Candice Howarth from Anglia Ruskin University and Irene Monasterolo from Boston University, USA, have published their research on ‘Understanding barriers to decision making in the UK energy-food-water nexus: The added value of interdisciplinary approaches’ in Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 61, July 2016, Pages 53–60. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2016.03.014
The paper presents the findings from five themed workshops carried out as part of the Nexus Network Nexus Shocks network. Five workshops were held with a total of 80 stakeholders from academia, government and industry in the UK, to explore the impact of climate and weather shocks across the energy-food-water nexus and barriers to related responses.
In the paper, the authors say
The research identified key stakeholders’ concerns, opportunities and barriers to better inform decision making centred on four themes: communication and collaboration, decision making processes, social and cultural dimensions, and the nature of responses to nexus shocks.
Key findings:
- Transdisciplinary approaches can better inform decision making in the context of nexus shocks.
- Cross-sectoral, innovative, reflective perspectives better assess impacts and implications of climate shocks across the nexus.
- Cross-sectoral, multi-disciplinary participatory processes enhance knowledge co-production.
- Inter-disciplinary approaches to nexus shocks are complex due to social and practical limitations.
Given the multidimensional and complex nature of the nexus, a transdisciplinary approach to knowledge development through co-production is needed to timely and effectively inform the decision making processes to build societal resilience to these shocks going beyond the sectorality of current research practice.
For more information see the Nexus Network Nexus Shocks network page.
Image credit: with thanks to Matthew Hoelscher on flickr.
