Challenges and Counter-Strategies for Engaging Stakeholders in Water-Energy-Food Nexus Decision-Making Processes

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