Background
The energy transition's success hinges on the meaningful participation of all community members, particularly women who have historically been excluded from energy decision-making. Yet too often, women's involvement remains tokenistic rather than transformative.
The WEco toolkit addresses this gap, emerging from IRENA's broader work on the socio-economic dimensions of energy transitions, with a specific focus on ensuring these transitions are just, inclusive, and gender-responsive. Through its simulation-based curriculum, the toolkit helps rural and Indigenous women to:
- Gain agency during project implementation
- Co-create economic and climate solutions tailored to their communities
- Develop collective leadership and problem-solving skills
- Blend modern progress with traditional wisdom in exploring ecological and economic systems
Toolkit
The WEco (Women + Ecology + Economy) Gender Toolkit aims to accelerate the socio-economic transformation of Indigenous women in community-scale micro-hydropower initiatives through simulation-based capacity building. Co-created with Indigenous communities in Mindanao, Philippines, the toolkit combines self-reflection, role-modelling and peer exchange to build practical skills and confidence. Three sub-games cover community needs assessment (NEED), project planning and development (BUILD), and long-term sustainability through operations, financial planning and governance (SUSTAIN). These feed into the main WEco board game, exploring connections between gender dynamics and ecological and economic systems. The progressive learning approach supports women's transition from token to transformative participation in renewable energy projects.
An accompanying guide ensures the toolkit can be downloaded, printed and adapted for use in other communities. The toolkit also includes self-assessment sub-tools enabling facilitating organisations to differentiate between token presence and transformative participation across implementation, productive end-use and adaptation value chains.
Women-Centric Toolkit for Small-Scale Hydropower
Complementing these resources, the Hidden No More video series features proven rural and Indigenous women champions of community hydropower. These accessible short films foster socio-emotional awareness, confidence and leadership among women new to the sector, while promoting knowledge sharing on inclusive energy transition pathways.
While centred on small-scale community hydropower, the toolkit's lessons are applicable across decentralised renewable energy contexts. As part of the launch of IRENA's Renewable Energy: A Gender Perspective (second edition), a webinar and podcast spotlighted the innovative work of WEco.
Video series: Hidden No More
Hidden No More is a three-part video series showcasing the leadership of Indigenous women in the Lubas micro-hydropower project in Mindanao, Philippines. The films follow women's contributions at every stage: building the system, putting its power to productive use and protecting the watershed. Through authentic stories of women who advanced from early participants to technical experts and financial managers, the series reveals the powerful connection between women's empowerment and successful community-scale renewable energy.
WEco Gender Toolkit: A Guide for Facilitators
The WEco (Women + Ecology + Economy) Gender Toolkit is an innovative capacity-building resource designed to empower indigenous women in community-scale hydropower initiatives. Co-created with Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group and indigenous women's groups in Sitio Lubas, Philippines, the overview covers the toolkit's core structure, including one main game and three sub-games (NEED, BUILD and SUSTAIN) that use immersive simulations to build skills across the entire micro-hydropower value chain.
Empowering Indigenous Women through Small-Scale Hydropower
In Timodos village in Mindanao, Philippines, a powerhouse operator shares how she and her community built and now manage their own micro-hydropower system. Trees planted in the mountains sustain the water source, while key components work together to generate electricity for the village. The message to other women taking on similar roles is clear: working together brings power not just to homes but to entire communities.
Transforming Daily Life: Women's Stories Before and After Micro-Hydro
In Sitio Lubas and Sitio Pundok in Mindanao, Philippines, women reflect on life before and after their community's micro-hydropower project. Before electricity and reliable water, families faced waterborne diseases, farmers struggled to keep seedlings alive and work stopped at sundown. Today, clean water flows to every home, broom-making continues into the night, women earn their own income selling ice candy and students research assignments online.
Building Confidence through Community Energy Leadership
In Sitio Lubas in Mindanao, Philippines, members of the Katawa Women's Association share how managing the Nehren Center transformed their lives. Once shy and uncertain, these women now handle finances, implement policies and speak confidently with visitors. With community support, they discovered their own value beyond the household.
Games
The WEco toolkit includes one main game and three sub-games, each building specific skills through hands-on simulation. The sub-games offer a unique, visual and interactive approach to understanding community dynamics.;
- NEED focuses on identifying core community needs, driving innovation, concept creation, and facilitating aspiration analysis.
- BUILD simulates the construction of new solutions or the upgrading of existing ones, covering the full scope of design and development within a timeline.
- SUSTAIN delves into the crucial elements of long-term project success: Operations, Maintenance, Financial Planning, and Governance.
