Gateway to the perspectives of the Food-Energy-Water nexus

Proctor, Kyle W.; Tabatabaie, Seyed Mohammad Hossein; Murthy, Ganti S.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142852

Cited by 50 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The nexus has been overly stressed within analysis progress across the preceding decade as a device to drive organizations towards a green market and usually better source protection. Instead, the FEW nexus has been emphasized toward its potential to examine the interdependencies among sources at various ranges, given as an antidote to conventional "siloed" techniques [96]. Hence, there is a requirement to produce devices, that may find innovative clarifications by approaching nexus problems, supply trade-offs, and analyzing nexus integration possibilities.…”

Section: Prospects By Few Nexus In Development Of Biorefinerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent advances in bio-electrochemical system analysis in biorefineries

Siwal

Zhang

Saini

et al. 2021

Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Prospects By Few Nexus In Development Of Biorefinerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent advances in bio-electrochemical system analysis in biorefineries

Siwal

Zhang

Saini

et al. 2021

Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…As quickly as FEW nexus thinking gained popularity over the past decade, so too did arguments arise that it is not a novel concept and is merely a rebranding of existing environmental governance approaches and previous systems' frameworks, such as integrated water resource management (IWRM) and integrated natural resource management [16,17]. Wichelns (2017) even contends that the attention given to the FEW nexus in the scholarly literature is somewhat surprising, particularly as the nexus is not a clearly defined construct or tested framework [18].…”

Section: Critiques Of Few Nexus Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiential Graduate Course Prepares Transdisciplinary Future Leaders to Innovate at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Food, energy and water (FEW) systems are critically stressed worldwide. These challenges require transformative science, engineering and policy solutions. However, cross-cutting solutions can only arise through transdisciplinary training of our future science and policy leaders. The University of Maryland Global STEWARDS National Science Foundation Research Traineeship seeks to meet these needs. This study assessed a foundational component of the program: a novel, experiential course focused on transdisciplinary training and communication skills. We drew on data from the first two offerings of the course and utilized a mixed-method, multi-informant evaluation that included validated pre–post surveys, individual interviews and focus groups. Paired Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon tests were used to compare pre- and post-means. After the course, students reported improvements in their ability to identify strengths and weaknesses of multiple FEW nexus disciplines; articulate interplays between FEW systems at multiple scales; explain to peers the most important aspects of their research; and collaborate with scientists outside their field. Students also reported improvements in their oral and written communication skills, along with their ability to critically review others’ work. Our findings demonstrate that this graduate course can serve as an effective model to develop transdisciplinary researchers and communicators through cutting edge, experiential curricular approaches.

show abstract

“…The demand for increasingly productive and efficient FEWS has led to a growing focus on biophysical and engineered solutions, yet less focus has been on integrating social components within the FEWS framework (White et al, 2017). Based on these efforts, the concept of a FEWS nexus, emphasizing interdependencies between the production/conversion, distribution, and consumption of food, energy, and water resources, has emerged and garnered much attention over the past decade (Proctor et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it has been less successful as a tool to inform integrated policy and governance (Srigiri and Dombrowsky, 2022). Proctor et al (2021) emphasized the need to incorporate aspects of sustainability, environmental equity, and resilience while criticizing the FEWS concept for merely rebranding existing paradigms, including the concept of sustainable development. Although improving sustainability is often an expressed purpose of FEWS research in many academic definitions, the methods and foci can be misaligned and fail to capture important aspects of sustainable systems necessary to guide coherent policy agendas (Endo et al, 2017;Srigiri and Dombrowsky, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of social equity in FEWS analyses

Stone

Dickey

Summers

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Integrating social equity considerations into analyses of the food-energy-water systems nexus (FEWS) could improve understanding of how to meet increasing resource demands without impacting social vulnerabilities. Effective integration requires a robust definition of equity and an enhanced understanding of reliable FEWS analysis methods. By exploring how equity has been incorporated into FEWS research in the United States and countries with similar national development, this systematic literature review builds a knowledge base to address a critical research need. Our objectives were to 1) catalog analysis methods and metrics relevant to assessing FEWS equity at varying scales; 2) characterize current studies and interpret shared themes; and 3) identify opportunities for future research and the advancement of equitable FEWS governance. FEWS equity definitions and metrics were categorized by respective system (food, energy, water, overall nexus) and common governance scales (local, regional, national, global). Two central issues were climate change, which increases FEWS risks for vulnerable populations, and sustainable development, which offers a promising framework for integrating equity and FEWS in policy-making contexts. Social equity in FEWS was integrated into studies through affordability, access, and sociocultural elements. This framework could support researchers and practitioners to include equity in FEWS analysis tools based on study scale, purpose, and resource availability. Research gaps identified during the review included a lack of studies effectively integrating all three systems, a need for publicly available datasets, omission of issues related to energy conversion facilities, and opportunities for integration of environmental justice modalities into FEWS research. This paper synthesized how social equity has previously been incorporated into FEWS and outlines pathways for further consideration of equity within nexus studies. Our findings suggested that continued exploration of connections between FEWS, equity, and policy development across scales could reduce social risks and vulnerabilities associated with these systems.

show abstract

Gateway to the perspectives of the Food-Energy-Water nexus

Cited by 50 publications

References 58 publications

Recent advances in bio-electrochemical system analysis in biorefineries

Recent advances in bio-electrochemical system analysis in biorefineries

Experiential Graduate Course Prepares Transdisciplinary Future Leaders to Innovate at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus

A systematic review of social equity in FEWS analyses

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About