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Building a WEF Nexus Community of Practice (NCoP)

  • Nexus of Food, Water, Energy (R Mohtar, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purposes of this paper are to examine the literature for common threads and attributes inherent to scientific-based communities of practice, and to identify challenges and potential solutions for building a community of scientists to address the water-energy-food nexus.

Recent Findings

The latest research suggests several guiding principles to build and maintain a successful scientific community of practice. These include the following: identifying a shared conceptual vision that is clear in purpose, but also provides for evolution and growth; providing for both internal and external perspectives as well as various levels of participation among members; and facilitating collaboration that satisfies personal and professional motivations.

Summary

There are several challenges in building and maintaining a sustainable water-energy-food nexus community of practice. Perhaps, the most difficult to overcome is the lack of a clear definition, meaning, and identity of the “water-energy-food nexus.” While international collaboration among researchers will provide critical perspective and insight for addressing similar challenges on a more localized basis, the variation in regional jurisdiction and political realities could restrict international collaborative research and implementation of potential solutions.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Texas A&M WEF Nexus initiative.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    David W. Smith

  2. DePaul University, Chicago, USA

    Matthew Welch

  3. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    Matthew Welch

  4. Circle of Blue, University of Michigan Traverse City, USA

    Matthew Welch

  5. University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

    Katrina E. Bennett

  6. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA

    Katrina E. Bennett

  7. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

    Katrina E. Bennett

  8. University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, USA

    Jon Padgham

  9. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

    Jon Padgham

  10. Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

    Jon Padgham

  11. Future Earth, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Jon Padgham

  12. University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, USA

    Jon Padgham

  13. American University of Beirut, Bliss, Beirut, Lebanon

    Rabi Mohtar

  14. Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA

    Rabi Mohtar

  15. WEF Nexus Research Group, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Rabi Mohtar

Authors
  1. David W. Smith
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  2. Matthew Welch
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  3. Katrina E. Bennett
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  4. Jon Padgham
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  5. Rabi Mohtar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rabi Mohtar.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Nexus of Food, Water, Energy

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Smith, D.W., Welch, M., Bennett, K.E. et al. Building a WEF Nexus Community of Practice (NCoP). Curr Sustainable Renewable Energy Rep 4, 168–172 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40518-017-0080-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40518-017-0080-6

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