Implementing the urban food–water–energy nexus through urban laboratories: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The sustainability of complex resource systems, such as the food, water, and energy (FWE) nexus, is increasingly threatened by climate change impacts, expanding populations, urbanization, and economic instability. However, while research on the topic has burgeoned, studies focused on solution development and implementation, especially at the urban level, have lagged behind. Against this background, we review the urban FWE nexus literature. We focus on the operationalization of solutions for implementation, and seek to identify opportunities for participatory approaches. Our results suggest that operationalization would benefit from: (1) more fully integrating urban social complexity; (2) extending our understanding of the nexus to include social responses to the impacts of interventions; and (3) ensuring that projects build knowledge that is not only actionable, but also credible, salient, and legitimate. We then discuss the potential of local, transdisciplinary approaches, in the form of urban laboratories, to shift the focus of FWE nexus research towards operationalization. We conclude with five recommendations: (1) knowledge development should extend to implementation; (2) stakeholders should be engaged, and be able to align solutions with the agency to implement; (3) research should move beyond material flows, and focus on the behaviors, habits, and social patterns that underpin urban complexity; (4) FWE nexus thinking should become part of participatory/laboratory approaches; and (5) policymakers should integrate nexus research into municipal strategies and plans.

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

“…Urban systems, however, are largely dependent on external inputs of resources andtherewith-generate WEF impacts that go beyond the city's physical boundaries. The complexity of the WEF nexus forces research to set manageable system boundaries that cover relevant spatial scales and the key points of WEF-entanglement (Garcia and You, 2016;Wahl et al, 2021).…”

“…These beyond-local interactions are crucial to understand for developing meaningful sustainable solutions, which are meant to be synergistic with other efforts, whether they are local or not (Engström et al, 2018). Therefore, it may be useful to start at an intervention, and build the system understanding from there including any systems of influence or potential impact (Wahl et al, 2021).…”

“…In order to improve credibility, salience, and legitimacy of actionable knowledge (Cash et al, 2003;Hansson and Polk, 2018;Wahl et al, 2021) it is important to understand who the actors involved in all the phases of the research are, including who drives the research, who is developing and implementing research and solutions, and who benefits most from the solutions and who is excluded and left behind.…”

“…Local stakeholders become more prominent in this concern, since local/municipal governments are deeply involved in the implementation of actions and policies related to nexus elements (Artioli et al, 2017). This way, it is fundamental to consider the inclusion of relevant stakeholders at all stages of nexus thinking, especially the ones who have the agency to translate information into policy and other actions and to implement the solutions (Wahl et al, 2021).…”

“…To include stakeholders in the research process is advantageous because it reveals and influences pre-existing power dynamics in policy systems, allowing the nexus thinking to go beyond specific categories and simplifications that aggregate previous patterns of institutional blindness, inequality and exclusion (Bréthaut et al, 2019). Researchers have a prominent role in this integration to coproduce solution-oriented research, bringing multiple actors from differing disciplinary backgrounds together, in different platforms, and bearing in mind the power dynamics inherent in integrative processes (Bréthaut et al, 2019;Wahl et al, 2021).…”