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22.12.2022 - Water Security and Climate Change Conference 2022 – SDGnexus Network promotes nexus thinking for sustainable and resilient development

The SDGnexus Network contributed to the organization of the Water Security and Climate Change Conference 2022 and presented findings of ongoing research related to sustainable development.

Giessen, December 22, 2022.

Hosted in Bangkok, the Water Security and Climate Change Conference 2022, co-organized by the SDGnexus Network, was a great success. More than 270 participants from 34 countries attended the hybrid conference to discuss adaptation for sustainable and resilient development based on the core themes: (1) transitioning from sectoral to nexus thinking, (2) robustifying climate change adaptation strategies, and (3) translating knowledge into action.

Given the ongoing global change, which challenges the sustainable management of water, energy, and food (WEF) resources in tropical transboundary catchments, Dr. Alicia Correa, Research Associate at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, and colleagues from the SDGnexus Network presented the latest results of their research to identify such challenges under the lens of ecosystem services. They examined remotely sensed spatial information and polycentric stakeholder knowledge as key elements for a WEF-weighted hyper-network analysis. This is particularly relevant to shed light on synergies and trade-offs that need to be considered in planning policies for locally adapted management of WEF-related ecosystems and to contribute to transformative change.

To facilitate the establishment of evidence-based priorities, researchers of the SDGnexus Network focus on identifying interactions within and across specific subsets of SDGs. Dr. Jorge Forero, Research Associate at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar in Ecuador, presented the study aiming to understand better the synergies and trade-offs between SDG14, SDG15, SDG2, and SDG8, which constitute together “the Food Security-Economic Growth-Biodiversity nexus”. 

During the session ‘Translating nexus thinking into practice,’ hosted by the SDGnexus Network and moderated by Dr. Björn Weeser and Dr. Aliya Assubayeva, different applications of the Water-Energy-Food nexus around the world were demonstrated and actively discussed by the scientific audience. A particular emphasis was placed on improving water use efficiency by addressing the dam construction dilemma, reusing treated sewage in irrigation, reducing water withdrawals, assessing climate change adaptation measures, and strengthening cross-sectoral institutional collaboration.

Besides, Dr. Björn Weeser was invited to take part in the panel discussion ‘Academic 5.0 – Future role of Higher Education Institutions’. The panelists explored possible pathways for orienting research and teaching activities at universities to meet the evolving complex social constellation that will challenge us in the future caused by the three globally acting waves of transformation: Globalization, digitalization, and 'sustainabilization.' In addition to taking away new implications for their sustainability research, all participants welcomed the intensive and illuminating scientific exchange.

In its role as co-organizers of the WSCC, the SDGnexus Network is already looking forward to 2023's edition, which will take place in Chennai, India.

About the WSCC

The Water Security and Climate Change (WSCC) series of conferences have been held annually since 2016. The first edition of the conference was organized in Bangkok (2016) and subsequently in Cologne (2017), Nairobi (2018), San Luis Potosí (2019), and Hanoi (2021). The overarching objective of these conferences is to proliferate the exchange of knowledge and practical know-how on the intrinsic relationship between water security and climate change, to advance fundamental and action research in this domain that will help humankind address one of the greatest challenges of our times.

The WSCC is an initiative of the ‘Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperation – exceed’ program and has been implemented under the auspices of the Sustainable Water Management in Developing Countries network (SWINDON) and the Centers for Natural Resources and Development (CNRD) in close cooperation with the Asian Institute of Technology. Additionally, the Food Security Center (FSC), the SDGnexus Network, as well as the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD Centre) participated in the scientific and organizational committee.

 

Contact

Dr. Aliya.Assubayeva@zeu.uni-giessen.de

Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Justus Liebig University Giessen

Senckenbergstraße 3

D-35390 Gießen

+49 641 99 12714