Exploring human-nature interaction on the coastal floodplain in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta through the lens of Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework

This study diagnoses temporal and spatial variations in the performance of different social-ecological systems (SES) in coastal floodplain management in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. We go beyond common pool resource management problems and address the management of local public goods. In the assessment, we consider recent developments in the framework initially developed by Elinor Ostrom. The main variables of the framework that we use are resource systems, the environment, the governance system and actors. The focal SES is defined based on guiding questions relating to the definition of the key problem, system boundaries, and action situations. According to our results, the performance of resource systems and the environment deteriorated in 1960–79 compared to the performance prior to 1960. The condition reached a low point during 1980–1999 but improved slightly after 1999. The horizontal network structure of local governance was active until 1960. Due to the introduction of the 'tidal river management' approach in the 90 s, the performance of the resource system and the environment has slightly improved, as has the involvement of government and non-government organizations. Our results also show that overall SES performance is comparatively bette

Co-Optimizing Solutions for Water and Food – Scoping the Nexus Challenges in the Agro-Sector and finding Scalable Business Solutions

The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus approach has an opportunity to create sustainable business solutions, especially in the agricultural sector. This report provides a clear understanding of challenges for the most promising and scalable solutions to the interconnected water, energy and food/feed/fiber problems, allowing combined co-optimization. Searching solutions for nexus challenges, a model based assessment of WEF nexus at global scale and a theoretical perspective of integrating economic and ecological objectives are presented. This study explores the opportunities for the global community to develop robust partnerships and cross sector collaboration to foster water security and increase resource use efficiency, particularly in agriculture and food industry, as part of corporate environmental and financial performance goals

Integrated spatial assessment of the water, energy and food dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals

Water is considered the bloodstream of the biosphere, but its management is one of the most important challenges for human development. In view of the sustainable water management, several approaches have been proposed: Integrated Water Resources Management, Adaptive Management and, more recently, Waterâ\u80\u93Energyâ\u80\u93Food (WEF) Nexus. Considering these approaches, over the last few decades, extensive efforts have been made to develop assessment methods and tools framed within the paradigm of sustainable development. As part of a holistic assessment of water resources, the recent approach based upon the WEF Nexus narrows down the consideration of intersectoral linkages to three dimensions that are of prominent interest, in particular in developing countries. This study presents a comprehensive indicator-based approach for the assessment of water, energy and food securities, with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The main ambition of the proposed approach is to provide a tool to monitor progresses, compare different geographical areas, highlight synergies and conflicts amongst and within the three dimensions of the WEF Nexus, and provide support for improvedâ\u80\u94more effectiveâ\u80\u94management strategies to meet the goals. The proposed approach is demonstrated in the Gangesâ\u80\u93Brahmaputraâ\u80\u93Meghna (GBM) River Basin in Asia and to the Po River Basin in Europe. The comparative analysis suggests that WEF security is currently rather low in the GBM basin compared to the other case study and other parts of the world and allows the identification of which dimensions (indicators) require special attention on the part of local and global policy makers

Co-Optimizing Solutions for Water and Food – Scoping the Nexus Challenges in the Agro-Sector and finding Scalable Business Solutions

The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus approach has an opportunity to create sustainable business solutions, especially in the agricultural sector. This report provides a clear understanding of challenges for the most promising and scalable solutions to the interconnected water, energy and food/feed/fiber problems, allowing combined co-optimization. Searching solutions for nexus challenges, a model based assessment of WEF nexus at global scale and a theoretical perspective of integrating economic and ecological objectives are presented. This study explores the opportunities for the global community to develop robust partnerships and cross sector collaboration to foster water security and increase resource use efficiency, particularly in agriculture and food industry, as part of corporate environmental and financial performance goals

Adaptation for changing deltas

Deltas have provided fertile farmland, productive fishing, and access to trade routes for millennia. Today, more than five hundred million people live on deltas and coastal urban areas. Yet deltas are also incredibly vulnerable to the pressures of climate change