Governance of Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Social Network Analysis Approach to Understanding Agency Behaviour

Kurian, Mathew, Portney, Kent E., Rappold, Gerhard, Hannibal, Bryce and Gebrechorkos, Solomon H., "Governance of Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Social Network Analysis Approach to Understanding Agency Behaviour" in Managing Water, Soil and Waste Resources to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals ed. Hülsmann, Stephan and Ardakanian, Reza (Cham: Springer Nature, 2018), 125-147.

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  • Author Kurian, Mathew
    Portney, Kent E.
    Rappold, Gerhard
    Hannibal, Bryce
    Gebrechorkos, Solomon H.
    Book Editor Hülsmann, Stephan
    Ardakanian, Reza
    Chapter Title Governance of Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Social Network Analysis Approach to Understanding Agency Behaviour
    Book Title Managing Water, Soil and Waste Resources to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals
    Publication Date 2018
    Place of Publication Cham
    Publisher Springer Nature
    Start page 125
    End page 147
    Language eng
    Abstract Research seeks to treat each resource embedded in the nexus as connected to the other resources. This approach is unique from other natural resource research agendas where the primary focus is on system efficiencies or examinations of a single resource. The nexus by emphasizing trade-offs places a premium on coordination. From a governance perspective coordination is not limited to decisions involving finances and allocation of trained human resources among different agencies organized both vertically and horizontally within a multi-level governance framework. Coordination could also be extended to include uses of data between public agencies, private sector and individuals. Due to nexus interconnectivity, we suggest here that social network analysis (SNA) is an appropriate tool that can divulge and highlight the relational complexities that exist within the nexus and among stakeholders that work with the singular elements of the nexus. We suggest that in the cases of organisations with a high institutional capacity by means of expertise, resources, and other assets, the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) network will be highly connected between resource areas in the overall network. Two network tie characteristics—density and centrality—are particularly important to understand a critical mass of interests within a multi-level governance framework. The paper concludes by arguing for the organisation of data covering different dimensions of the Water-Energy-Food nexus through the mechanism of an observatory that could potentially improve our understanding of thresholds of environmental resource use and the incentives required for public agencies to act in support of sustainable development.
    Copyright Holder United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES)
    Copyright Year 2018
    Copyright type All rights reserved
    ISBN 9783319751627
    DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-75163-4_6
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    Created: Wed, 16 May 2018, 23:22:24 JST by Claudia Matthias on behalf of UNU FLORES