Advancing Water and Water-Energy-Food Cluster Activities within Future Earth

In building its emerging program, Future Earth has encouraged former Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) projects to redefine their objectives, priorities and problem approaches so they are aligned with those of Future Earth. These new projects will be characterized by more integrated applications of natural and social sciences as well as dialogue and science integrated across disciplinary boundaries to address a wide range of environmental and social issues. The Global Water System Project (GWSP) has had a heritage of integrating natural and social sciences, and recently started to also look at issues within the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) cluster using similar integrated approaches. As part of the growth of the scientific elements of this cluster, GWSP has approached Future Earth opportunities by addressing the sustainability for Water, Energy, and Food through integrated water information and improved governance.

In this presentation the approaches being considered for promoting integration in both water and the WEF cluster will be discussed. In particular, potential contributions of Future Earth to research related to the use and management of water and to issues and science underpinning the W-E-F nexus deliberations will be identified. In both cases the increasing ability to utilize Earth observations and big data will advance this research agenda. In addition, the better understanding of the implications of governance structures in addressing these issues and the options for harmonizing the use of scientific knowledge and technological advances will be explored. For example, insights gained from water management studies undertaken within the GWSP are helping to focus plans for a "sustainable water futures" project and a WEF cluster within Future Earth. The potential role of the Sustainable Development Goals in bringing together the monitoring and science capabilities, and understanding of governance approaches, will be discussed as a framework for facilitating the factors that could encourage more coherence in water management and in the WEF cluster.