gEneSys applies the Gendered Innovations (GI) approach to explore “how to” overcome gender inequalities in existing energy systems; mainstream gender into new policy frameworks; integrate gender perspective into energy transition processes and outcomes; advance women in energy ecosystem as researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders, employees, and consumers; measure and monitor justice and fairness in energy transition outcomes; promote shared values of equity and sustainability; respond to intersectional dimensions; transform power hierarchies; facilitate societal acceptance of the changes; make energy transition processes more sensitive to gender issues. The key steps of the GI methodology are listed below with a link to the relevant literature, for each.

• Rethinking Research Priorities and Outcomes which means accepting that gender differences are or may be relevant. In the context of energy transition this is particularly important when assembling the evidence base to support analysis of individual subsystems and their interactions with one another.

• Formulating Research Questions which is about scoping the analytical approach to identify gender-related power hierarchies in energy systems (traditional and emerging). The relevant gender question can be for instance how to ensure societal acceptance of radical innovations and understand impacts of environmental degradation of energy infrastructures on women’s livelihoods and health.

• Analysing Sex means paying attention to essential, unchangeable biological differences and how they influence response to energy poverty, hunger, disease, or changes in environmental conditions, for instance due to polluting household cooking equipment.

• Analysing how Sex and Gender Interact means considering both biological and socio-cultural perspectives on the role and behaviours of women and men. For instance, tracking impact of greenhouse gas emissions may involve understanding the gendered nature of energy consumption as it relates to work, or within the household, and how it relates to health and wellbeing.

• Intersectional Approaches means paying attention to other human characteristics such as age, social status, education, ethnicity, race, geography, that play a role in defining vulnerability through lack of access to energy supply.

• Engineering Innovation Processes means creating socio-technical systems to ensure that energy transition pathways and low-carbon technologies do not propagate gender inequalities embedded in existing technologies. As an example, solar panels are particularly difficult to dismantle, which makes attempts to recycle the components very difficult, contributing to accumulation of electronic waste, but also restricting opportunities for creating employment for women in electronic waste processing sector.

• Co-creation and Participatory Research means involving multiple actors and stakeholders in analysis of problems and generation of proposals for solutions. In the context of energy transitions this may mean including the voices of rural, poor, indigenous, or other marginalized communities.A

• Rethinking Standards and Reference Models means removing gender bias in energy transition through, for example, enhancing transparency and traceability in procurement of resources, products, and services to ensure availability and price of energy.

• Rethinking Language and Visual Representations means demonstrating the gendered nature of energy transition in a way that can be easily comprehended by non-gender experts and lay persons. This could be by using images, graphics, stories when communicating rationales for gendered energy transitions etc.