Gender Mainstreaming in Natural Resource Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Natural Resource Managers, Project Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-NRM-023

Before you join: Participants should have working experience in natural resource management, environmental programmes, climate initiatives, community development, infrastructure, conservation, extractives or related fields.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Natural resource programmes can unintentionally reinforce unequal access to land, forests, water, energy services, finance and decision-making. Women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, youth, pastoralists and other excluded groups may bear disproportionate environmental risks while receiving fewer project benefits. Gender mainstreaming provides a disciplined way to identify these patterns, design fairer interventions and demonstrate accountable results to funders, communities and regulators.

This course equips participants to integrate gender equality and social inclusion throughout natural resource management policy, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Participants use the Harvard Analytical Framework, Moser Gender Planning Framework, Gender Analysis Matrix and stakeholder power analysis to examine roles, access, control, benefits and risks. The course addresses land and resource tenure, community governance, climate adaptation, conservation, water management, extractives, renewable energy and livelihood programmes. Participants learn to formulate gender-responsive objectives, activities, budgets, indicators, safeguards and accountability arrangements.

Instruction combines short technical briefings, facilitated case work, group analysis, scenario-based discussions and structured application planning. Cases reflect common assignments in forestry, watershed management, protected areas, community energy, mining and climate-finance programmes. Participants leave with a gender mainstreaming action plan and a practical set of templates for analysing project risks, consulting rights holders, setting inclusion indicators and tracking commitments through delivery.

The course is suited to professionals responsible for designing, managing, funding, regulating or evaluating natural resource initiatives. It is particularly relevant where projects require meaningful participation, equitable benefit-sharing, social safeguards or gender reporting.

What you will be able to do

  • Conduct a gender and social inclusion analysis using the Harvard Analytical Framework
  • Map stakeholder power, rights, interests and exclusion risks in resource management decisions
  • Apply the Moser Gender Planning Framework to programme objectives and activities
  • Design gender-responsive participation and consultation processes for affected rights holders
  • Develop gender-responsive indicators, data collection plans and reporting arrangements
  • Integrate gender actions, budgets and responsibilities into natural resource project documents
  • Assess gender-related risks in land tenure, benefit-sharing and livelihood interventions
  • Produce a gender mainstreaming action plan for a current resource management initiative

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Apply recognised gender analysis frameworks to live natural resource assignments
  • Write credible gender-responsive objectives, activities and indicators
  • Identify exclusion risks before they become safeguard or delivery failures
  • Lead more effective consultations with women and marginalised rights holders
  • Build evidence for gender responsibilities in project management and sustainability roles

For your organisation

  • Improve equitable access to project benefits, services and livelihood opportunities
  • Strengthen social safeguard documentation for funders, regulators and governing bodies
  • Reduce conflict risks linked to land access, consultation and benefit-sharing
  • Produce gender-disaggregated evidence for programme reporting and evaluation
  • Make resource investments more responsive to community priorities and constraints

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how gender and social inclusion affect natural resource governance outcomes.

  • Gender equality, equity and social inclusion distinguished in resource decisions
  • Power analysis maps formal authority, informal influence and exclusion mechanisms
  • Rights-based approaches connect resource access with duty-bearer responsibilities
  • CEDAW, UNDRIP and SDG 5 obligations relevant to programmes
  • Gender norms shape labour, mobility, safety and benefit distribution
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies women, men and marginalised rights holders

Participants can conduct a structured gender analysis for a natural resource intervention.

  • Harvard Analytical Framework examines activities, access, control and influencing factors
  • Activity profiles reveal unpaid work, seasonal demands and time poverty
  • Access and control matrices distinguish resource use from decision rights
  • Moser Gender Planning Framework identifies practical and strategic gender needs
  • Gender Analysis Matrix assesses labour, time, resources and cultural change
  • Sex, age and disability disaggregation strengthens evidence on exclusion
  • Intersectional analysis identifies overlapping barriers affecting resource users

Participants can identify gender-related tenure risks and practical response measures.

  • Customary and statutory tenure systems create differing rights claims
  • Bundle of rights analysis covers access, withdrawal, management and exclusion
  • Joint titling options address unequal ownership and inheritance patterns
  • Water-point location affects safety, time use and participation
  • Seasonal resource calendars reveal differentiated grazing, farming and collection practices
  • Free, prior and informed consent protects Indigenous Peoples' collective rights

Participants can design inclusive engagement processes for resource management decisions.

  • Stakeholder power-interest grids identify consultation priorities and representation gaps
  • Participation ladders distinguish information sharing, consultation and shared decision-making
  • Separate consultation formats address mobility, literacy, safety and social norms
  • Quotas require supporting measures to achieve meaningful representation
  • Facilitation plans manage dominant voices and unequal speaking opportunities
  • Grievance mechanisms provide confidential, accessible and responsive complaint channels
  • Feedback loops show communities how decisions addressed their input

Participants can integrate gender equality and inclusion into project design documents.

  • Problem trees identify gendered causes, effects and affected groups
  • Theory of change links inclusion actions to resource management outcomes
  • Gender-responsive objectives specify equitable access, voice and benefit-sharing
  • Results frameworks connect activities, outputs, outcomes and accountability assumptions
  • Barrier analysis tests affordability, distance, information, norms and safety
  • Targeting criteria avoid elite capture and exclusion from project support
  • Responsibility matrices assign inclusion actions to named delivery roles

Participants can adapt gender mainstreaming measures to major natural resource sectors.

