Integrating gender and social equality into sustainable development research

The document outlines how to apply a gender and social equality (GSE) lens to sustainable development research to uncover power relations and inequalities. It defines key concepts such as intersectionality, the distinction between sex and gender, and the role of social constructions in creating hierarchies. The guide provides a framework for analyzing norms, division of labour, resource access, and decision-making power, while offering specific methodological advice for defining research questions, collecting data from diverse social groups, and presenting results to ensure the voices of marginalized populations are represented.

• A GSE lens is essential for sustainable development research because it reveals power relations that provide resources for some while restricting them for others, and it identifies the causal structures and processes—both formal and informal—that produce these inequalities.
• The document emphasizes that gender and other social identities are not homogeneous; instead, they are intersectional, meaning multiple identities (such as age, class, and ethnicity) interact to create specific positions of privilege or disadvantage.
• Gender is defined as a social construction of identities and behaviours, distinct from biological sex; this distinction is critical because viewing differences as biological makes them appear unchangeable.
• The division of labour often separates reproductive activities (private sphere, often women) from productive activities (public sphere, often men), which can lead to women's unpaid labour being overlooked in decision-making and climate finance allocation.
• Access to resources is distinct from control over resources; access is the opportunity to use a resource, whereas control is the power to decide how it is used and who can access it.
• Participatory processes in environmental governance can inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities if they assume the viewpoints of powerful subgroups as the norm or rely on simple 'gender balance' headcounts rather than assessing actual influence.
• To implement GSE-sensitive research, teams should be interdisciplinary and reflect the diversity of the context, and researchers must address power inequalities between themselves and participants, particularly during data collection.

APA

Segnestam, L. (2018). Integrating gender and social equality into sustainable development research. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/190118a-gill-segnerstam-gender-guidance-1808h-photo-credit-change.pdf

Chicago

Segnestam, Lisa. Integrating gender and social equality into sustainable development research. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2018. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/190118a-gill-segnerstam-gender-guidance-1808h-photo-credit-change.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Segnestam |first1=Lisa |title=Integrating gender and social equality into sustainable development research |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2018 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/190118a-gill-segnerstam-gender-guidance-1808h-photo-credit-change.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{segnestam2018integrating, author = {Segnestam, Lisa}, title = {{Integrating gender and social equality into sustainable development research}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/190118a-gill-segnerstam-gender-guidance-1808h-photo-credit-change.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }