Perspectives from the Food–Energy–Water Nexus for Sustainable Natural Ecosystem Development
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 12
Special Issue Editor
Interests: water–energy–food (WEF) nexus; blue economy; environmental–resource economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The Food–Energy–Water–Ecosystem (FEWE) nexus provides a formal framework for analyzing the coupled dynamics of natural, economic, and socio-technical systems under increasing resource and environmental constraints. Conventional sectoral approaches fail to capture nonlinear interactions, feedbacks, and cross-scale externalities that are central to sustainable development outcomes. This Special Issue advances a sustainable system transformation approach to the FEWE nexus, emphasizing integrated quantitative modeling, optimization, and empirical analysis to inform coherent policy design.
The contributions develop and apply mathematical, econometric, and computational frameworks—including integrated assessment models, dynamic optimization, network and system dynamics models, multi-objective and stochastic optimization, and data-driven decision-support tools—to characterize trade-offs and synergies among food production, energy systems, water resources, and ecosystem services. Papers address uncertainty, path dependency, distributional effects, and institutional constraints, and evaluate policy instruments and technological and nature-based interventions across spatial and temporal scales.
By synthesizing rigorous analytical methods with policy-relevant applications, this Special Issue aims to advance the formalization and operationalization of the FEWE nexus. It contributes to the development of robust, scalable, and transparent decision frameworks that support efficient, equitable, and resilient sustainability transitions consistent with long-term climate, biodiversity, and development objectives.
Prof. Dr. Phoebe Koundouri
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- Food–Energy–Water–Ecosystem (FEWE) nexus
- integrated assessment modeling
- dynamic and multi-objective optimization
- system dynamics and network analysis
- sustainable system transformation
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