Harshavardhan Jatkar
(University College London)
Pamela Fennell
(UCL)
Julia Tomei
(UCL)
Rita Lambert
(UCL)
Chair:
Paul Ruyssevelt
(University College London)
Discussants:
Siraz Hirani
(Mahila Housing Trust (MHT))
Liliana Miranda
(Cities for Life Foro)
Format:
Panel
Streams:
Energy transitions
Sessions:
Friday 8 July, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Enabling just transitions at the nexus of housing and energy.
Panel P27 at conference DSA2022: Just sustainable futures in an urbanising and mobile world.
Access to affordable and reliable modern forms of energy is essential to reduce poverty and promote economic growth. Based on ongoing research in low-income urban communities in Perú and India, this panel will explore critical and practical actions required to improve energy and housing conditions.
Long Abstract:
Improving energy and housing conditions in communities that are off-the-grid of safe, accessible and affordable forms of infrastructures in the global South is paramount for achieving just sustainable futures. Many national and international energy policies and programmes exclude inhabitants from the so-called informal settlements. To bring visibility to the everyday lived experiences of off-the-grid communities, the GCRF-funded research project Grounded Energy Modelling for Equitable Urban Development in the Global South (GEMDev) (https://www.gemdev.net/) focuses on co-producing knowledge on energy and housing towards just sustainable development in Lima and Ahmedabad.
Using participatory methods, GEMDev seeks to co-produce knowledge on energy and housing conditions, associated risks and mitigation strategies in off-the-grid communities. This knowledge, combined with energy modelling expertise is expected to inform better housing and energy policies in Lima and Ahmedabad. Building on the knowledge co-produced in the GEMDev project, the proposed session will explore answers to the following question: What critical and practical actions are required to improve energy and housing conditions for off-the-grid communities in the global South?
To answer the above question, discussants will present key lessons learned from GEMDev in Lima and Ahmadabad, followed by a discussion on possible actions to improve energy and housing conditions in off-the-grid communities. The panel will then generate discussion about sustainability and replicability of the potential strategies for housing and energy improvements in other urbanising contexts in the global South. The feedback from this session will be shared with all participants.
Recent evidence suggests that women do not benefit from household electrification to the same extent as men do. In this study, we use household survey data to identify the effect of female bargaining power on the ownership of household appliances and the type of cooking fuel used.
Paper long abstract:
The establishment of "universal electricity access" and "gender equality" as Sustainable Development Goals highlights their global relevance. Recent evidence, however, suggests that women do not benefit from electricity access to the same extent as men do. Yet, there are reasons to believe that women in particular should benefit more from household electrification, as the dominant narrative about the organisation of work is around the idea that most tasks within the household are their responsibility. A reason for the uneven distribution of benefits may thus be related to the fact that hierarchies in bargaining power within and beyond the household seem to determine patterns of use.
We analyse the link between women's positions in the household, the type of cooking fuel used, and household appliances. We use representative household surveys focusing on energy access and compare three countries that vary in their rankings within the Global Gender Gap Report: Rwanda is ranked 7th, Honduras 67th, and Nepal is on rank 106. Our preliminary results suggest that a woman as the head of household and higher female bargaining power increase the probability that cleaner cooking fuel is used. Yet, this effect is only present in contexts where the gender gap is high. We interpret that it is not only access to electricity that allows all household members to be better off, but rather, that it is just as important, where patriarchal norms are stronger, that women take part in household decision making.
Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality. Log in
Pamela Fennell (UCL)
Julia Tomei (UCL)
Rita Lambert (UCL)
Liliana Miranda (Cities for Life Foro)
Short Abstract:
Access to affordable and reliable modern forms of energy is essential to reduce poverty and promote economic growth. Based on ongoing research in low-income urban communities in Perú and India, this panel will explore critical and practical actions required to improve energy and housing conditions.
Long Abstract:
Improving energy and housing conditions in communities that are off-the-grid of safe, accessible and affordable forms of infrastructures in the global South is paramount for achieving just sustainable futures. Many national and international energy policies and programmes exclude inhabitants from the so-called informal settlements. To bring visibility to the everyday lived experiences of off-the-grid communities, the GCRF-funded research project Grounded Energy Modelling for Equitable Urban Development in the Global South (GEMDev) (https://www.gemdev.net/) focuses on co-producing knowledge on energy and housing towards just sustainable development in Lima and Ahmedabad.
Using participatory methods, GEMDev seeks to co-produce knowledge on energy and housing conditions, associated risks and mitigation strategies in off-the-grid communities. This knowledge, combined with energy modelling expertise is expected to inform better housing and energy policies in Lima and Ahmedabad. Building on the knowledge co-produced in the GEMDev project, the proposed session will explore answers to the following question: What critical and practical actions are required to improve energy and housing conditions for off-the-grid communities in the global South?
To answer the above question, discussants will present key lessons learned from GEMDev in Lima and Ahmadabad, followed by a discussion on possible actions to improve energy and housing conditions in off-the-grid communities. The panel will then generate discussion about sustainability and replicability of the potential strategies for housing and energy improvements in other urbanising contexts in the global South. The feedback from this session will be shared with all participants.
Accepted paper:
Session 1 Friday 8 July, 2022, -