Women, Watershed Management, and Climate C hange

1. Women, Watershed Management, and Climate Change By Patricia E. Perkins & Patricia Figueiredo Walker Faculty of Environmental Studies York University

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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 MarwanNaamani “Waiting for Relief” Photograph by Daniel Berehulak

5. 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

6. Climate change and water governance in Brazil Climate Change: • Deforestation and environmental degradation • Rural-urban migration; continued urbanization Current Framework: • Progressive watershed management system—requires participation by civil society on watershed committees • low-income people and women in particular are still underrepresented

7. 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, especiallywomen, in water sector governance

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Project partners discuss climate change and water at the project’s inception meeting 08/2010 Our group gathers for a photo at a guava farm in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 08/2010 Workshop Participants learn about the PCJ Watershed Skills training program for local girls

12. Strengthening the role of civil society in water sector governance towards climate change adaptation • Project Objectives: • Characterize the institutional framework for urban water governance in the three cities • Identify and test viable alternatives for enhancing civil society’s role towards adaptation to climate change • Share widely the knowledge generated

13. 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

14. 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

15. A community garden near the Nairobi Dam in Kibera.

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

17. 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

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

19. Thank you Patricia E. Perkins York University esperk@yorku.ca