Abstract
Energy poverty affects women in developing countries more severely than it affects men; at the same time, women have less control over household resources and are often not involved in decision-making processes on energy matters. In order for transition processes of energy systems to be sustainable, these gender-related concerns need to be addressed. Although this link is widely recognized, gender aspects are still not well perceived in the planning of energy projects. To better understand the role of gender concerns in project planning, the research presented in this paper evaluates concepts of small-scale sustainable energy projects with regard to their gender sensitivity. The data originates from an expert evaluation process and was analyzed with focus on gender-related aspects. The results show that even in sustainable energy projects the issue is still not high on the agenda.
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Notes
- 1.
“WISIONS of sustainability” is an initiative by the Wuppertal Institute supported by the Swiss-based foundation ProEvolution. It was launched in 2004 to promote practical and sustainable energy projects. To ensure the sustainable character of the projects supported by the SEPS scheme their selection is based on the following set of criteria: technical viability, economic feasibility, local and global environmental benefits, replicability and marketability, potential for poverty reduction, social equity and gender issues, local involvement and employment, potential, sound implementation strategy and dissemination concept. For more detailed information on the program, please visit the website www.wisions.net.
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Terrapon-Pfaff, J., Dienst, C., Ortiz, W. (2015). The Role of Gender Concerns in the Planning of Small-Scale Energy Projects in Developing Countries. In: Groh, S., van der Straeten, J., Edlefsen Lasch, B., Gershenson, D., Leal Filho, W., Kammen, D. (eds) Decentralized Solutions for Developing Economies. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15964-5_25
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