The use of polluting fossil fuels, for example in domestic cooking, disproportionately affects the health of women. As African countries transition away from fossil fuels, this major new research project seeks to promote institutional and policy reforms for greater equality.
The programme involves a range of global collaborators including scholars from Addis Ababa University and Mekelle University in Ethiopia; Ardhi University and TATEDO in Tanzania; Eduardo Mondlane University and the Centre for Research in Governance and Development in Mozambique; Mzuzu University and the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences in Malawi, Cape Town University in South Africa and the Universities of Loughborough and Sheffield Hallam in the UK and also includes a range of partners in the private and public sectors.
Research on clean energy transitions has historically overlooked issues of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) leading to poor outcomes for women and marginalised groups. This new project, ‘Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion for a Just Energy Transition in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania (JustGESI), brings together leading institutions in each country, to deliver a transformative programme of research integrating engineering with critical social science.
JustGESI aims to ensure that future energy transitions are equitable by advancing equality and inclusion in projects on the ground and in policy, and by addressing the skills gaps that have historically kept women and marginalised groups out of the clean energy economy. The STEER team are leading a work stream that focuses specifically on reducing gender-based inequalities in electric cooking (drawing on Loughborough University’s leadership of the UKAid-funded MECS programme) through a combination of country-level analysis and action research.
JustGESI continues the work completed by the project Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions (CESET), also funded by UKRI (Global Challenges Research Fund) on which Loughborough University STEER staff were also partners.