CHORALE 1.5 Gender dimension

CHORALE's core work covers physical and biophysical Earth-system processes and how these are represented in land and Earth system models. Their formulation and evaluation do not depend on gender, and modelling does not involve human subjects. Gender becomes relevant where CHORALE’s outputs meet society. In the water-limited and transitional regions targeted by the project, the effects of drought, groundwater depletion, and changing irrigation needs are not gender-neutral. Women and men often differ in their roles in agriculture and household water provision, their access to water rights, land, credit and climate information, and their capacity to adapt (IPCC, 2022; FAO, 2023; WHO &UNICEF, 2023). For this reason, the irrigation, regreening and adaptation-benefit analyses (O5), and all stakeholder-facing, co-development and policy-interface activities (WP7–9), will follow a gender-sensitive approach, in line with the European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2026–2030 and, where applicable, partners’ institutional Gender Equality Plans (GEPs). In the research content, this approach is made operational in T6.2: projected changes in heat-stress indices (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, Heat Index) and in water availability under the irrigation and regreening experiments will be combined with sex- and age-disaggregated gridded population (WorldPop) and with sex-disaggregated agricultural-employment statistics (ILOSTAT), holding population fixed at present-day values, so that exposure to the projected changes is reported separately for women and men in the targeted water-limited hotspots. This is an exposure assessment; gendered vulnerability and adaptive capacity are not modelled but drawn from existing socio-economic evidence when results are framed for policymakers. In stakeholder-facing activities, this means ensuring gender-balanced and inclusive participation in workshops and consultations, collecting gender-disaggregated participation and feedback data where relevant and in compliance with GDPR, and ensuring that climate and water information products are accessible and useful to diverse user groups. Key findings, including the sex-disaggregated exposure results, will be reported in a gender-sensitive manner in the policy briefs and roundtable materials of T7.2/T8.2/T9.2. Women hold 7 of the 17 work-package lead and co-lead roles, including 3 of the 8 WP leads. The Gender and Inclusiveness Panel set up under T10.2/T11.2/T12.2 will oversee these commitments, as well as gender balance in leadership, work package coordination, early-career participation and dissemination.