Overview
NEXUSNET is an international network of researchers collaborating with universities, research institutions, policymakers and the business sector to better understand how the water-energy-food Nexus fosters policy coherence and biophysical interactions in the domains of water, energy and food, supporting the transition towards a circular and low-carbon economy in Europe. The network focuses on job creation, enhancing wellbeing, establishing broad synergies and care for the environment. The Nexus concept is tested at different scales (i.e. local, regional, national, European), while the international dimension is explored through the involvement of international proposers. More Nexus-compliant practices are foreseen through knowledge/research sharing hub at European level and beyond. Public-private initiatives pave the path for Nexus compliant practices, building on network members’ advice. NEXUSNET will deliver examples of nexus compliant policies, decision making, and recommendations to best achieve them, to come-up with an overview of Good Nexus Practices in Europe (policy coherence, Nexus-compliant practices and more coherent nexus evaluations). Trans-disciplinary approaches are adopted to test Nexus compliant practices with the involvement of relevant stakeholders, while interaction and engagement with current and finished Nexus-related projects will be pursued. Academic Nexus knowledge will be translated into practical and applicable knowledge for the private sector or policy makers. A series of intense knowledge transfer and dissemination actions are planned to ensure that the network will have a significant impact in Europe and beyond. Nexus: The nexus approach has been extensively adopted at both academic and policy level due to the complex and no-linear interlinkages among multiple components that affect sustainable management of the available resources. Its systemic base highlights the need to deepen into interdependencies and interconnections, synergies and trade-offs in order to explore causalities and impacts that changes in one component may induce to the rest. Therefore, it is obvious that integrated modelling, trans-disciplinary decision making and systematic analysis of the nexus that takes into account bio-physical and socio-economic considerations, supports the multifaceted investigation of existing problems and the exploration of effective solutions.