The UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality Policies in Science, Technology and Innovation

Everyday lives of women and men are very different, and this impacts on how they experience the city on a daily basis. Urban planning is not gender neutral, and often times it tends to strengthen inequalities that could have significant impacts on health, wellbeing, access to services and life chances. Gender is relevant to all aspects of city planning, including land-use, mobility, urban services and facilities, urban safety and security, housing, employment locations, public space, and participatory processes at al scales and stages of the process. Gender-sensitive urban planning means better urban areas for all. It has been recognized as an important crosscutting issue in international agendas such as the New Urban Agenda and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

Gender dimensions in built environments are relevant at all scales, from individual buildings and public spaces to land-use planning at the urban and regional levels. Gender in architecture deals with both theoretical and practicing approaches in topics including accessibility, environmental psychology, ergonomics, urban safety, and spatial implication of gender-based social roles, among others. Gender sensitive architecture is especially relevant for public buildings and facility planning and design, but also in private working environments and residential areas.

Access to housing is an important issue in ensuring a decent quality of life for everyone. Gender is a key component to ensure physical and economic accessibility to housing. New life styles, demographic changes, increasingly diverse life cycles and household structures require that gender is considered in housing design, planning and policy. The inclusion of gender in housing leads to a review of theoretical approaches, new practical solutions and innovative policy making across scales. Gender in housing also intersects with other urban issues including mobility and infrastructure, ICT, employment planning. It also can provide support in addressing current urban challenges such as gentrification, ageing, informal settlements and energy consumption.

In addition to other intersecting factors, gender is one of the most relevant variables in transport and mobility. Women and men have persistent different transportation needs, travel behaviours and levels of access to services and infrastructure. On the other hand, the underrepresentation of women in the transportation sector, especially in top positions, has an impact of how transport systems are understood and designed. Therefore, including gender perspectives in mobility policies and transport infrastructure planning contributes to urban accessibility, environmental sustainability, personal wellbeing and equal opportunities for all.

Gender-based differences in everyday life between men and women entail different challenges and needs towards policy-making and service provision. Gender expertise in service and policy design contributes to find better solutions to a wider scope of population, particularly ensuring that the specific needs of women and other underrepresented social groups are included in the process. The inclusion of gender in service and policy design has different approaches from specific training, to expert advice, development of new instruments, technical consultancy, participatory and public engagement processes, dissemination campaigns and communication strategies.

Gender has been a very central variable in international cooperation for decades now. From initial approaches based on women’s needs, to the wider recognition of gender aspects in the 1990s, to the current prominent integration of gender in international agendas for sustainable development, gender is now a priority for development agencies, funding organizations and intergovernmental bodies. Gender in international cooperation projects contributes to more successful projects, ensuring a better priority-setting, a wider participation and involvement of stakeholders and more accessibility to all resulting benefits.

Women graduate with excellent qualifications and they make up more than half of university graduates in many countries. However, they are scarcely represented in STEM fields and also at the higher levels in all other research and professional areas. This is a loss of talent and efficiency in research and innovation, and it is also an unfair situation which challenges equal opportunities and international legislation. Structural change in STEM institutions contributes to gender equality in research academia and other professional sectors. It makes research and innovation more responsive to current societal needs and challenges.

There is growing evidence that gender is a significant dimension in the energy sector and in both the consumption causes and impacts of climate change. Gender perspectives in climate change lead to new approaches in research, practice, policy and industrial processes. Gender is indispensable to better address people’s awareness for environmental conservation and responses to climate change, to develop new mobility strategies, and to find successful and transformative alternatives to current energy and consumption patterns, among other global challenges. Gender in climate change also contributes to better understandings of environmental aspects of the interlinkages between the Global South and the Global North.

Women and men have different needs and approaches towards technology, its products and services. Also physical needs and life patterns can differ between men and women, having an impact on the technology and innovation sector. Gender knowledge has become a prerequisite for excellence in innovation and business as women’s needs and preferences are recognized in their specificity. The introduction of gender perspectives in innovation processes and the increasing participation of women in industrial and engineering sectors can lead to new research and market opportunities. It will also contribute to extend the benefits of innovation to a wider range of users.