H2020 SIM4NEXUS Project: Sustainable Integrated Management FOR the water-land-food-energy-climate NEXUS for a resource-efficient Europe
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2016 -2020
- Assigned Budget 7.895.657,5 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website Proyecto SIM4NEXUS
Land, food, energy, water, and climate are interconnected and form a coherent system (the "Nexus"), dominated by complexity and feedback loops. Integrated Nexus management is crucial to ensure the efficient and sustainable use of resources. Barriers to a resource-efficient Europe include policy inconsistencies and incoherencies, knowledge gaps—particularly regarding Nexus integration methodologies and tools—and knowledge and technology bottlenecks. SIM4NEXUS will develop innovative methodologies to address these barriers, building on existing, well-known, and scientifically established "thematic" models, simulating different Nexus components/"themes," and developing:
- New complexity science methodologies and approaches to integrating the results of thematic models.
- A geoplatform for the seamless integration of public domain data and metadata for decision-making and policymaking.
- A knowledge acquisition engine for integrating strategies at different spatial and temporal scales with a top-down and bottom-up learning process, enabling the discovery of new and emerging knowledge in the form of previously unknown relationships between Nexus components and policies/strategies.
- A multi-user web-based serious game, as an enhanced interactive visualization tool, offers an immersive experience to policy and decision-makers. The serious game will help users (as players) better understand and visualize policies at various geospatial scales and from a holistic perspective, in order to achieve a better scientific understanding of the Nexus. The serious game will be validated (implemented, tested, verified, and used) through ten case studies ranging from the regional to the national level.
Two additional strategic serious games will also be developed at European and global levels for demonstration, training, and exploitation purposes, accompanied by a robust business plan and intellectual property (IP) framework to leverage the post-project landscape and business potential.
SIM4NEXUS improved understanding of how water, food, energy, biodiversity, and land-use management policies are linked to climate and sustainability goals. The project adopted a transparent and detailed analysis of a Systems Dynamics Model behind the Nexus to use as an exploration tool. SIM4NEXUS also experimented with different combinations of policy cards and compared their effects in different contexts. This offers Serious Game the ability to empower policymakers and help them find cross-sector solutions to Nexus problems.
The following main results were obtained: Metrics were developed and tested to assess the robustness of resource interconnections, with direct (e.g., water -> energy) and indirect (e.g., water -> food -> energy) interconnections. A heuristic algorithm was developed and tested across the case studies to quantify the intensity of interconnection. This is tested across several case studies. Four case studies (Greece, Azerbaijan, Latvia, and the Netherlands) are implemented and ready to be played through the Serious Game (https://bit.ly/39kendE). In addition, the Global Case Study has developed a demonstration tool that can be accessed through the SIM4NEXUS Serious Game platform (https://bit.ly/3n3uO1R). The game corresponding to the UK case study is under maintenance, being refined and improved.
The current link to play this game is: https://bit.ly/33eyQNv . Serious Games are available for secondary and university education to support decision-making and raise awareness among civil society. Practical guidance is provided on the application of a serious game in participatory processes under real-life conditions. It provides evidence that Serious Games are information-rich. Systems Dynamics Models (SDMs) are available for 11 case studies, including the southwest UK, Andalusia, Sardinia, Latvia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece, Azerbaijan, France-Germany cross-border, Germany-Czech Republic-Slovakia cross-border, and Europe. No SDM is available for the global case, because detailed (multi-regional) assessments are available from the thematic models. Each case study organized between two and five workshops for stakeholders, as well as engagement activities such as bilateral meetings, conference participation, serious game demonstrations, online surveys, etc.
Each workshop brought together between 15 and 30 people, while the surveys collected responses from between 60 and 100 participants. In total, each case study involved between 30 and 60 organizations in project activities. SIM4NEXUS demonstrated the added value of adopting the nexus concept in policy. First, synergistic options between water, land, food, energy, and climate are utilized, avoiding unforeseen trade-offs. Second, transparency is established in the policy process, and more innovative solutions are developed through interdisciplinary cooperation and the transdisciplinary working method. So far, the nexus approach has been used to a limited extent. However, policy perspectives and formulation are shifting from a sectoral approach to more integrated thematic and systemic approaches. While the term "nexus" is not explicitly used in recent European policies, examples include the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy, and Horizon Europe.
