The gender approach of Monte Serrat recognizes women as victims but also part of the solution. Climate change affects groups that are socially, environmentally, and economically vulnerable differently, be it women, indigenous peoples or communities. On the other hand, women's decision-making responses to climate risks can be faster and more efficient.
It is essential to think of solutions that respect the right to non-discrimination of these groups. Guided by international recommendations, gender mainstreaming favors the participation and equitable engagement of all people living in Monte Serrat. In addition, the idea was to promote representativeness in the technical staff responsible for implementing the EbA measures.
Gender equity was reinforced in all stages and resulted in greater participation of women, including pregnant, nursing and women with newborns and babies, without the embarrassment of bringing children to the workshop space. They were welcomed and given special attention through the support of the municipality's Secretariat of Social Assistance.
This made it possible for women to feel comfortable to contribute to the construction of EbA solutions that benefit them directly, by giving suggestions for a recreation area for their children with fruit trees that could be used in cooking.
The dynamic Avante/Personare, helped to raise awareness on gender and climate vulnerability to the municipal staff. Based on empathy, the activities relied on fictional characters and cases to work on the recognition, especially in a climate emergency, of privileges in terms of class, race and gender with the community and the technical team. The experiences caused reflections and discomfort about unequal relations that were not previously present among the trained people.
Suggestions to include more women in the next steps of the participatory process include holding workshops for socio-environmental education, focusing on the impact of climate change on vulnerable groups. Implementation must rely on transparent actions of the involved local agencies to always include women and communicate with them in the same way as with men.
It is important to care about the language used for inviting women to the workshops. It should build a welcoming and trusting environment to make women feel comfortable talking about their perceptions, ideas and needs. Many women stopped participating in the workshops, especially on weekends, when they did not have someone to leave their kids with. Once the problem was identified, a creative solution to accommodate the children was successfully put in place. The commitment of the parties was fundamental to constantly reinforce the application of the gender lens in the environmental solutions. The effectiveness of implementation depends on the joint approach between gender, socio-economic vulnerability, climate change, and environmental restoration.