to every small group of participants that will form for the group-work.
• Case study publications to accompany the slides: Climate-smart agriculture takes off thanks to women-friendly tools and a gender-smart approach (Nepal); and Empowering women as climate-smart agriculture leaders proves key to resilience (rural India). May be distributed to participants to support discussion and learning.

Module 3: Assessing people’s climate risks and resilience

• Powerpoint slides: Assessing people’s climate risks and resilience.For facilitators.
• Participant handout Guidance on integrating gender equity and social inclusion in stakeholder consultation processes (adapted from ICLEI’s CapaCITIES project). For distribution to all participants as a handout, in digital or hard copy.
• Participant handouts: A blank template for the UNFCCC/UN Women’s problem tree exercise (Word doc), for participants to use in laying out the climate/development problem and its gender challenges, to identify risks and hurdles to action and to help devise interventions. Also, a worked example of a problem tree analysis from Nepal (image file).

Module 4: Assess options for and plan gender-responsive, socially-inclusive climate solutions

• Powerpoint slides: Assess options for and plan gender-responsive, socially-inclusive climate solutions. (Updated! July 2023.) For facilitators.
• Participant handout: Prioritising resilience actions (ICLEI-ACCCRN resilience interventions options tool)
• Facilitators’ handout: Facilitator’s instructions for the Climate and Society game.
• Game-play card set: Climate and Society game sets. An introductory overview of the cards is available on this CDKN web page. Each set comprises: Title (welcome) card; Scenario card of the fictional setting of the game; Character cards, including the Environment Officer / Climate Change Officer Character who is the discussion leader of each small group. Although originally designed to be played face to face, this interactive, serious fun game can be modified for use online!

Module 5: Commit equity responsive budget

• Powerpoint slides: Commit equity responsive budget.For facilitators.
• Case study publication to accompany the slides: Supporting climate action through gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal. May be distributed to participants to support discussion and learning.

Module 6: Implement projects and programmes inclusively

• Powerpoint slides: Implement projects and programmes inclusively. For facilitators.
• Participant handout: Gender and social inclusion bingo game. To be distributed for pair work or small group discussion.

• An optional case study (accompanies either Module 4 or Module 6) describes how targeting a disadvantaged group of Ethiopian women – those from pastoralist backgrounds – yielded benefits for them and positive ripple effects in their families and communities. See the optional, additional case study slides and CDKN Inside Story publication: Rural Ethiopian women diversify livelihoods and boost entire communities’ resilience.

Learning outcomes

Specifically, the training aims to help participants:

• Understand internationally accepted and widely committed frameworks for gender equality in development and climate action.
• Understand why gender and social inclusion are relevant to climate policies, programmes and activities.
• Learn how to think critically about gender and social inclusion issues throughout a typical programme / project cycle, from the design and consultation stages, through planning, budgeting, delivery and monitoring and evaluation.
• Appreciate how gender-responsive and socially-inclusive approaches increase the effectiveness and sustainability of climate action; and how gender-blind approaches undermine the effectiveness of climate action.
• Learn about tried, tested and recommended tools for identifying and addressing gender- and social inclusion-related concerns and be able to apply them, through guided group work and practice.
• Learn how to set outcomes, targets and indicators for gender-equitable, socially inclusive outcomes and how to develop budgets to ensure that activities achieve these outcomes.
• Learn from the experiences of other practitioners. As well as all providing best practice examples from CDKN and international sources, in of the training modules and exercises are designed so that participants share knowledge and experience with each other.

Learning objective of module 1: To learn about international policy frameworks that relate to climate action and women’s and girls’ empowerment:

• The Sustainable Development Goals
• The Sendai Agreement on Disaster Risk Reduction (climate-related disasters)
• The Paris Agreement on Climate Change
• And the related United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Learning objective of module 2: To learn about:

• How people are differently impacted by climate change
• Why gender matters and how to think about the intersection of gender and other forms of social inclusion or exclusion – and what it means for effective climate action
• How involving women in climate action includes all people’s skills and knowledge improves outcomes.

Learning objective of module 3: To acquire:

• A conceptual overview of how we understand and measure people’s vulnerability, risks and resilience associated with climate change, with reference to gender and other forms of social diversity
• Introduction to resilience assessment tools.

Learning objective of module 4: To learn:

• How to funnel the assessment of people’s climate-related development needs, risks and capacities into an assessment of possible solutions using complementary methods.
• Ideas for taking the range of solutions and mapping them to a project or programme plan that will deliver improved outcomes for women and girls, and for everyone.

Learning objective of module 5: To learn:

• Frameworks for allocating resources to achieve climate-smart gender-responsive objectives
• How you could apply these frameworks to your programmes and projects.

Learning objective of module 6: To learn:

• Key operational measures that will ensure inclusivity of diverse people’s talents and needs in programme delivery
  • Target- and indicator-driven operational measures (quantitative)
  • Work and organisational culture issues (more qualitative)
• Why these things matter and why it’s important to get them right.