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The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus : A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

Dalla Fontana, Michele ; Wahl, Darin LU ; Moreira, Fabiano de Araujo ; Offermans, Astrid ; Ness, Barry LU ; Malheiros, Tadeu Fabrício and Di Giulio, Gabriela Marques (2021) In Frontiers in Water 3.
Abstract

The water-energy-food nexus is now a popular approach in the sustainability field. However, whereas the nexus calls for more holistic, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, the research produced over the past decade has been fragmented and specialized. Furthermore, there is still a gap between the nexus as a descriptive and analytical concept and its operationalization. Nexus research needs a shift from “thinking” to “action,” which we understand as the production of actionable knowledge. This paper delves into the literature and presents five “W” questions as an iterative heuristic for the nexus concept to encourage reflexivity and inter-and transdisciplinary dialogue, while aiming at the production of actionable knowledge. We draw... (More)

The water-energy-food nexus is now a popular approach in the sustainability field. However, whereas the nexus calls for more holistic, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, the research produced over the past decade has been fragmented and specialized. Furthermore, there is still a gap between the nexus as a descriptive and analytical concept and its operationalization. Nexus research needs a shift from “thinking” to “action,” which we understand as the production of actionable knowledge. This paper delves into the literature and presents five “W” questions as an iterative heuristic for the nexus concept to encourage reflexivity and inter-and transdisciplinary dialogue, while aiming at the production of actionable knowledge. We draw on the literature to discuss the five “W” questions of the nexus, namely: (i) Why, in which we explore the purpose of nexus research for actionable knowledge; (ii) What, in which we explore the material aspect of the nexus and the interactions between water, energy and food systems; (iii) Where, in which we discuss issues of scale, interactions between scales, and the geographical context of the nexus; (iv) When, in which we consider temporal dimensions of nexus research with a particular emphasis on intergenerational trade-offs, and (v) Who, which focuses on nexus stakeholders and the importance of understanding issues of justice and equity. Finally, we discuss the connections and dependencies between the five Ws, reinforcing the importance for researchers to reflect on their decision-making and engage in inter- and transdisciplinary debate to enable nexus action.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
collaboration, interdisciplinary, sustainability, systems thinking, transdisciplinary
in
Frontiers in Water
volume
3
article number
729722
publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85119886832
ISSN
2624-9375
DOI
10.3389/frwa.2021.729722
project
Experimenting with sustainability transformations: A study of Urban Living Labs in the food, water and energy nexus
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Funding Information: MD, FM, TM, and GD declare that the research has been funded by FAPESP—São Paulo Research Foundation (Proc. 2018/21362-1; Proc. 2018/21249-0; Proc. 2017/50423-6). DW and BN declare that the research has been funded by the Swedish Energy Agency grant no. 45290-1. AO declares that the research has been funded by the Dutch research council (NWO). This research was conducted as part of the GLOCULL Project, which is part of the Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative (SUGI)/Food-
id
ad37635a-f7b4-44f0-8622-9f22b30672bf
date added to LUP
2021-12-09 06:27:36
date last changed
2023-08-30 07:09:31
@article{ad37635a-f7b4-44f0-8622-9f22b30672bf,
  abstract     = {{<p>The water-energy-food nexus is now a popular approach in the sustainability field. However, whereas the nexus calls for more holistic, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, the research produced over the past decade has been fragmented and specialized. Furthermore, there is still a gap between the nexus as a descriptive and analytical concept and its operationalization. Nexus research needs a shift from “thinking” to “action,” which we understand as the production of actionable knowledge. This paper delves into the literature and presents five “W” questions as an iterative heuristic for the nexus concept to encourage reflexivity and inter-and transdisciplinary dialogue, while aiming at the production of actionable knowledge. We draw on the literature to discuss the five “W” questions of the nexus, namely: (i) Why, in which we explore the purpose of nexus research for actionable knowledge; (ii) What, in which we explore the material aspect of the nexus and the interactions between water, energy and food systems; (iii) Where, in which we discuss issues of scale, interactions between scales, and the geographical context of the nexus; (iv) When, in which we consider temporal dimensions of nexus research with a particular emphasis on intergenerational trade-offs, and (v) Who, which focuses on nexus stakeholders and the importance of understanding issues of justice and equity. Finally, we discuss the connections and dependencies between the five Ws, reinforcing the importance for researchers to reflect on their decision-making and engage in inter- and transdisciplinary debate to enable nexus action.</p>}},
  author       = {{Dalla Fontana, Michele and Wahl, Darin and Moreira, Fabiano de Araujo and Offermans, Astrid and Ness, Barry and Malheiros, Tadeu Fabrício and Di Giulio, Gabriela Marques}},
  issn         = {{2624-9375}},
  keywords     = {{collaboration; interdisciplinary; sustainability; systems thinking; transdisciplinary}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  publisher    = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
  series       = {{Frontiers in Water}},
  title        = {{The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus : A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2021.729722}},
  doi          = {{10.3389/frwa.2021.729722}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}