Geospatial Assessments of the Water-Food-Energy Nexus

Current levels of overconsumption of natural resources such as water, food and energy cause environmental and social impacts all over the world. Many of the impacts relate to the extraction of raw materials, such as deforestation, increased water scarcity due to irrigation or violent conflicts related to mining activities. To ensure water, food and energy security, sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems is essential and requires integrated approaches to promote synergies and address common challenges such as growing climate-related stresses. The nexus of water, food and energy has been globally recognized since they are inextricably linked and it has been further expanded by incorporating other aspects such as ecosystems.

This workshop aims at sharing knowledge and experience on ongoing geospatial research activities on water-food-ecosystem nexus by providing a platform for researchers to enhance cooperation among the institutes.

The objectives of this workshop were:

1. better understanding of the geospatial research activities of each institute;
2. knowledge-sharing on interdependence of water-food-ecosystems from scientific perspectives and opportunities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to water, food and energy; and
3. building a long-term partnership among participating institutes to promote further studies and actively debate on the water-food-ecosystem nexus.

ESM deputy director and CLR Center Head Florian Kraxner and fellow researchers from IIASA’s Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM) participated in the workshop to introduce the work done by IIASA and ESM in particular.

Christian Folberth gave a presentation on “Biophysical crop modelling as a tool to quantify trade-offs and synergies in land, nutrient, and water requirements for crop production”.

Moonil Kim (Korea University, IIASA) presented about “Managing Korean forests for climate change mitigation using geo-spatial tools” .

Piera Patrizio held a presentation on “Jobs in low carbon energy systems: a multi-level approach”

© Florian Kraxner | IIASA

The event was organized by the OJeong Eco-Resilience Institute (OJERI) of Korea University (KU), Institute for Ecological Economics of Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), and Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM) of International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and supported by the Mid-Latitude Region Network (MLRN).

© Florian Kraxner | IIASA

Last edited: 19 December 2019