The water-energy-food nexus approach, where closely-connected water, energy and food sectors and their interlinkages are considered together, can be useful to fully understand and address impediments to these sectors’ security and their sustainable development. This study is a review of the current status of the water-energy-food nexus in India, main interlinkages and main challenges to the sustainable development of the nexus. One of the main interlinkages is irrigation in the water-food connection, as the majority of water withdrawn in India is used for agriculture. The water-energy interlinkages are crucial not only in the context of hydropower generation, but also due to the large amounts of water being used for cooling of fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. The pressure on water resources is exacerbated by rainfall reductions in India caused by climate change. Social and economic factors, such as population growth, change in food habits, economic growth and technological advances, further increase the demand for water, energy and food. This all poses significant challenges related to water availability and, as a result, water, food and energy security in India.

Global environmental challenges have become more prevalent in the Anthropocene, with the cross-cutting nature of global challenges necessitating a unique way of looking at resource streams. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEF Nexus) provides a conceptual framework for highlighting scarcity concerns and interdependencies between the three natural resource streams. However, stakeholders in the WEF nexus sectors tend to operate at different temporal and spatial scales and existing governance structures are plagued by disproportionate stakeholder contributions and unclear strategic goals. This thesis uses a systematic literature review and expert interviews to evaluate stakeholders' contribution in WEF nexus decision-making processes. A social-constructivist approach is adopted to conduct a thematic analysis of relevant articles and expert interviews with two main focuses. First, identifying the challenges of engaging public, private and civil society stakeholders in WEF nexus decision-making processes and second, developing counterstrategies to the identified challenges. The analysis shows that external influences, coordination challenges, process asymmetries, structural asymmetries and nexus cognition are challenges that underpin WEF decision-making processes. As a result of these challenges, decision-making processes are plagued by reduced trust, stakeholder fatigue, power imbalances and disproportionate nexus understanding. The analysis also develops solutions based on implemented practices and recommendations from prospective remedies. The discussion links the findings to broader debates on mainstream media communication, power asymmetries and participatory processes. Therefore, this thesis demonstrates that engagement challenges can be understood through collaborative governance and WEF nexus governance and that counterstrategies exist both in current practices and as future recommendations

In this thesis, a conceptual framework and related methodological approaches for complex system design are developed and tested. The approaches are based on insights from the fields of Systems Engineering (SE) and System-of-Systems Engineering (SoSE), as well as Natural Resources Management (NRM). The focus of this thesis is on: 1) the development of the System-of-Systems Design Framework “FRESCO”, 2) the development of a methodological framework for participatory systems design, 3) the application of the framework in two case studies, and 4) the development of an evaluation scheme to qualitatively measure the effectiveness of the methodological framework. The overall objectives of this doctoral dissertation are to highlight synergies between SE and NRM and to develop a methodological framework for designing decision making processes in a human-nature-technology context. The complexity of coupled and complex adaptive systems (CAS) such as the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEF-Nexus) and sustainability strategies, influences the design of decision-making processes and strategy building. Integrated process design which is promoted by the developed frameworks can assist in such tasks on an urban, regional, and national level.

This interdisciplinary thesis studies the diverse multi-stakeholder networks that are constitutive of contemporary water governance. It examines collaborative governance networks from a relational perspective in two case study watersheds in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Collaborative and networked governance approaches are increasingly promoted to address complex water challenges, but relatively little is known about how the everyday collaborative relationships (i.e. collaboration practices) among the multiple actors involved in the development, management and use of water, shape contemporary water governance processes. In this thesis, I advance, based on intensive fieldwork data collection, a conceptual and methodological framework for studying collaboration networks pertaining to watershed management. I examine local collaborative governance networks in two watersheds, in Ethiopia and Tanzania, from a relational perspective, using complementary qualitative and quantitative social network research methods. The thesis explores the opportunities and limitations of such collaborative governance networks in their concrete functioning, thereby contributing to a more context-sensitive, and nuanced, understanding of the role of governance networks and collaborative governance approaches in the management of water and related resources.