Water-energy-food nexus governance: a 3-stage methodology to capture the complexity and the regional particularities of the nexus

The efficient exploitation of land, energy and water resources and their synergized use for social, environmental, and economic development requires an integrated transformation and the development of coherent strategic plans in the energy, agricultural and water sectors. In this context, the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus concept has been promoted as a governance framework to manage complex resource allocation issues. It presents a unique framing of the resource governance challenge in which different societal goals are implicit in the policies to secure water, energy, and food security. However, it only had limited success as a governance framework to ensure policy coherence. Many attempts have been made to address the governance of the WEF nexus from a holistic perspective. Villamayor et al. (2015) proposed analyzing it from the Socio-Ecological Systems perspective, where policies can be understood as interacting institutions shaping resource use and production. The Integrative Environmental Governance adapted to WEF nexus is another methodology that can be used to represent the interdependencies between different organizations and policies. Scholars have gained more interest in the Polycentric Governance Theory and see it as a promising framework for addressing the complexity of WEF nexus governance. As Pahl-Wostl et al. (2019) explain, it balances bottom-up and top-down (multi-level) as well as lateral (inter-sectoral) influence pathways. Much of the research to date has concentrated on 'nexus thinking', rather than 'nexus doing.' Therefore, it is essential to move forward with nexus implementation. According to Albrecht et al. (2018), tools and methods for quantifying and assessing WEF interlinkages have not been sufficiently developed and are mostly derived from conventional disciplinary approaches . There is no one method that fits all situations. Instead, every approach must be tailored to the appropriate situation. To help closing the gap, a methodology has been developed using a bottom-up approach based on a formal multi-level governance approach. Starting with one specific nexus challenge identified in the river basin through a nexus interlinkage matrix and described using a physical flow diagram, the 3-stage methodology aims to give an overview of the governance structure and operation while capturing the complexity and the regional particularities of the nexus. The first stage focuses on mapping the policy landscape which refers to the overall context beyond the influence of the policy. The second stage evaluates the operational governance through the coherence of the policies making up the governance ‘package’. Finally, the third stage aims to map the structural governance by analysing the decision-making process, as well as the guiding principles and values within the identified sectors.