Gender-responsive and inclusive engagement recognises that climate risks, impacts, and capacities are experienced differently across gender, age, ability, livelihood, and social position. Effective co-production therefore requires creating spaces and processes where diverse voices—including women, youth, older persons, people with disabilities, migrants, and informal workers—can participate meaningfully and safely.

The INACCT Resilience Project has shown that this begins with a clear understanding of local social dynamics and power relations, alongside the deliberate design of engagement processes that reduce barriers to participation. These barriers may include the timing and location of meetings, language, childcare responsibilities, mobility constraints, and cultural norms. Using participatory and creative methods—such as small-group discussions, visual tools, storytelling, and hands-on approaches like playdough modelling—supports shared learning between communities, researchers, and local authorities.

Gender-responsive engagement also involves recognising, valuing, and integrating different forms of knowledge, including lived experience and everyday adaptation practices. It ensures that insights generated through co-production meaningfully inform decision-making, planning, and action. By embedding inclusivity and gender responsiveness throughout the process, co-produced knowledge becomes more effective in supporting equitable and just climate resilience outcomes.