For my poster I’m currently reading about the water-energy-food-land (WEFL) nexus and asking how it can help us imagine climate futures from the bottom up perspective. I’m especially interested in what the nexus looks like at different scales.
At each scale, identify what the “nexus” problem is framed differently
Globally: scarcity/security, planetary limits,
Nationally: sectoral trade‑offs, growth, distribution,
Locally: access, livelihoods, adaptive capacity, justice.
The four papers I’m reading all point to similar gaps which is lots of quantitative, top‑down nexus work, but much less on local projects, social justice and adaptive capacity.
Building on this, I don’t want to create a big numerical model. Instead, I’d like to develop a clear systems map and a simple multi‑level framework that starts from local and community perspectives and then “scales up” to national and global levels. My idea is not only to discuss resource efficiency/security through nexus thinking but also map who has power and which instruments exist at each scale like Institutions, firms, communities, social movements and along with that if it is possible to bring in a social equity and adaptive capacity lens to nexus thinking asking who actually benefits, who remains vulnerable and what this means for plausible and desired climate futures.
References:
- Terrapon-Pfaff, J., Ortiz, W., Dienst, C., & Gröne, M.-C. (2018). Energising the WEF nexus to enhance sustainable development at local level. Journal of Environmental Management, 223, 409–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.037
- de Grenade, R., House-Peters, L., Scott, C. A., Thapa, B., Mills-Novoa, M., Gerlak, A., & Verbist, K. (2016). The nexus: Reconsidering environmental security and adaptive capacity. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 21, 15–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2016.10.009
- Ringler, C., Bhaduri, A., & Lawford, R. (2013). The nexus across water, energy, land and food (WELF): Potential for improved resource use efficiency? Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 5(6), 617–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2013.11.002
- Yupanqui, C., Dias, N., Goodarzi, M. R., Sharma, S., Vagheei, H., & Mohtar, R. (2025). A review of water-energy-food nexus frameworks, models, challenges and future opportunities to create an integrated, national security-based development index. Energy Nexus, 18, 100409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexus.2025.100409