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

The report argues that nature-based solutions (NbS) for adaptation are more effective when they integrate gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) by involving diverse voices, building trust with equity-deserving groups, and utilizing community-led monitoring. It highlights two specific examples: climate resilience planning for small-scale cooperatives in Zanzibar and an Indigenous Guardians program in Canada that incorporates Traditional Knowledge into land and wildlife management.

• Integrating diverse voices—including women, youth, and Elders—and providing inclusive spaces for sharing can improve the operational effectiveness of nature-based solutions for adaptation projects.
• Effective nature-based solutions programming requires building trust with community members and establishing partnerships with facilitators from equity-deserving groups.
• Community-led, gender-responsive, and socially inclusive monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) processes, including citizen science, are essential for understanding how climate change and biodiversity loss differentially impact local communities.
• Designing NbS projects to be responsive to intersecting identity factors—such as gender, age, sexuality, socio-economic status, Indigeneity, and ability—strengthens local ecosystem resilience and the adaptive capacity of equity-deserving groups.
• The report provides two specific case studies: one focusing on gender-responsive climate resilience planning for small-scale cooperatives in Zanzibar, and another on an Indigenous Guardians program in Canada that integrates Traditional Knowledge into land and wildlife 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} }