Land, food, energy, water, and climate are interconnected and form a coherent system (the "Nexus"), dominated by complexity and feedback loops. Understanding the Nexus is critical to ensuring the efficient and sustainable use of resources. SIM4NEXUS improved understanding of these interrelationships in real-world cases. In doing so, the project supported the European Union's goals of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth, including achieving a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy.
The adoption of the nexus concept in decision-making relies on coherent policies, managing resource conflicts, and creating synergies in the use of natural resources. SIM4NEXUS has provided innovative methodologies to address these barriers, building on existing, well-known, and scientifically established "thematic" models that simulate different Nexus components/themes. A web-based serious game has been developed as an enhanced interactive visualization tool, providing an immersive experience for decision-makers and policymakers.
The Serious Game will help users (as players) better understand and visualize policies at various geospatial scales and from a holistic perspective, in order to achieve a better scientific understanding of the Nexus. The full version is publicly available at the following URL (Google Chrome): https://seriousgame.sim4nexus.eu.
Land, food, energy, water, and climate are interconnected and form a coherent system (the "Nexus"), dominated by complexity and feedback. Integrated Nexus management is critical to ensuring the efficient and sustainable use of resources. Obstacles to a resource-efficient Europe include policy inconsistencies and incoherencies, knowledge gaps—particularly regarding integration methodologies and tools for the Nexus—and knowledge and technology lock-ins. SIM4NEXUS will develop innovative methodologies to address these barriers, building on existing, well-known and scientifically established "thematic" models, simulating different Nexus components/"themes," and developing:
- Novel methodologies and approaches in complexity science to integrate the results of thematic models.
- A geoplatform for the seamless integration of public domain data and metadata for decision-making and policymaking.
- A knowledge engine for integrating strategies across spatial and temporal scales with top-down and bottom-up learning processes, uncovering new and emerging knowledge in the form of previously unknown relationships between Nexus components and policies/strategies.
- A multi-user, web-based Serious Game, as an enhanced interactive visualization tool, provides an immersive experience for decision-makers and policy-makers. The Serious Game will help users (as players) better understand and visualize policies at various geospatial scales and from a holistic point of view, leading to a better scientific understanding of the Nexus. The Serious Game will be validated (applied, tested, verified, and used) through ten case studies ranging from regional to national levels. Two other Strategic Serious Games will also be developed at European and global levels for demonstration, educational, and further exploitation purposes, accompanied by a robust business plan and intellectual property rights framework, to leverage the post-project situation and commercial potential.
An EU team is taking a unique approach to studying the interrelationships between water, energy, food, land, and climate. Through case studies and the use of video games, the initiative is driving a shift in the way we understand and manage natural resources. Introducing the SIM4NEXUS project, coordinator Floor Brouwer says: “The nexus concept seeks to develop a holistic and comprehensive understanding of how natural resource use interacts in the context of a changing climate.” In addition to the multi-resource approach, the concept allows for the consideration of sustainable natural resource management as well as policy coherence. The overall objective is summarized in the project’s full title: Sustainable Integrated Management for the Water-Land-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus for a Resource-Efficient Europe. These resources are closely connected, meaning that actions in one area impact all others.
To address this, SIM4NEXUS also considers the potential impact on these elements in response to climate and relevant policy changes. A two-pronged approach, including case studies and serious games, will clarify and help overcome obstacles to a resource-efficient and low-carbon Europe. Designed to offer more than pure entertainment, serious games help connect ideas from different fields. The team has established video games as a means of understanding policies, resulting in buy-in, conflict mitigation, and avenues for engagement. This marks a clear first: “To our knowledge, a serious video game for the nexus has never before been developed, based on such an extensive list of scientifically sound models, data, and methodologies,” says Brouwer.
