The blog by Gabriela Villamarín and Karen Hildahl of FFLA-CDKN examines how the Andean Water Funds Platform is advancing ecosystem-based adaptation across Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru while embedding gender equality and social inclusion at the core of climate action. It highlights how community-led and participatory approaches enable water funds to respond to climate threats such as droughts and intense rainfall while addressing structural inequalities faced by women, youth, and other vulnerable groups.
Coordinated by Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, the Andean Water Funds Platform brings together ten water funds implementing ecosystem-based adaptation measures through a gender equality and social inclusion lens. Within this framework, an open call under the Knowledge to Action Small-Grants Programme selected six water funds to pilot inclusive adaptation initiatives, combining climate resilience objectives with efforts to reduce social and gender disparities.
A defining feature of the initiative is its strong community-led approach. During proposal development, water funds worked closely with local communities to co-design interventions, secure local commitment, and ensure relevance to on-the-ground realities. Capacity-strengthening sessions supported by FFLA-CDKN helped participating funds deepen their understanding of ecosystem-based adaptation and gender and social inclusion, enabling them to design interventions that promote long-term social-ecological resilience.
Participatory design and implementation were further reinforced through collaborative situational analyses that assessed environmental, climatic, and social challenges. By adapting the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation methodology, project teams identified climate risks alongside their differentiated impacts on various social groups. This process was validated through community workshops, allowing local actors to refine strategies and expected outcomes, ensuring that ecosystem-based adaptation measures reflected the lived experiences and priorities of those facing systemic exclusion.
Across diverse territories in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, the selected water funds have implemented ecosystem-based adaptation measures that respond to climate risks while integrating gender and social inclusion. These measures address challenges such as water scarcity, land degradation, and extreme weather, while also tackling inequities that limit women’s and youth participation in sustainable livelihoods and resilience-building efforts. Social inclusion has been strengthened through targeted capacity-building, collective community activities, and prioritization of women-headed households.
Key lessons from the initiative underscore that meaningful participation requires time, flexibility, and sustained engagement. Active involvement of women and men cannot be achieved through one-off consultations, but depends on adaptable methodologies, flexible timelines, and deliberate efforts to support women’s participation. By integrating climate, social, and gender considerations into a shared and flexible framework, the Andean Water Funds Platform demonstrates how equitable ecosystem-based adaptation can strengthen both climate resilience and social justice in vulnerable communities.
