Advancing Gender-Responsive and Socially Inclusive Practices in Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation

This report provides case studies and guidance on integrating gender-responsive and socially inclusive (GESI) practices into nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate change adaptation to address a gap in evidence regarding GESI outcomes in such projects.

• Integrating diverse voices—including women, youth, and Elders—and creating safe, inclusive spaces for sharing can improve the effectiveness and operations of nature-based solutions for adaptation projects.
• Effective nature-based solutions programming requires the establishment of local partnerships and trust with community members, specifically utilizing facilitators and liaisons from equity-deserving groups.
• To better understand how biodiversity loss and climate change impact local communities differently, it is essential to invest in community-led, gender-responsive, and socially inclusive monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) processes, as well as citizen science.
• Designing NbS projects to be responsive to intersecting identity factors—such as ability, Indigeneity, socio-economic status, sexuality, age, and gender—can strengthen local ecosystem resilience, enable participation in decision-making, and build adaptive capacity for equity-deserving groups.
• The report presents two specific case studies: one focusing on climate resilience planning for small-scale cooperatives in Zanzibar through a GESI lens, and another regarding an Indigenous Guardians program in Canada that integrates Traditional Knowledge into wildlife and land management.

APA

Ball,, N. J. C. M. (2025). Advancing Gender-Responsive and Socially Inclusive Practices in Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/gender-responsive-inclusive-nature-based-solutions

Chicago

Ball,, Nicole Jang,Calais Caswell,Sarah McIvor,Tanya. Advancing Gender-Responsive and Socially Inclusive Practices in Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2025. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/gender-responsive-inclusive-nature-based-solutions.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ball, |first1=Nicole Jang,Calais Caswell,Sarah McIvor,Tanya |title=Advancing Gender-Responsive and Socially Inclusive Practices in Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=17 February 2025 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/gender-responsive-inclusive-nature-based-solutions |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ball2025advancing, author = {Ball,, Nicole Jang,Calais Caswell,Sarah McIvor,Tanya}, title = {{Advancing Gender-Responsive and Socially Inclusive Practices in Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/gender-responsive-inclusive-nature-based-solutions}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }