What is social justice and capacity building?

Social justice is to have a fair and equitable distribution of resources, benefits and costs, and the power to make decisions in all parts of society. Key elements are transparency and inclusive participation with particular attention to the needs of vulnerable and marginalised communities.  

Capacity building is about developing skills, knowledge, and resources with and for different actors - communities, organisations, and institutions to effectively plan, design, implement, and maintain NbS. This includes strengthening local expertise, fostering partnerships and creating supportive governance structures.  

In NbS, social justice means ensuring fair access to natural resources and their benefits for all people. This includes inclusion in conservation and restoration activities or other measures. It also addresses inequalities related to who is affected by environmental degradation. The aim of capacity building is to ensure fair, inclusive, and empowering processes that provide diverse actors with the opportunities and tools needed to participate in and benefit from NbS while addressing existing inequalities and enhancing resilience.  

Addressing social justice with NbS

NbS can support equitable access to clean water and disaster resilience, which, depending on the socio-economic context may disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. In flood-prone areas or areas in risk of droughts, marginalized populations often suffer the most, and nature-based interventions can mitigate these effects, ensuring more inclusive and fair access to natural resources. 

NbS can involve local communities in planning and implementation, fostering a sense of ownership and empowering them to manage their natural resources sustainably, but this also depends on the socio-economic context. However, a participatory approach generally reduces inequality by giving all stakeholders, including underrepresented groups, a voice in decision-making processes. 

What to think about...

When considering the points below, it may be helpful to keep in mind the overall NbS project cycle (above) and its main steps. 

  • It is important to pay attention to who will benefit from the NbS. It should be identified if vulnerable or marginalized groups may be affected by barriers to participating in or benefiting from the NbS project. Barriers to inclusion physical, financial, informational, attitudinal, institutional.  

  • The project should carefully consider how benefits from the NbS will be distributed and take actions to ensure that everyone can access them equitably. This may involve targeted outreach, tailored program design, or setting specific inclusion targets. 

  • Local engagement can ensure that the NbS is aligned with local priorities and complement existing programs or services. Cross-sector partnerships can contribute to this by leveraging diverse expertise and resources for implementation 

  • Capacity building measures can ensure participation and enhance empowerment. Such measures need to be tailored to the socio-economic context of the NbS initiative. Working with local experts and leaders is relevant when developing and delivering training, but local power relations should also be considered. Ongoing support can be provided by offering a range of resources and communication channels to support engagement and skill development beyond one-off training 

  • It is important to equip practitioners with knowledge and skills to select, adapt, implement and evaluate NbS in their specific context. Improving awareness, providing resources, and creating mechanisms for local action and ownership and supporting bottom-up initiatives is key.  

  • The resource limitations of community organizations need to be considered when designing capacity-building efforts. It is important to be considerate of the existing power dynamics and work towards an equitable distribution of power in co-design processes.  

  • To ensure that the NbS is meeting its goals for social justice and capacity building, it is also essential to have monitoring in place. This can include indicators to track social impact and equity outcomes alongside environmental impacts. 

NbS with a focus on social justice

We encourage users of this handbook to fully realize the potential within the specific context of the ecosystem and to set clear targets that can be followed over time. 

Are you unsure how to choose an NbS that addresses social justice and capacity building? See our general guidance on Nature-based solutions!