Capturing Stakeholders’ Challenges of the Food–Water–Energy Nexus—A Participatory Approach for Pune and the Bhima Basin, India

Raphael Karutz, Ines Omann, Steven M. Gorelick, Christian J. A. Klassert, Heinrich Zozmann, Yuanzao Zhu, Sigrun Kabisch, Annegret Kindler, Anjuli Jain Figueroa, Ankun Wang, Karin Küblböck, Hannes Grohs, Peter Burek, Mikhail Smilovic and Bernd Klauer
Additional contact information
Raphael Karutz: Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, DE 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Ines Omann: Austrian Foundation for Development Research, Sensengasse 3, AT 1090 Wien, Austria
Steven M. Gorelick: Department of Earth System Science—ESS, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4215, USA
Christian J. A. Klassert: Department of Economics, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, DE 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Heinrich Zozmann: Department of Economics, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, DE 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Yuanzao Zhu: Department of Economics, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, DE 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Sigrun Kabisch: Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, DE 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Annegret Kindler: Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, DE 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Anjuli Jain Figueroa: Department of Earth System Science—ESS, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4215, USA
Ankun Wang: Department of Earth System Science—ESS, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4215, USA
Karin Küblböck: Austrian Foundation for Development Research, Sensengasse 3, AT 1090 Wien, Austria
Hannes Grohs: Austrian Foundation for Development Research, Sensengasse 3, AT 1090 Wien, Austria
Peter Burek: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis—IIASA, Schlossplatz 1, AT 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Mikhail Smilovic: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis—IIASA, Schlossplatz 1, AT 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Bernd Klauer: Department of Economics, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, DE 04318 Leipzig, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-24

Abstract: Systems models of the Food–Water–Energy (FWE) nexus face a conceptual difficulty: the systematic integration of local stakeholder perspectives into a coherent framework for analysis. We present a novel procedure to co-produce and systematize the real-life complexity of stakeholder knowledge and forge it into a clear-cut set of challenges. These are clustered into the Pressure–State–Response (PSIR) framework, which ultimately guides the development of a conceptual systems model closely attuned to the needs of local stakeholders. We apply this approach to the case of the emerging megacity Pune and the Bhima basin in India. Through stakeholder workshops, involving 75 resource users and experts, we identified 22 individual challenges. They include exogenous pressures, such as climate change and urbanization, and endogenous pressures, such as agricultural groundwater over-abstraction and land use change. These pressures alter the Bhima basin’s system state, characterized by inefficient water and energy supply systems and regional scarcity. The consequent impacts on society encompass the inadequate provision with food, water, and energy and livelihood challenges for farmers in the basin. An evaluation of policy responses within the conceptual systems model shows the complex cause–effect interactions between nexus subsystems. One single response action, such as the promotion of solar farming, can affect multiple challenges. The resulting concise picture of the regional FWE system serves resource users, policymakers, and researchers to evaluate long-term policies within the context of the urban FWE system. While the presented results are specific to the case study, the approach can be transferred to any other FWE nexus system.

Keywords: FWE nexus; stakeholder workshops; conceptual model; influence diagram; Pune; Bhima basin; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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