Advanced Perspectives on the Water–Energy–Food Nexus

Dear Colleagues,

Water, energy, and food are foundational pillars of human survival, economic development, and ecological balance. The growing demand for natural resources caused by burgeoning population, progressive urbanization, and changing climate, security access to water, energy, and food, is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. Water–energy–food (WEF) nexus plays an important role in addressing such sustainability challenges. While the interdependencies among water, energy, and food systems are widely acknowledged, integrated management remains a formidable challenge. Traditional sectoral policies often exacerbate WEF trade-offs—for instance, bioenergy expansion may compromise water security or irrigation intensification may increase energy scarcity—while climate change amplifies these tensions through cascading risks across scales. Emerging technological and methodological advances offer transformative potential. Transdisciplinary approaches bridge the divide between technical solutions and socio-political realities. These developments demand frameworks that harmonize resource productivity with distributive justice—a gap this Special Issue seeks to address.

In this Special Issue, we welcome original research papers, critical reviews, and case studies that advance the WEF nexus. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Bridging policy silos: cross-sectoral governance for the WEF nexus management;
• Efficiency–equity synergies: metrics and governance pathways in WEF nexus systems;
• Climate-resilient WEF systems: adaptive strategies under uncertainty;
• Cascading risk in WEF networks: modeling interdependencies and mitigation strategies;
• AI-integrated decision support systems for WEF trade-offs;
• Circular bioeconomy innovations associated with wastewater and bioenergy.

We look forward to your contributions.

Dr. Qiong Yue
Dr. Guohua He
Dr. Mengyang Wu
Prof. Dr. Xinchun Cao
Guest Editors

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