  • Forest user groups examine membership, harvesting rights and revenue allocation
  • Protected area plans address livelihoods, access restrictions and human-wildlife risks
  • Climate adaptation measures consider assets, mobility and local knowledge
  • Renewable energy projects assess appliance ownership, tariffs and productive use
  • Extractive projects address employment, land acquisition and community investment
  • Watershed programmes analyse irrigation control, domestic water and maintenance roles
  • Fisheries governance considers landing sites, processing work and market access

Participants can assess gender-related social risks and define mitigation measures.

  • Gender risk registers document likelihood, impact, controls and ownership
  • Do-no-harm analysis anticipates unintended effects of resource interventions
  • Gender-based violence risk assessment identifies project-related exposure pathways
  • Codes of conduct set expectations for staff, contractors and partners
  • Referral pathways connect survivors with appropriate specialist support services
  • Land acquisition screening identifies differentiated displacement and compensation risks
  • Safeguard monitoring tracks mitigation actions, incidents and unresolved complaints

Participants can cost, resource and manage gender mainstreaming commitments.

  • Gender-responsive budgeting assigns resources to identified inclusion barriers
  • Activity-based costing estimates consultation, accessibility and safeguarding requirements
  • Procurement specifications include accessibility, safeguarding and local participation criteria
  • Terms of reference define gender responsibilities for consultants and partners
  • Workplans sequence analysis, consultation, delivery and monitoring actions
  • RACI matrices clarify accountable, responsible, consulted and informed roles
  • Implementation reviews compare planned inclusion measures with delivery evidence

Participants can develop gender-responsive monitoring and reporting arrangements.

  • Gender-responsive indicators measure access, agency, safety and benefit distribution
  • Indicator reference sheets define numerators, denominators, sources and frequency
  • Sex-disaggregated data reveal differences obscured by aggregate reporting
  • Qualitative methods capture voice, perceptions, norms and institutional change
  • Outcome harvesting identifies significant changes and contributing interventions
  • Baseline design establishes comparison points for inclusion commitments
  • Data protection protocols safeguard sensitive personal and complaint information

Participants can prepare an accountable action plan for sustained gender mainstreaming.

  • Organisational gender assessments identify policy, capacity and accountability gaps
  • Gender action plans prioritise actions, owners, resources and deadlines
  • Management dashboards track indicators, risks, commitments and corrective actions
  • Communities of practice support peer learning and technical quality assurance
  • Senior sponsorship links gender commitments to operational decision-making
  • Periodic gender audits test implementation quality and documented results
  • Personal application plans translate course methods into immediate workplace actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Gender and social inclusion analysis template
  2. Stakeholder power and rights mapping matrix
  3. Gender-responsive project design checklist
  4. Gender risk register and mitigation plan
  5. Gender-responsive indicator reference sheet
  6. Natural resource gender mainstreaming action plan

Who should attend

  • Natural Resource Managers — need equitable approaches to resource planning and benefit-sharing
  • Project Managers — must embed inclusion commitments within project design and delivery
  • Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists — require practical gender risk assessment methods
  • Climate and Sustainability Officers — need gender-responsive adaptation and mitigation planning
  • Government Resource Officers — manage policies, permits and community resource governance
  • NGO Programme Staff — design participatory conservation, livelihoods and community development initiatives

Skills and tools covered

Gender analysisSocial inclusion planningStakeholder power mappingGender-responsive budgetingSafeguard risk assessmentInclusion monitoring

Tools and standards

Harvard Analytical Framework, Moser Gender Planning Framework, Gender Analysis Matrix, OECD DAC Gender Equality Policy Marker

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce frameworks, followed by sector cases, small-group analysis, facilitated discussions and scenario-based decision work. Participants assess resource management situations involving land tenure, forest governance, water services, renewable energy and conservation livelihoods. Group exercises apply gender analysis, stakeholder mapping, risk assessment and indicator design to realistic project documents. Structured application planning helps each participant translate course methods into actions, responsibilities and evidence requirements for a current workplace initiative.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working experience in natural resource management, environmental programmes, climate initiatives, community development, infrastructure, conservation, extractives or related fields. Familiarity with basic project-cycle terms such as objectives, activities, stakeholders, budgets and indicators is helpful. Participants should be prepared to discuss a current or recent programme, policy or operational challenge. Prior gender studies training, statistical expertise, legal training or specialist knowledge of a particular natural resource sector is not required. The course introduces the required gender analysis and social inclusion methods from an applied professional starting point.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand the basic purpose of projects, policies or programmes in natural resource management or a related field. Previous gender training is not required; the course introduces the analytical methods used throughout.

Bring a current or recent project, policy, operational plan or community engagement challenge that you can use as a reference. A laptop is useful for adapting templates, but it is not mandatory for classroom delivery.

It suits programme managers, environmental and social specialists, government officers, sustainability staff, NGO practitioners and technical advisers. Participants should have some responsibility for planning, implementation, consultation, safeguards or monitoring.

This course concentrates on natural resource decisions such as land, water, forests, energy, conservation and extractives. It applies gender analysis to tenure, benefit-sharing, community governance, safeguards, budgets and environmental programme results.

Participants can use the templates to assess current projects, improve consultation plans, revise indicators and assign gender actions within workplans. The final application plan identifies immediate actions, responsible roles and evidence to collect.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with approximately 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, discussion, scenario work and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in Natural Resource Management

Natural Resource Management Community Forest Management Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Natural Resource Management Community Resource Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Natural Resource Management Forest Policy and Governance Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Natural Resource Management Forest Restoration and Reforestation Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Natural Resource Management GIS for Natural Resource Management Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Natural Resource Management Land Acquisition and Resettlement Planning Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Natural Resource Management Land Administration and Governance Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Natural Resource Management Land and Water Resource Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov