One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer: Siloes, Trade-Offs and Synergies in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Kurian, Mathew, Scott, Christopher A., Reddy, V. Ratna, Alabaster, Graham, Nardocci, Adelaide, Portney, Kent E., Boer, Rizaldi and Hannibal, Bryce, (2019). One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer: Siloes, Trade-Offs and Synergies in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. frontiers in Environmental Science, 7(32), 1-17

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  • Sub-type Journal article
    Author Kurian, Mathew
    Scott, Christopher A.
    Reddy, V. Ratna
    Alabaster, Graham
    Nardocci, Adelaide
    Portney, Kent E.
    Boer, Rizaldi
    Hannibal, Bryce
    Title One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer: Siloes, Trade-Offs and Synergies in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus
    Appearing in frontiers in Environmental Science
    Volume 7
    Issue No. 32
    Publication Date 2019-03-21
    Place of Publication Lausanne
    Publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
    Start page 1
    End page 17
    Language eng
    Abstract Synergies are required to ensure coordination between UN agencies (on norms and indicators), Member States (on coherence of policy instruments) and consumers (on perceptions of safety and affordability of services) to advance the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.3 which focusses on reuse of wastewater. In this paper we employ theoretical insights derived from an agent-based modeling approach to undertake a critical examination of the recent UN-WATER directive on SDG target 6.3 and advocate for an improved understanding of factors that determine whether and how effective wastewater reuse will be possible while accommodating for regional variation and institutional change. We demonstrate that by applying the Nexus approach it is feasible to overcome siloes by forging concepts of trade-offs and synergies to draw out coupled perspectives of bio-physical and institutional dimensions of water-energy-food interactions. By employing this proposition, the paper advocates for place-based observatories as a mechanism that can support valorization of data and methodological assumptions as a precursor to robust monitoring of the SDG's. The systematic use of literature reviews and expert opinion to develop and pilot-test composite indices via place-based observatories raises the prospect of a data light approach to monitoring SDGs; specifically, what are the merits of relying on extensive survey data compared to composite indices that while being amenable to supporting benchmarking and scenario analysis can provide the insight needed to inform decision-making and robust monitoring of global goals?
    Keyword Water-Energy-Food Nexus
    Sustainable Development Goals
    trade-offs
    siloes
    synergies
    agent-based modeling
    Wastewater Reuse Effectiveness Index
    place-based observatories
    Copyright Holder The Authors
    Copyright Year 2019
    Copyright type Creative commons
    DOI 10.3389/fenvs.2019.00032
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    Created: Wed, 27 Mar 2019, 19:30:56 JST by Claudia Matthias on behalf of UNU FLORES