Definition
Grassroots women is a term used for women living in poor rural or urban communities, characterized as a part of a group susceptible to risks and vulnerabilities because of their economic, social, and political marginalization. These women, aware of the reality and needs of their community, develop strategies and mobilize themselves to reverse their vulnerability, improve their family members’ quality of life, and gain more space in the decision-making processes that affect their lives (GROOTS International 2011). Grassroots women are strongly related to sustainable development since their practices to ensure the well-being and development of the local level are shown in agreement with the global Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 5 that aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (Huairou Commission 2016a).
Introduction
Social movements can be described as...
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Jameson McQueen, Wellyngton Silva de Amorim, Samara da Silva Neiva, Ricardo Neumann, and Jop van Dijk for their contributions on the revision of this paper. This study was conducted by the Research Centre on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (Greens) from the University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), in the context of the project BRIDGE (Building Resilience in a Dynamic Global Economy: Complexity across scales in the Brazilian Food-Water-Energy Nexus), funded by the Newton Fund, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina, and the Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK).
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do Livramento Gonçalves, G., Castro, B.C.G., de Andrade Guerra, J.B.S.O. (2020). Grassroots Women and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Gender Equality. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70060-1_37-1
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