The main game, WEco, brings these elements together in a board game where players experience how an indigenous community, led by women and powered by renewable energy, drives its own sustainable development through production, trade and cooperation.
The centrepiece of the toolkit is an immersive board game centred on how an indigenous community, led by women and powered by renewable energy, drives its own sustainable development even in the face of unpredictable climate.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Ecological Stewardship: Understand the crucial relationship between watershed health, sustainable land use, and community resilience
- Economic Empowerment: Identify how productive end-use applications of energy can maximise economic benefit
- Market Strategy: Recognise challenges and opportunities related to community market access
- Cooperative Models: Understand principles of cooperative, inclusive, and sustainable economic models
- Recognitional Justice: Recognise the vital role of Indigenous women in driving equitable and sustainable transitions
Printable Materials:
NEED is a self-reflection tool designed to help communities, particularly women, identify their most pressing needs and envision solutions. Drawing from the best practices of Yamog, the activities empower participants to move from passive problem identification to active change agency, building the confidence and collective action needed for successful rural development.
The tool also includes a self-assessment process developed with Indigenous women in Lubas and Timodos. Rooted in oral history and collective storytelling, this methodology helps participants preserve experiences, reflect on challenges and articulate shared aspirations.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Identify diverse community needs through effective assessment methods
- Generate innovative solutions and concepts in response to identified needs
- Build confidence and collective action needed for successful initiatives
Printable Materials:
Involving women in the planning and development of an MHP project kickstarts social change, boosting their awareness, confidence and self-expression. By actively contributing and learning new skills, they build a foundation for even greater changes during the operation, maintenance and utilisation stages.
This game models the MHP planning and development process using real-life experiences from the Lubas community. It provides a safe space to test strategies, identify potential problems and make informed decisions without real-world risk. By combining feasibility studies with social processes and maintaining transparency about resources and community involvement, the simulation prioritises engagement, trust and effective communication from the outset.
This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough for facilitation, helping participants understand the vital connection between technical planning and community engagement.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Apply best practices for feasibility study, construction, and development
- Understand steps, components, and resources required to design and develop a micro-hydro system
- Manage the full scope of design and development within a given timeline
Printable Materials:
Operations, maintenance, financial planning and governance are crucial for the long-term success of a micro-hydropower (MHP) system. Simulation-based troubleshooting training offers an effective way to build these skills. By practising how to identify and solve problems in a controlled environment, community members gain the confidence and know-how needed for real-life situations. They learn how the system's components work together, develop a clear process for diagnosing issues, and build the teamwork and logical thinking essential for keeping their project running.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Manage the day-to-day operations and maintenance of a micro-hydro system or other solutions.
- Detail the costs associated with a micro-hydro system or other solutions’ ongoing operations and maintenance.
- Identify potential revenue streams and calculate the revenue needed to sustain the micro-hydro system or other solutions.
- Understand the governance process, roles and responsibilities of each position.
Printable Materials:
SUSTAIN TENT CARD STANDThe WEco toolkit is designed to be flexible and adaptable. Whether you're planning a single awareness session or a multi-week learning programme, here's how to make the most of these resources.
Progressive Learning Approach WEco is built upon progressive learning mechanics. The journey starts with basic understanding and gradually introduces more complex challenges, concepts, and information. This allows learners to build intuition and mastery over time, fostering a holistic grasp of project dynamics.
Step 1: Assess Your Context
Before diving in, consider your community's specific circumstances. What is the status of energy access? What roles do women currently play in energy-related decisions? What barriers might prevent their full participation? Start with the NEED sub-game activities to establish a baseline.
Step 2: Prepare Your Materials
Download and print the resources you'll need. Game boards work best when printed in colour at A3 size or larger. Ensure you have enough copies of cards for all participants. Review the Guide for Facilitators thoroughly before your first session.
Step 3: Engage Community Leaders
Successful implementation requires buy-in from community leaders—both women and men. Share the "Hidden No More" videos to demonstrate the value of women's participation and address any concerns about the approach.
Step 4: Deliver Sessions
Follow the curriculum or adapt it to your timeline. Create a welcoming environment where women feel safe to speak. Use the games and activities to spark discussion and surface local knowledge. Allow plenty of time for reflection and questions.
Step 5: Follow Up and Sustain
Learning doesn't end when the session does. Use follow-up activities from the Guide for Facilitators to reinforce lessons. Document new insights and improvements to contribute to the iterative co-creation process. Share successes and challenges with your networks.
The toolkit's architecture allows for seamless transitions between the main game and its sub-components. Facilitators can dive into specific sub-games (NEED, BUILD, SUSTAIN) when participants need deeper understanding of particular aspects, then return to the main WEco game for the big-picture experience.