Game-Based Understanding and Training Used to connect ideas from different fields, serious games offer the opportunity to debate and compare alternative solutions in order to co-create shared solutions. These games should enable stakeholders to understand and learn about the medium- and long-term implications of nexus-related policies. Serious games are being developed to explore an integrated long-term (30-50 years) approach to business and policy planning. At the same time, this aspect of the project also addresses the need to train professionals and students to address complex societal challenges. They can be used as a training tool for local educators to consider resilience, environmental protection, and low-carbon development. SIM4NEXUS games are being tested in 12 case studies, involving practitioners from policy, the business sector, civil society, and research.
Policy Objectives for the Entire Nexus SIM4NEXUS is testing how a nexus approach could contribute to successful policy implementation, which should generate greater awareness of the nexus throughout the entire policy cycle. Policy objectives across all related sectors focus on transparency regarding implementation and the means to achieve them, as well as maximizing synergies and managing conflicts. Furthermore, coherent policy processes must ensure equal respect for the different interests of all sectors. Equally important, science-based decisions will take into account the relationships between sectors at this nexus. The coordinator sums this up effectively when describing what he hopes will be the project's most significant achievement: "Scientific understanding of the water-land-food-energy-climate nexus is improving and is applicable to a variety of scales (regional, national, transboundary, European, and global)."
The goal of bringing together all sectors understandably makes this a data-intensive project. Brouwer states: "SIM4NEXUS supports the targeted sharing of multi-sector data, with the aim of creating knowledge synergies and improving decision-making in the public and private sectors." Partners are also developing training activities to leverage the data and knowledge provided about the nexus in specific cases.
The exploitation strategy will focus on the Serious Game and other tools (e.g., system dynamics modeling), as well as leveraged knowledge to deliver training at different levels: students, university staff, policymakers, businesses, and civil society organizations. A Steering Group has been established to lead the implementation of the exploitation strategy and continue for two years. The Steering Group includes representation from Wageningen Research, the University of Thessaly, and KWR Water.
The project's policy findings were presented during national and EU events (e.g., a workshop on 16 May 2019 during EU Green Week; a webinar on 23 June 2020, "The Nexus and Policies for a Resource-Efficient and Low-Carbon Europe"). The policy findings have been incorporated into EU policy consultations. Policy briefs are presented, including:
- Policy coherence in EU policy.
- Policy coherence of the Common Agricultural Policy.
- Implementation of EU water policies.
- Policy coherence recommendations for the European Green Deal (https://bit.ly/398GxrY).
- Landscape restoration to mitigate and adapt to climate change (https://bit.ly/3nHNBjp ).
The Green Deal policy brief is also shared across the European Commission, including DG RTD, AGRI, CLIMA, ENER, ENV, and SANTE. SIM4NEXUS contributes to the ICT4WATER Cluster workshops, held annually, to showcase the project as an innovative tool to support the European Commission's initiatives in Digital Europe and Horizon Europe. South West Water, which provides drinking water and wastewater services in southwest England, enhanced its understanding of the interrelationships and interdependencies of water, energy, and land management.
Collaboration in SIM4NEXUS enabled them to develop efficient options and integrated systems around resilience. SIM4NEXUS co-leads the Nexus Project Cluster, a group of independent research initiatives collaborating for greater and more impactful communication and dissemination of the Nexus. In total, 25 projects have joined, and the cluster organized two science-policy workshops in Brussels and a special session entitled "Towards a Nexus Knowledge Agenda" during DNC2020 (June 2020). SIM4NEXUS has communicated with policymakers, practitioners, and communities of practice.
The project has been active on social media, primarily through the Twitter account @sim4nexus. It has 570 tweets, 2,700 retweets, 3,950 likes, and 1,730 link clicks. It has 1,280 followers. SIM4NEXUS has contributed to international scientific assessments, including those of the IPCC, using multidisciplinary tools. SIM4NEXUS organized side events during COP23 (November 2017) and COP24 (December 2018).
- STICHTING WAGENINGEN RESEARCH (WR)
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