In coastal regions that traditionally depend on ecosystem services, sustainable development is of paramount importance. Within Colombia, a strong national policy focus on using natural resources and on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has driven development, moving the country from the bottom to the top of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) list. However, problems with gender inequality, marginalisation and other social aspects exist here, as in similar countries with good economic indicators. Using participatory research methods, and a six-day long residency (24 women leaders in Dique Channel, Colombia) we analysed elements of women's leadership, selected by local female community leaders, which could facilitate pathways to sustainable livelihoods in marginalised Colombian Caribbean fishing communities. Women leaders explored what sustainable development and leadership meant to them, linking these two concepts explicitly to their feelings of empowerment. They felt empowered by their capabilities around education, leadership, service, value and action and disempowered by gender inequality, level of access to education and difficult family situations. Reciprocal positive feedback loops existed between women's perceived leadership capabilities, and education or development of networks. However, despite the empowerment derived from natural resources, their leadership for sustainable development and service-orientation, women leaders struggled to identify tangible benefits for their community. Therefore, enabling women leaders to foresee possible solutions beyond the short term is an important point for development. In addition, male leaders recognized the potential of women leaders. Enlisting their support is essential for development of women leaders as a group. These elements will need to be further explored with the community, to identify pathways for future community wellbeing.

在传统上依赖生态系统服务的沿海地区，可持续发展至关重要。在哥伦比亚内部，针对使用自然资源和联合国可持续发展目标（SDG）的强有力的国家政策推动了发展，使该国从官方发展援助（ODA）列表的底部跌至顶部。然而，这里存在着性别不平等，边缘化和其他社会方面的问题，就像经济指标良好的类似国家一样。我们使用参与性研究方法并进行了为期六天的驻留（在哥伦比亚迪克海峡有24名女性领导人），我们分析了当地女性社区领导人挑选的女性领导才能，这些要素可能有助于在边缘化的哥伦比亚加勒比海捕捞社区实现可持续生计的途径。女领导人探索了可持续发展和领导力对她们的意义，并将这两个概念与她们的赋权感明确地联系在一起。他们感到自己在教育，领导能力，服务，价值和行动方面的能力得到了授权，并因性别不平等，受教育的程度和家庭困境而被剥夺了权力。妇女的领导能力与网络的教育或发展之间存在相互的积极反馈回路。但是，尽管自然资源赋予了她们权力，她们在可持续发展和服务导向方面发挥了领导作用，但女性领导人仍在努力为自己的社区寻找切实的利益。因此，使妇女领导人能够在短期内预见可能的解决方案是发展的重要点。此外，男性领导人认识到女性领导人的潜力。争取她们的支持对于妇女领袖群体的发展至关重要。这些元素将需要与社区进一步探讨，以确定未来社区福祉的途径。