Scenario Planning in Water-Energy-Food and Ecosystem Nexus
In a rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain world marked by climate change, urbanisation, geopolitical tensions, and growing pressure on limited natural resources, scenario development and strategic planning have become essential tools for supporting long-term, resilient, and adaptive decision-making. Scenarios help decision-makers explore alternative futures, anticipate risks and trade-offs, and design strategies that remain robust under multiple possible directions.
The Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus has emerged as a critical framework for addressing interconnected global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, environmental degradation, and sustainable development. While the conceptual foundations of the WEFE nexus are well established, its effective operationalization in real-world decision-making remains limited. One major challenge lies in translating diverse methodological approaches including quantitative modeling and scenario analysis to participatory and qualitative tools into actionable strategies that are context-specific and inclusive. Additionally, the integration of ecosystem and /or nature in WEF nexus discussion and meaningful involvement of stakeholders across scales are often underrepresented in nexus applications. This Townhall meeting aims to provide an open and interactive platform to critically reflect on existing scenario planning approaches within the WEFE nexus and to explore pathways for more effective, bottom-up, and stakeholder-driven engagement.
Target Audience
The Townhall is primarily targeted at practitioners, scientist and non-scientist and researchers working on the WEFE nexus, sustainability science, climate change, governance, sustainable development goals, integrated assessment, future research foresight, and other related interdisciplinary fields. It also welcomes sustainability practitioners, policy-oriented researchers, and other enthusiasts interested in nexus thinking and intra-trans-disciplinary approaches. By bringing together participants from diverse disciplinary, geographical, and professional backgrounds, the meeting aims to foster cross-learning across different walks of lifes. The inclusive format is designed to encourage active participation from a wide range of disciplines and regions, promoting learning exchange perspectives, experiences and approach that can strengthen collaboration between science, policy and practice
Expected Outcomes
The expected outcomes of the Townhall Meeting include
i. Develop a shared understanding of the range of scenario planning and methodological approaches currently used in WEFE nexus research.
ii. Highlight the role of stakeholders and the importance of bottom-up, participatory approaches in enhancing the relevance and impact of WEFE nexus assessments.
iii. Identify key gaps and challenges in the operationalization of the WEFE nexus, particularly related to the integration of ecosystem considerations.
iv. A blog post summarizing key discussion points and a policy-oriented paper synthesizing recommendation
The oral presentations are given in a hybrid format supported by a Zoom meeting featuring on-site and virtual presentations. The button to access the Zoom meeting appears just before the time block starts.