Operationalizing water-energy-food nexus research for sustainable development in social-ecological systems: an interdisciplinary learning case in Central Asia

• Published in: Ecology and society 2022-03, Vol.27 (1), p.12, Article art12
• Main Authors: Hamidov, Ahmad, Daedlow, Katrin, Webber, Heidi, Hussein, Hussam, Abdurahmanov, Ilhom, Dolidudko, Aleksandr, Seerat, Ali Yawar, Solieva, Umida, Woldeyohanes, Tesfaye, Helming, Katharina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: afghanistan; Agriculture; Case studies; central asia; Comparative studies; Complexity; Cooperation; Ecosystems; Employment; Energy development; Food; impact assessment; interdisciplinarity; Interdisciplinary aspects; International cooperation; Learning; Natural resource management; Natural resources; Resource management; Social discrimination learning; Social-ecological systems; socially responsible research; Soil management; Soil water; Stakeholders; Sustainability; Sustainable development; systemic approach; Tradeoffs; Water; Water governance
• ISSN: 1708-3087; 1708-3087
• DOI: 10.5751/ES-12891-270112

In social-ecological systems, natural resource management can be characterized by trade-offs across sectors and sustainability targets. The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus concept makes explicit various trade-offs in order to maximize synergies of interventions. However, there are few successful examples of its operationalization in research settings. Here, we explore in a learning setting if sustainability impact assessment (SIA) protocols can be a useful process to be used to adopt a systemic, interdisciplinary perspective to operationalize WEF nexus in research for sustainable development. The process and method adopted of SIA protocol, evaluated for five exemplary WEF nexus cases in Central Asia during a week-long international workshop, adequately addressed the complexity of WEF interrelationships and associated sustainability issues, and facilitated a comparative case study analysis across scales. Results within this process highlight that water governance was critical for large-scale transboundary WEF nexus management, while land and soil management were decisive for minimizing trade-offs at local levels. Issues of interdisciplinarity, complexity, uncertainty, and reflection on impacts were adequately addressed, but challenges remain in the consideration of ethics and the design of transparent, multi-actor cooperation. Most importantly, this exercise showed that employment of the process of SIA protocol supported disciplinary experts to work across disciplines and take a systemic approach for analyzing WEF nexus.