2nd Workshop: Urban Water-Energy-Food (W-E-F) Nexus, 4 to 5 October 2017, India

Logos - Sponsors of Workshop

In March 2017, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in cooperation with the Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS), Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), held an “Urban Water-Energy-Food Nexus Workshop” in Chennai, India. The workshop was funded by a TUM Global Incentive Fund Grant and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).  As a follow-up, a second Urban Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus Workshop: Feasibility Study for Pilot Projects will be undertaken during 4-5th October 2017 at the German House in Delhi, India.

Background

With on-going rapid economic growth, rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and intensification of agriculture, the demand for resources such as water, energy and food continues to rise worldwide, especially in cities. However, developing and increasingly developed economy countries are already facing urgent water-related environmental challenges. These will be exacerbated with climate change. Integrated urban planning to leverage on potential synergies between these sectors to conserve water and energy is urgently needed.

TUM recognises the current and upcoming challenges and believes the Water-Energy-Food (W-E-F) Nexus concept is a very promising integrated urban planning approach to address this challenge: it highlights the strong inter-linkages between the water, energy and food sectors, and underlines responsible governance. Decentralised urban water reclamation and reuse coupled with resource recovery at the neighbourhood scale is a key opportunity and component in internationalising the W-E-F Nexus concept. Globally, few pilot projects of this at neighbourhood scale exist, and more pilot projects are urgently needed to assess the feasibility of implementing the W-E-F Nexus concept and monitor its results.

The 1st Urban W-E-F Nexus Workshop in March 2017, which was very successful, brought together academics and practitioners from India and Germany to discuss the modelling, implementation and monitoring of a potential W-E-F Nexus pilot project in India, and different types of decentralised urban water reclamation and reuse technologies relevant to the neighbourhood scale and their suitability.

Aims of the 2nd Urban W-E-F Nexus Workshop

  1. The content of a potential W-E-F Nexus feasibility study at the neighbourhood scale;
  2. A suitable case study neighbourhood in a city in India for a W-E-F Nexus feasibility study which is also suitable for pilot project implementation;
  3. Funding options for a W-E-F Nexus feasibility study and potential pilot project implementation, e.g. European Commission.

This workshop is co-organized by the Water Future Programme of Future Earth and ICLEI, and funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Environment and Consumer Protection, a TUM Global Incentive Fund and the IGCS in cooperation with DAAD.

Further Information