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People are more aware of the shocks like the Tsunami or Earthquake, but not aware about the long-term abstract stresses playing around in Urban areas due to climate change. Increase of heat stress, water scarcity, vector borne diseases, flooding are potent dangers, especially to the most vulnerable. Climate change does have an inter- generational impact; therefore, involvement of women and adolescent girls is extremely important to ensure climate action encompasses generations, says Bijal Brahmbhatt, Director, Mahila Housing Trust (MHT).   

With a mission to strengthen grassroots collectives of women in the urban informal sector action on improving their housing, living and working environments, Mahila Housing Trust, has been championing community-based resilience models that are women-led, integrated, evidence based, and focuses on innovative communication strategies to promote a culture of resilience. As a part of its climate adaptation work MHT is focusing on climate stressors that are slow to onset, attract less attention, but frequently impact poor people, particularly women, the most.   

For this quarter’s issue of our Newsletter, we spoke with Bijal Brahmbhatt about her journey of spearheading MHT’s vision and working toward making communities in informal urban settlements climate resilient.  

Question.) MHT’s programs address the intersectional challenges in cities pertaining to housing, sanitation, governance, and fostering climate resilience for low-income urban communities living in informal settlements. How has your work evolved over these years, what are your learnings from navigating these complex, intersecting issues? 

MHT was established about 25 years ago, with the mission to improve the housing, living and environmental conditions of the poor women in the informal sector. Initially, our work was intertwined with empowerment of women around the issues of water and sanitation, as demand evolved, our work progressed to energy, housing & housing finance, governance, across all these areas we have seen the cross-cutting implications of climate change. 

Over these years, what I have seen as one of the learnings for us is that there is a need to introduce functional and sustainable system- level interventions rather than decentralized solutions. We need to channel adequate resources for the marginalized, especially women – despite of various initiatives, there remains a significant gap in resources and securing adequate funding.   

In the climate landscape, funds are often directed towards mitigation rather than adaptation or resilience building. We need to build more awareness around the intersectionality between climate change and other thematic areas such as health, livelihoods, and education, to direct thematic funding towards climate. Thus, finding ways for individuals to imagine climate as a holistic issue. 

Question.) How are you adopting an intersectional lens to climate action with your programs? How has your journey been in building energy efficient livelihoods and climate resilience capacities in communities to survive, adapt, and progress in the face of climate risks? 

Climate has always been intertwined with our work in habitat development. Informal settlements are disproportionately affected by heat stress due to climate change, exacerbated by poor housing conditions such as tin roofs and lack of ventilation. Water scarcity, a stress that will only worsen with climate change, is another area we've tackled. We recognize that climate action cuts across many sectors and from the inception of our work, we have looked at climate change in conjunction with all our other priorities.  

We began with slum housing, expanded to settlement levels, and now work in smaller cities. We work with families to make climate- resilient investments and adopt solutions which are affordable and applicable – like alarms and alerts for pollution and flooding, cool roofs, green energy products like LED lights, smokeless cooking stoves, solar lighting, and cooling system. Our policy advocacy extends to national and international forums, like ClimateRISE and COP28, and we collaborate with partners in Nepal and Bangladesh. This holistic approach has allowed us to create more comprehensive and sustainable solutions that address the multifaceted challenges faced by these communities. 

Question.) What role do you think policy and advocacy play in making the programs you lead sustainable? How have you ensured the sustainability of some of your programs? 

Policy and advocacy are crucial in ensuring the sustainability of our interventions. Most interventions need to be institutionalized by the government, private sector, and communities. For instance, when we signed the Heat Action Plan with the city of Jodhpur, the idea was initiated by our community action groups. They engaged the municipal corporation, leading to the creation of an early warning system for heat alerts. This initiative started with community demand and was formalized through policy. We've also built people’s capacity to tackle these concerns, ensuring sustainability even if we withdraw from the project. By embedding these practices into local governance and community structures, we ensure that the interventions continue to function effectively.  

Another intervention of ours - Climate AI program, which predicts flooding for Amalner, requires extensive data collection by local women. The accuracy of the AI model improves with more data. Initially funded by Google, the program will become sustainable as the community continues to feed data. The city helps build robust methods of data collection and updates. Compared to think tanks taking up the process of adding data, we believe NGOs at the grassroots level should enable this process. This grassroots involvement not only ensures the relevance and accuracy of the data but also empowers local communities, making the program more resilient and sustainable in the long term. 

Question.) Your programs have helped amplify women's voices in city-level initiatives. What strategies have been most successful in creating those spaces for participation and fostering inclusive urban governance?   

Through our initiatives, we empower women from low-income communities to exercise their rights and collectively demand improved living and working environments. By developing grassroots-level partnerships with women and leveraging technical innovation, we build social capital and community capacities to solve problems in the urban environment. Our interventions are socio-technical in nature. We take an incremental and phased approach to sustain these. For example, we started working in the sanitation space, our approach was to address immediate needs like access to toilets and water supply, then build climate change programs around those concerns. 

We ensure long-term presence in areas, often spanning 5 to 10 years, to foster inclusive urban governance. By staying engaged with the communities over an extended period, we build trust and understanding, which are crucial for fostering inclusive participation. Additionally, we focus on creating platforms for women to voice their concerns and actively participate in decision-making processes. This approach has proven successful in amplifying women's voices and ensuring that their needs and perspectives are included in urban governance. 

Question.) Could you share a success story that has stayed with you and continues to motivate you?   

Witnessing the direct impact on people’s lives is something that keeps me going. While policy and advocacy take time, our work shows immediate results in improving the lives of poor women. For instance: in one of our projects, we helped women in informal settlements gain access to clean water. This not only improved their health but also freed up time they previously spent fetching water, allowing them to pursue education and livelihoods. This kind of direct impact is incredibly motivating. Even after 30 years of working with the communities, I am still learning from their resilience and grit – be it Gomti, an adolescent girl who is a sanitation champion in her slum community or Kajli, a SHG leader who confidently talks about the issue of unhygienic open drains and health issues in her community to the local govt. officials. There are inspiring stories everywhere around me and this is where I draw inspiration from to make our work relevant and impactful. 

Question.) What advice would you like to convey to people in the climate action landscape who want to center people’s voices in developing solutions? 

Climate change isn't the community's priority because their concerns are short-term—earning more, paying for education, accessing water. Address these immediate needs first, then integrate climate solutions into the conversation. It's crucial to meet communities where they are and address their pressing concerns. By building trust and demonstrating tangible benefits, we can then introduce broader climate resilience strategies. Engaging communities in the development and implementation of these solutions ensures they are relevant and sustainable.