Abstract
Interest in the various dimensions of environmental, economic, and social sustainability for food, energy, and water (FEW) systems, independently and collectively (i.e., the FEW nexus), has spawned an increasing amount of literature that seeks to understand the various linkages within the FEW nexus and provide guidance to inform decision-making to enhance sustainability. While the use of science and data can generate important and relevant information, it is not clear how important they are relative to relevant policy and the integration of policy within and across the individual FEW domains. In this work, we assessed perspectives on various considerations that pertain to sustainability in the FEW nexus. To do so, we identified numerous stakeholder groups who have interests throughout the FEW nexus, and conducted a survey of a subset of these groups. Although the responses differed across the stakeholder groups that we surveyed, the consistent result was that stakeholders generally understand that FEW systems are physically connected at high levels, and that policy is less integrated than desired. When forced to choose between priorities for science and data or for integrated policy to enhance sustainability, respondents from Academia and Extension preferred more science and data, whereas respondents who are, or more frequently interact with, practitioners and policy-makers preferred integrated policy. Overall, with other results and findings that are relevant for advancing sustainability and improving communication the FEW nexus, we conclude that the importance of science, data, and integrated policy depends on the context in which the stakeholders operate in the FEW domain.
Highlights
Due to their vital roles in providing essential resources, goods, and services to society, there is great interest in the functioning and sustainability of the resources and systems that provide food, energy, and water (FEW)
These motivations can lead to practices like desalination and first-generation biofuels that can increase the supply of one resource at the expense of another (Hussey and Pittock, 2012), or activities in one FEW domain that can negatively affect the ability of systems in another FEW domain to provide usable resources
The Research Advisory Council (RAC) is a group of stakeholders who are involved in various capacities in FEW issues in the Great Lakes Region, which roughly lies at the intersection of the Great Lakes, the Eastern Corn Belt, and the Great Lakes Megaregion, and includes the U.S states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan— from which members of the RAC were drawn
Summary
Due to their vital roles in providing essential resources, goods, and services to society, there is great interest in the functioning and sustainability of the resources and systems that provide food, energy, and water (FEW). Stakeholders in the FEW nexus typically have sector-specific goals and make decisions in silos (Howarth and Monasterolo, 2016; White et al, 2017) with a tendency to focus on shortterm outcomes (Sterman, 2012) These motivations can lead to practices like desalination and first-generation biofuels (e.g., corn ethanol) that can increase the supply of one resource (e.g., water, energy) at the expense of another (e.g., energy, food) (Hussey and Pittock, 2012), or activities in one FEW domain (e.g., fertilizer application for agriculture) that can negatively affect the ability of systems in another FEW domain to provide usable resources (e.g., reduced water quality due to harmful algal blooms from agricultural runoff). Some have concluded that there is a need to increase the integration of policy for food, energy, and water so that policy considers components from more than one FEW system (Scott et al, 2011; Hussey and Pittock, 2012; Siddiqi et al, 2013)
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