Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.13044/j.sdewes.d8.0355
Exploring the challenges and opportunities in the Water, Energy, Food nexus for Arid Region
Sameh W.H. Al-Muqdadi
; Green Charter
Ali Khalaifawi
; Arcadis Consulting Middle East, United Arab of Emirate
Basima Abdulrahman
; KESK Green Building Consulting, Erbil, Iraq
Faisal Aziz Kittana
; Electricite De France, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Khalid Zaki Alwadi
; IBM, Dubai, United Arab of Emirate
Mohammed Humam Abdulkhaleq
; Civil Engineer, Dubai, United Arab of Emirate
Saif Salwan Al Saffar
; Petroleum Engineer, Dubai, United Arab of Emirate
Shahda Mazin Al Taie
; Mechanical Engineer,Dubai,United Arab of Emirate
Sheelaz Merz
; Sustainability Excellence, United Arab of Emirate
Reem Al Dahmani
; Landscape Architect, Abu Dhabi, United Arab of Emirate
Abstract
Water, Energy, and Food sectors are interlinked in a nexus wherein actions relevant to one sector can often influence other sectors to a high degree. Globally, there has been a growing focus on ensuring water, energy, and food security in different kinds of frameworks and models. The current research aims to describe the complex interlinks between the three sectors by evaluating the challenges and opportunities in the following domains: policy, management, and technology. The hypothesis is to provide a basic practice framework to secure better outreach to tackle the interlinks and mismatches within the nexus elements. The methods used a dynamic framework through a transdisciplinary team; the team divided the nexus into six sub-sectors and collecting the primary data through fieldwork interviewing 22 stakeholders and secondary data of 211 literature. The approach of complex adaptive systems and evolving mental models have been used to analyse and develop the framework. The results show that interlinks within the water, energy, and food nexus are quite challenging to be identified since each region has different needs. However, the customized framework covered the gaps holistically, which can be used as a fundamental practice guideline. The study also proposed practical solutions and highlighting the opportunities to secure the future of sustainable development goals.
Keywords
Water–energy–food nexus; Sustainable development; Resource management; Governance
Hrčak ID:
270162
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2021.
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