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The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2024

A response to the following question: How can we operationalize the promotion and evaluation of nature-related ‘green’ health care within a One Health perspective?

Ben Delbaere*
Affiliation:
Chair Care and the Natural Living environment, Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Evelise Pereira Barboza
Affiliation:
Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
Evelien Van Rafelghem
Affiliation:
Department Knowledge Information and Research, External Service for Prevention and Protection at Work Group IDEWE, Heverlee, Belgium
Kalyn Potter
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science & Engineering, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Ireland
Eilish McCabe
Affiliation:
Connect the Dots, Dublin, Ireland
Áine McBeth
Affiliation:
Connect the Dots, Dublin, Ireland
Shreya Utkarsh
Affiliation:
Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity, ICLEI Europe, Freiburg, Germany
Kassia Rudd
Affiliation:
Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity, ICLEI Europe, Freiburg, Germany
Maria J. Fernandez de Osso Fuentes
Affiliation:
School of Business, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland
Adriana Duarte
Affiliation:
Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity, ICLEI Europe, Freiburg, Germany
Julia Gäckle
Affiliation:
Institute of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Hans Keune*
Affiliation:
Chair Care and the Natural Living environment, Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
*
Corresponding authors: Ben Delbaere; Email: ben.delbaere@uantwerpen.be and Hans Keune; Email: hans.keune@uantwerpen.be
Corresponding authors: Ben Delbaere; Email: ben.delbaere@uantwerpen.be and Hans Keune; Email: hans.keune@uantwerpen.be
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Abstract

Evidence consistently shows that the benefits Nature-based Solutions generate are determined by several individual characteristics such as gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity and disability. As a result, Nature-based Solutions can perpetuate existing inequalities and even create new inequalities partly because diverse minority and marginalized people are underrepresented in the process of designing and implementing Nature-based Solutions. Therefore, some Nature-based Solutions scholars have highlighted the necessity to actively involve diverse minority and marginalized groups into the co-creation processes of Nature-based Solutions and to investigate who benefits from the Nature-based Solution and why. Within the GoGreenRoutes H2020 project a transdisciplinary gender, inclusion and diversity panel was established in order to map existing challenges within the consortium. Concordantly, relevant scientific resources and policy documents were identified. Both were blended during consensus meetings in order to develop a common understanding leading to a theoretical gender, inclusion and diversity framework. This framework consists of five domains: (1) gender equality; (2) LGBTQI + rights; (3) social, cultural and ethnic background; (4) people with disabilities; (5) integration of refugees and immigrants; and (6) intergenerational perspectives. Further, the framework was operationalized through the development of a checklist for researchers and practitioners.

Information

Type
Results
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1. In person workshop with NbS experts organized in Maynooth, Ireland (February 2023).

Figure 1

Figure 2. The Gender, Inclusion and Diversity framework as developed within the GoGreenRoutes project applies a climate justice perspective while addressing how the nexus of gender equality, age, LGBTQI + rights, social; cultural and ethnic background, inclusion of people with disabilities and, displaced populations and immigrants impacts the use of public spaces and interactions and considers the possible consequences for participating in participatory processes towards NbS development and Implementation.

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Author comment: The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities. — R0/PR1

Comments

No accompanying comment.

Review: The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities. — R0/PR2

Conflict of interest statement

Reviewer declares none.

Comments

The paper addresses a perceived need to reframe planning around Nature Based Solutions, to be more inclusive and sensitive to members of communities marginalised socially, economically, physically and for reasons of gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity and origins in the context of migration and disabilities. This involves more attention being given to or integration of these groups into processes, leading to Nbs. The desired outcome is greater equity in access to Nbs across these groups with the associated benefits realised. The paper is well written and organised with a a couple of difficult sentences to comprehend, notably l135-138 which is very long and with cumbersome language e.g. the word "complementary" is hanging. Please rephrase this sentence to make your meaning clear. The second is l 326-327 which has a format error in referencing. Otherwise in general the paper achieves its objectives even if it is narrowly focused to urban systems it could quite easily be adapted to more rural communities, who even if they are perceived to be more embedded in nature, this is often not the reality, especially in highly agriculturally developed and owner occupied landscapes. Here the exclusion can be even more threatening and acute than in urban landscapes with little or no political motive to address imbalance as populations are more isolated and less connected politically. It might be helpful to consider whether the framework is truly exclusive to urban planning or could be modified for wider societal use.

Presentation

Overall score 4 out of 5
Is the article written in clear and proper English? (30%)
4 out of 5
Is the data presented in the most useful manner? (40%)
4 out of 5
Does the paper cite relevant and related articles appropriately? (30%)
4 out of 5

Context

Overall score 4 out of 5
Does the title suitably represent the article? (25%)
3 out of 5
Does the abstract correctly embody the content of the article? (25%)
4 out of 5
Does the introduction give appropriate context and indicate the relevance of the results to the question or hypothesis under consideration? (25%)
5 out of 5
Is the objective of the experiment clearly defined? (25%)
4 out of 5

Results

Overall score 4.2 out of 5
Is sufficient detail provided to allow replication of the study? (50%)
5 out of 5
Are the limitations of the experiment as well as the contributions of the results clearly outlined? (50%)
3 out of 5

Review: The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities. — R0/PR3

Conflict of interest statement

Reviewers declare none.

Comments

The topic addressed by this paper is of real importance and very much needed in light of the great momentum generated by nature-based solutions recently and the paradoxical impacts the use of this approach can generate through the creation of more discrimination and social inequities. The proposed framework includes most topics relevant to GID however there is no consideration of ethnic and cultural background other than with the “Integration of refugees and immigrants” which then excludes ethnic and cultural minorities which are neither refugees nor immigrants. This should be adjusted or clarified to make the framework truly inclusive.

There are also a number of weaknesses that would need to be addressed in order to strengthen the framework and make a more compelling case. More specifically there is a need for more:

- precision: The paper solely focuses on NbS in urban places but this is not reflected by the title and sub-titles (2.2) which refer to NbS in a broad context. This is really important to specify as NbS in other contexts involve other challenges such as land and human rights of indigenous people with the whole issue of environmental justice being paramount in such contexts.

- clarification:

l.18-19. The paper would benefit from including the definition of NbS and key ref in this field (Seddon et al 2020) as well as the main NbS implemented in urban centres

- elaboration:

l.40-43. The concept of oppression and critical consciousness bring new insights to the usual issues addressed by GDI frameworks. The main reference cited being 45 yrs old it would be interesting to cite more recent work explaining how this concept has been built upon more recently.

l.51. It would be relevant to also ask the following questions: By whom are NbS implemented? Who does the impact monitoring and how?

l.111-113. The relationship between climate change and social inequalities is not mono-directional as it can be characterized by a vicious cycle in whereby initial inequality causes the disadvantaged group to suffer disproportionately from the adverse effects of CC, resulting in greater subsequent inequality and limit their ability to cope and recover from the impacts of CC (Islam & Winkel 2017)

l.126-127. important to mention that Intersectionality is also recognized as being central to gender equality (EIGE 2023)

Para 2.2.1. on Gender equality

l.144. It would be interesting to add that city parks are recognized as hot spots for sexual harassment

l.145-146. NbS could actually aim at being “gender transformative “ which is an established terminology used according a now well-established continuum of gender approaches. The gender integration continuum tool shows how programs or policies can range from being “gender blind” to being “gender aware” with the ultimate aim to be “gender transformative “ which recognizes and seeks to change the underlying root causes of gender inequalities (IGWG 2017).

- improving sentence flow:

l.30 , l.32: Repeat of “perpetuate inequalities “ in two sentences that could be merged in one

l.49. sentence would be more fluid with: to ensure that adequate levels of inclusion are achieved and pave the way for transformative change

l.107 until l.120: avoid repeated use of “therefore” and “furthermore”

l.118: place “intentionally” after “integrated”

l.198: There seems to be a phrase missing after “While”

Overall this is a worthwhile and important contribution to the field of NbS.

Presentation

Overall score 4.1 out of 5
Is the article written in clear and proper English? (30%)
4 out of 5
Is the data presented in the most useful manner? (40%)
5 out of 5
Does the paper cite relevant and related articles appropriately? (30%)
3 out of 5

Context

Overall score 4.25 out of 5
Does the title suitably represent the article? (25%)
3 out of 5
Does the abstract correctly embody the content of the article? (25%)
5 out of 5
Does the introduction give appropriate context and indicate the relevance of the results to the question or hypothesis under consideration? (25%)
4 out of 5
Is the objective of the experiment clearly defined? (25%)
5 out of 5

Results

Overall score 4.4 out of 5
Is sufficient detail provided to allow replication of the study? (50%)
4 out of 5
Are the limitations of the experiment as well as the contributions of the results clearly outlined? (50%)
5 out of 5

Recommendation: The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities. — R0/PR4

Comments

This paper is a relatively straightforward approach to achieving improvements in Nature Based Solutions processes and after minor revision will be a useful framework of other workers in this area. It is well written but comments should be addressed before publication. The Handling editor can check this is addressed.

Author comment: The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities. — R1/PR5

Comments

No accompanying comment.

Decision: The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities. — R1/PR6

Comments

This paper has been accepted because it contributes significantly to the question posed, is a novel finding, is scientifically sound, has the correct controls, has appropriate methodology, and is statistically valid.