A new article on "Opportunities for knowledge co-production across the energy-food-water nexus: Making interdisciplinary approaches work for better climate decision making" has been published in the Journal Environmental Science and Policy. 

Irene Monasterolo, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Ecological Economics for the Research Area Climate Economics and Finance is the author of the article. Co-author of the article is Candice Howarth, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability and Climate Communication, from the University of Surrey.

Abstract:

The relationship between the energy-food-water nexus and the climate is non-linear, multi-sectoral and timesensitive, incorporating aspects of complexity and risk in climate related decision-making. Current methods ofanalysis were not built to represent such a complex system and are insufficiently equipped to capture andunderstand positive and negative externalities generated by the interactions among different stakeholders involvedin the energy-food-water nexus. Potential amplification effects, time delays and path dependency ofclimate policies are also inadequately represented. This paper seeks to explore how knowledge co-productioncan help identify opportunities for building more effective, sustainable, inclusive and legitimate decision makingprocesses on climate change. This would enable more resilient responses to climate risks impacting the nexuswhile increasing transparency, communication and trust among key actors. We do so by proposing the operationalizationof an interdisciplinary approach of analysis applying the novel methodology developed inHowarth and Monasterolo (2016). Through a bottom-up, participative approach, we present results of fivethemed workshops organized in the UK (focusing on: shocks and hazards, infrastructure, local economy, governanceand governments, finance and insurance) featuring 78 stakeholders from academia, government andindustry. We present participant’s perceptions of opportunities that can emerge from climate and weather shocksacross the energy-food-water nexus. We explore opportunities offered by the development and deployment of atransdisciplinary approach of analysis within the nexus boundaries and we analyse their implications. Ouranalysis contributes to the current debate on how to shape global and local responses to climate change byreflecting on lessons learnt and best practice from cross-stakeholder and cross-sectorial engagement. In so doing,it helps inform a new generation of complex systems models to analyse climate change impact on the food-waterenergynexus

Highlights:

• Energy-food-water nexus characterized by multi-sector, non-linear and time-sensitive processes.

• Methods for analysis, modeling and decision making in the nexus were not designed to represent complex adaptive systems.

• Co-production of knowledge enables transparency, communication and trust among decision-makers.

• Opportunities for resilient decision-making across the nexus exist.

• Context and processes, strategic thinking, collaboration and communication, anticipating social responses, and timescales are important.

You find the article under the following links:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901116306335

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2017.05.019