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This chapter argues that capacity-building impactful areas are those valuable for
women and the contexts they are immersed. The focus of this research is to identify
and investigate the actual level of impact of existing capacity-building initiatives,
and recommend priority areas, so that stakeholders in the case study locations can
play a stronger role in helping women boost their assets toward sustainable energy
consumption practices. This article also explores existing capacity-building
approaches to assist women in protecting their assets and capacities and reverse the
effects of unsustainable energy consumption. Scholarship debates show that
capacity- building has been a subject of analysis by scholars from various disciplines
like education, economics, and more recently sustainable development. Coined as a
long-term process to strengthen individuals’ and organizations’ skills to solve problems and achieve objectives, the notion capacity-building for women has been well
covered in the literature; however, there are few scholars who deal with its impact
to reverse unsustainable energy consumption at the local level. Although the subject
of capacity-building is appealing from a rhetorical standpoint, at the community
level, these initiatives appear to have achieved a very low level of impact, particularly for women. However, why this is the case has not been explored extensively.
This research gap needs further exploration, specifically in developing contexts,
where capacity-building for women is essential in the face of escalating sustainability issues. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the actual level of achievement of
these initiatives, to identify barriers to their impactful implementation in local
development agendas and to recommend ways of overcoming these barriers, so that
stakeholders can play a stronger role in assisting women build resilient assets and
reverse existing unsustainable practices at the local level. Following a qualitative
methodological approach, this article compares two cases, Japan, Asia, and
Colombia, Americas.
8.2 Literature Review
8.2.1 Women and Sustainable Energy
Unsustainable energy practices are becoming a pressing issue in the global sustainable development agenda. Therefore, the importance of investigating this subject
through gender lens is to further examine the effects on women and girls. Boosting
women’s capacity and assets to cope with unsustainable energy consumption patterns can create a positive change in the contexts in which they are immersed
(Denton 2002). Sustainable development, one of the key buzzwords which flooded
academic literature and policy documents in the 1990s, has been reinvigorated into
a new phase of influence under the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development
Goals, 17 global aims to be achieved by 2030, the successor of the Millennium
Development Goals. “Sustainable development” is a term defined in the 1987
Brundtland Report as “development that meets the needs of the present without
8 SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
This chapter argues that capacity-building impactful areas are those valuable for
women and the contexts they are immersed. The focus of this research is to identify
and investigate the actual level of impact of existing capacity-building initiatives,
and recommend priority areas, so that stakeholders in the case study locations can
play a stronger role in helping women boost their assets toward sustainable energy
consumption practices. This article also explores existing capacity-building
approaches to assist women in protecting their assets and capacities and reverse the
effects of unsustainable energy consumption. Scholarship debates show that
capacity- building has been a subject of analysis by scholars from various disciplines
like education, economics, and more recently sustainable development. Coined as a
long-term process to strengthen individuals’ and organizations’ skills to solve problems and achieve objectives, the notion capacity-building for women has been well
covered in the literature; however, there are few scholars who deal with its impact
to reverse unsustainable energy consumption at the local level. Although the subject
of capacity-building is appealing from a rhetorical standpoint, at the community
level, these initiatives appear to have achieved a very low level of impact, particularly for women. However, why this is the case has not been explored extensively.
This research gap needs further exploration, specifically in developing contexts,
where capacity-building for women is essential in the face of escalating sustainability issues. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the actual level of achievement of
these initiatives, to identify barriers to their impactful implementation in local
development agendas and to recommend ways of overcoming these barriers, so that
stakeholders can play a stronger role in assisting women build resilient assets and
reverse existing unsustainable practices at the local level. Following a qualitative
methodological approach, this article compares two cases, Japan, Asia, and
Colombia, Americas.
8.2 Literature Review
8.2.1 Women and Sustainable Energy
Unsustainable energy practices are becoming a pressing issue in the global sustainable development agenda. Therefore, the importance of investigating this subject
through gender lens is to further examine the effects on women and girls. Boosting
women’s capacity and assets to cope with unsustainable energy consumption patterns can create a positive change in the contexts in which they are immersed
(Denton 2002). Sustainable development, one of the key buzzwords which flooded
academic literature and policy documents in the 1990s, has been reinvigorated into
a new phase of influence under the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development
Goals, 17 global aims to be achieved by 2030, the successor of the Millennium
Development Goals. “Sustainable development” is a term defined in the 1987
Brundtland Report as “development that meets the needs of the present without
8 SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy