Browsing by Author "Oosthuizen, Lelani"

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    Development of a gender mainstreaming capability maturity model to support energy security in energy project development
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Oosthuizen, Lelani; De Kock, Imke H.; Musango, Josephine Kaviti; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Gender mainstreaming is a modern approach to promote gender equality between men and women by assessing the implications for women and men of any action, legislation, policy or project to ultimately bridge gender awareness into consciousness and daily routine. Gender mainstreaming has been proven to increase energy projects’ effectiveness and efficiency, improve the project’s social and economic impacts and align the project’s effects on men and women; thus, increasing the overall contribution of the energy project to energy access and sustainable energy for all. Literature highlights that gender mainstreaming is a long-term, progressive process and goal. Nevertheless, short-term gendered energy solutions dominate the energy project development landscape, resulting in tension between the long-term focus of gender mainstreaming strategies and the lack of long-term-oriented evaluation methods for gender mainstreaming in energy project development. Moreover, at the project level, there is a lack of decision-support approaches to evaluate gender mainstreaming implementation in energy project development and to serve as an enabler for the long-term continuous improvement thereof. This lack inhibits the sustainable development and implementation of gender-conscious energy projects that, as a result, contribute to energy poverty and insecurity. A structured literature review was performed to understand the factors that influence the mainstreaming of gender in energy projects and to understand connections and disconnections that exist in the literature between gender mainstreaming and energy project development. Based on the findings of the structured literature review, it was concluded that the literature captures a comprehensive set of influencing factors of gender mainstreaming in energy systems; but that literature does not propose or address the evaluation of gender mainstreaming implementation in energy project development that may enable its continuous improvement as a long-term progressive process and goal. Given the role of gender mainstreaming in energy projects to address gender inequality and resultant energy insecurity, more research efforts across these bodies of knowledge are required. The aim of this research was thus to contribute towards increasingly effective and efficient gender mainstreaming implementation on the project level of an energy system through, firstly the proposition and development of a decision-support approach for the evaluation of gender mainstreaming in energy project development; and secondly the provision of the basis for the identification of the current state to which gender is mainstreamed in energy project development to determine possible improvement areas. The research employs existing theoretical and conceptual research on gender mainstreaming and energy project development to infer and propose a decision-support approach for the evaluation of gender mainstreaming in energy project development. This research is therefore a non-empirical, qualitative study that utilises both inductive and deductive approaches in an investigative manner. The Gender Mainstreaming Capability Maturity Model for Energy Project Development (GM-CMM4EP) was developed and proposed as the designed result of the requirement specifications. Given the conceptual nature of the GM-CMM4EP and the stated importance of practical utility, the proposed maturity model was operationalised by translating the tabular maturity model into a methodology. Furthermore, this methodology was used to transform the theoretical constructs of the maturity model into a practicable assessment tool that may be transferred to users. The proposed GM-CMM4EP undergoes an evaluation process that consists of verification and validation with subject matter experts: (i) verifying that the requirement specifications have been satisfied by the research product and that the proposed solution is fit for its intended purpose of use; and (ii) validating the applicability, practicability and usability of the proposed maturity model to prove that it is representative of a real-world phenomenon. The findings of the evaluation showcased that the GM-CMM4EP is a decision-support method for the evaluation of gender mainstreaming in energy project development; and that the GM-CMM4EP provides a basis for the identification of the current state to which gender is mainstreamed in an energy project, thus enabling the improvement of gender mainstreaming in the energy project and contributing to sustainable energy and gender equality.
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    Exploring factors that influence the mainstreaming of gendered energy interventions in poor urban environments : a structured literature review
    (Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2020-11-11) Oosthuizen, Lelani; De Kock, Imke H.; Musango, Josephine K.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Energy sectors are faced with the interconnected challenges of urbanisation and providing a growing population with accessible and sustainable energy that facilitates economic development, energy security, and poverty reduction. The Sustainable Development Goals address issues that include poverty, gender equality, energy, and sustainable cities, and highlight the need to improve the lives of poor communities and to address economic marginalisation. However, recent studies show that poor urban areas have a considerable number of female-lead households. Energy is a critical input for these households, resulting in women being increasingly vulnerable to unsustainable energy consumption patterns and energy insecurity. In this article, a structured literature review is conducted to investigate energy technologies that contribute to energy security among energy-poor women. The key factors to consider in the mainstreaming of a gender perspective into energy technology innovations are then identified and contextualised. How these factors can help achieve the sustainable development goals and contribute to ensuring sustainable energy sectors is also highlighted.