By Energy
from Women
If we look back a few months ago, Energy from Women began to be written
in those moments of silence and isolation in a small city in southern Germany,
precisely when the world was facing one of the most critical moments of the
pandemic (COVID-19). A situation that increased inequalities and that once
again highlighted the need to guarantee access to sustainable and affordable
energy service, but this time with a global awareness, to facilitate access to
other types of basic services such as education, communications, drinking water
or information, especially to the most disadvantaged populations.
In that time of reflection and hopelessness that converged with our
interest and motivation to contribute to the energy sector differently, Energy
from Women began as a blog format to gradually become a network and later a
transdisciplinary group of women.
“La Energía de las Mujeres”, better known as Energy from Women, is made
up of valuable women like you, women who with their knowledge and motivation
contribute to endeavors for real gender equality and equity, to close knowledge
gaps in society, to give value to multiculturalism, to work for a more fair and
empathetic society with diversity, a society with equal opportunities. Energy
from Women also represents women who lead and undertake initiatives to
positively transform impoverished or vulnerable environments. Women with a strategic
vision for building alliances to support the purpose of the network. Women with
an open attitude to learning and collaborative work. Women who represent
diversity, co-responsibility, equality, sorority, multiculturalism and
inspiration.
As a collective,
we have two clear objectives: (i) to make professional women visible in
different areas of knowledge and (ii) to give a voice to rural women, those who
live in isolated, remote, and vulnerable environments, where there is still a high
dependency on harmful primary energy and low opportunities for development.
In our mission, we have published 11 articles and 5 stories. Articles
that address topics such as climate action, environment, international
cooperation, the energy sector, refugee population, sustainable architecture,
biotechnosphere, chemistry, biomass and biofuels, green hydrogen, sustainable
mobility, solar technology, urban planning, among others; topics so diverse but
while jointly tackle the gender perspective from a critical point of view.
Similarly, the five stories, whose protagonists take us to different countries
and regions and to different realities, get across dreams and desire to become
better human beings, diversity of knowledge and experiences, such as courage,
bravery and dedication to inspire us to continue giving our best, and thus, to
make do of this world a fairer place.
With great pride we continue progressing beyond our initial objectives,
we have launched our first project to provide access to electricity to a school
located in a rural area of Arauca (Colombia) and we have already planned a
second one in the city of Teresina in Brazil to implement energy efficiency
measures in an association that supports young people in vulnerable conditions.
Likewise, we work actively offering awareness talks on gender equality in
private companies, academia, forums, conferences and interviews, which also
contributes to the visibility of our network and our mission.
This leads us to recognize and appreciate the commitment of our leaders
and volunteers, as well as the trust of our stakeholders and the population in
general in our network, this is our main motivation.
We appreciate the support of Anécdotas con Energía from Mexico, IEEE Colombia, IEEE Ecuador and IEEE Brazil, as well as private companies, academia and other partners for helping us to get our message across.
During this time, we have learned and confirmed how fruitful it is to
work in diversity and with a collaborative spirit. Today we are more than 30
volunteers representing various countries and cultures, including Spain,
Ecuador, Colombia, the United States, Russia, Bolivia, Chile, Algeria and
Brazil. Our commitment is clear, gender equality and equity requires
significant efforts and for this, collective work is necessary.
In this sense, do you want to know how we envision our work for the next
year? Therefore, we would like to invite you to watch the testimonial video of
the Energy from Women volunteers at out YouTube channel:
We have the big challenge to continue working for women visibility,
particularly in the energy sector, and to materialize our current projects as
well as undertake others where the presence of the network is necessary. We are
committed to keep working on awareness-raising on the importance of integrating
the gender perspective at the institutional level, as well as to keep growing
by the participation of new women that strengthen our transdisciplinarity. This
leads us to recall some of the many reflections made by our volunteers:
-
“…we must continue doing our
part from different spheres of society, so that, equality and equity between
men and women become normal. It is a matter of coherence, social justice, and
human rights…” Beatriz Iritia, Spain.
-
“…it is necessary to understand
that gender and environmental issues are the clearest manifestation of the
consequences of our current vision of the world…” Angélica Roldán, Ecuador.
- “The
transport sector has historically been a space for men, but now we can be
protagonists in a new era of sustainable transport” Pilar Enríquez, Chile and
Nathalia Ortiz, Colombia.
- “Don’t
let other people draw your borders, …There are no borders, this is in your
mind. If you remove the borders of your mind, you can achieve what you really
want. There is nothing easy and you have to push as harder as possible” Amira
Ghied, Algeria.
Thanks to the volunteers of Energy from
Women,
Thanks to our stakeholders,
Thanks to those who read and support
our work,
Thanks to those who trust in
Energy from Women, we wish you happiness and a great 2022 ahead filled by
achievements and wonderful experiences.
Happy 2022!!! If our work has caused interest in you, please, don’t
hesitate in reaching out at: energyfromwomen@gmail.com
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