ENERGIA Partnership

Mainstreaming Gender within Energy Research in the Global South with the International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy (ENERGIA)

The aims of the collaboration between the International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy (Energia) and the LCEDN are to: (a) to build value through establishing partnerships between existing DFID-funded research programmes on energy and development and enhancing learning by exchange between researchers on related topics or methodologies or geographic context, (b) to develop a series of recommendations for the RPDC for building capacity amongst DFID-funded researchers and other stakeholders in addressing gender perspectives as core components of energy and development research, (c) to enhance dissemination of research findings into policy by making reciprocal use of each network and a series of targeted influencing events.

This will be achieved via the following key activities:

1. Gender and Energy Researcher Development Workshop: We will jointly run a minimum of two workshops bringing together researchers from both networks to share experiences on related topics, methodologies and geographic context

a. To strengthen research conclusions and identify needs for research including ideas for future bid development.

b. To identify opportunities and barriers to incorporation of gender perspectives in research- as an input to recommendations to RPDC

c. To prepare coordinated messages and communication strategy for research into specific influencing of policy and practice- such as policy influencing events, workshop with RPDC.

2. Mainstreaming Gender in DFID-Funded Research. Members of the Energia network will be invited to contribute towards targeted activities within the wider LCEDN Partnerships for Skills Development programme. We will also use the workshops to develop joint publications (e.g. an LCEDN briefing paper on mainstreaming gender in energy and development research) and to develop recommendations on capacity building for the RPDC.

3. Dissemination of Research Findings into Policy. The workshops will also discuss mechanisms for how to achieve gender mainstreaming more broadly across the international energy access arena. We will fund members of both networks to collaborate in dissemination/influencing sessions within three specific country contexts.

4. Webinar Collaboration. The first Smart Villages/LCEDN/ENERGIA webinar took place in July 2016 exploring areas of interest around gender and local energy governance. We will continue to work together in ensuing that ENERGIA’s work on gender and energy is incorporated into the TEA programme and that there will be opportunities for the dissemination of materials produced through this specific collaboration on an inter-disciplinary and cross-sectoral basis.

ENERGIA:

ENERGIA was founded in 1996 by a group of women involved in gender and energy work in developing countries. To date, ENERGIA Networks have been established in 22 African and Asian countries, with an additional four incipient networks in Central America. ENERGIA believe that projects, programs and policies that explicitly address gender and energy issues have better outcomes and improve the livelihood of entire communities. By involving women in the development, delivery and use of modern energy, sustainability and adoption rates of these services are enhanced. In order to provide continued support and have gender be part of the developmental process, ENERGIA also creates unique training modules and tools for the energy sector. This way, local initiatives can be connected in a global context, creating an environment where groups can learn from each other and inspire across communities.