Women, Watershed Management, and Climate

Change

By Patricia E. Perkins & Patricia Figueiredo Walker

Faculty of Environmental StudiesYork University

The Impacts of Climate Change on Women

Women are disproportionately affected by global climate change due to: Poverty and socially

constructed gender inequalities

Gendered work and family responsibilities

Reliance on natural resources for their livelihoods

Fewer financial, social, and institutional resources

“Women Digging, India” Photograph by Steve McCurry

“Green Lake, Mount Abu” Photograph by Igor Cavalli

Women: Key Agents of Change

• Women have special contributions to make towards climate change adaptation

• Women possess local ecological, social and political knowledge

“Tea Plantation, India” Photograph by Steve Winter, National Geographic

Climate Change and Variability

• By 2025, two-thirds of arable land in Africa will disappear (Bied-Charreton 2008)

• About 35 million people in the Southern African region are still using unimproved water sources (IPCC 2007)

• the distribution of precipitation, and intensity and frequency of precipitation events could potentially exacerbate both flooding and water scarcity (Anisfeld 2010).

“All Wet” Photograph by Marwan Naamani

“Waiting for Relief” Photograph by Daniel Berehulak

Addressing gender inequality in environmental

policy

• Acknowledging and addressing interactions

• Grassroots climate change approaches– Lay groundwork for broader participation– Long-term self-directed defense

strategies

• Social knowledge

Climate change and water governance in Brazil

Climate Change:• Deforestation and environmental degradation• Rural-urban migration; continued urbanizationCurrent Framework: • Progressive watershed management system—

requires participation by civil society on watershed committees– low-income people and women in particular are

still underrepresented

The Sister Watersheds project (2002-2008)

• Partnership between: Universities and NGOs in Canada and Brazil

• Combined student exchanges, research, community engagement, and “capacity-building”

• Addressed the lack of participation by and inclusion of civil society representatives, especially women, in water sector governance

The Sister Watersheds project (2002-2008)

• Developed and tested training programs and workshops led by local NGO partners

• Workshops focused on:– water management,– environmental education,– community development,– democratic participation

Climate change and water governance in Durban, Maputo, Nairobi

Climate Change Impacts• Coastal erosion, flooding,

salt water intrusion (Maputo)

• Coastal inundation, storm surges, sea level rise, heat waves (Durban)

• Water supply fluctuations, slum flooding (Nairobi)

“Water Tank, Kenya” Photograph by Lynn Johnson

Strengthening the role of civil society in water sector

governance towards climate change adaptation

• Improve watershed governance for climate change adaptation

• Increase resilience and adaptive capacity of vulnerable and marginalized groups, especially women

• Durban, Maputo and Nairobi

Our group gathers for a photo at a guava farm in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 08/2010

Project partners discuss climate change and water at the project’s inception meeting 08/2010

Workshop Participants learn about the PCJ Watershed

Skills training program for local girls

Strengthening the role of civil society in water sector

governance towards climate change adaptation

• Project Objectives:1. Characterize the institutional

framework for urban water governance in the three cities

2. Identify and test viable alternatives for enhancing civil society’s role towards adaptation to climate change

3. Share widely the knowledge generated

Strengthening the role of civil society in water sector

governance towards climate change adaptation

• Focuses on low-income areas of each city

• Methodology: collaboration between students, NGOs and academics and, community-based research and environmental education.

• Challenges the conventional notion that only educational institutions “produce” knowledge.

PCJ Project Coordinator presents educational materials on use of water

Prof. Perkins asks questions about the PCJ Watershed in São Paulo, Brazil

Examples of grassroots activities

• In Durban – “learning journeys”

• In Maputo – After-school activities/environmental

education

• In Nairobi– Building soccer fields and community

gardens in slum flood plains

A community garden near the Nairobi Dam in Kibera.

Project partners – professors and activists – attend a community meeting in Kibera.

Conclusion

• Climate change exacerbates long-standing gendered inequities in water governance

• Women’s situated knowledge is particularly important in times of climate change

• Community-based education and organizing with women’s leadership is a promising way forward.

• Local /global university and CSO partnerships create strong synergies

Students, professors, and community activists working as a team on equitable water governance and climate change education.

Thank youPatricia E. PerkinsYork University

esperk@yorku.ca