By Marielle Velander
The Dresden Nexus Conference 2015 was very much defined – and challenged – by the term “nexus”. Over 300 attendees from approximately 65 different countries came from a variety of disciplines, ranging from engineering and hydrology to political ecology and demography. The interdisciplinary combination of accomplished intellectuals at various stages of their careers led to a constructive conversation on the relevance of water, soil, and waste to the currently unfolding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Interlinkages between disciplines translated to consensus on the need for an integrated approach that values and puts into action the nexus between systems of water, soil, and waste. From the sessions I attended and conversations I had, I am convinced that one of the most important blockages to a successful nexus approach is the complexity of politics and resource governance.
The Conference, the first of a series of biannual conferences organized by UNU-FLORES and Technische Universität Dresden, was principally hosted in the German Hygiene Museum, a suitable location for a conference looking at resources so vital for human health and sanitation. The conference started with electrifying keynote speeches by Elena Manaenkova, WMO, who claimed we had enough evidence now to take action against climate change, and Joseph Alcamo, who advocated for the systems thinking approach, in which we focus on linkages between resources rather than the resources themselves.
On the first day, which focused on climate change, I attended the sessions on “Governance of Climate Adaptation” and “Climate Adaptation from a Bottom-up Perspective”. Memorable presenters included Ethemcan Turhan (Istanbul Policy Center, Sabanci University), with the presentation title “Beyond Migration-as-Adaptation: Governance challenges of temporal and circular migration schemes as a response to climate change”, Gregor Vulturius (Stockholm Environment Institute), presenting on a comparison of climate risk perception in Ghana and Sweden, and Jurgen Pretzsch (TU Dresden), sharing local strategies to cope with climate change in the Andes and potential for knowledge transfer to East Africa. The presentations were followed by discussions acknowledging the politics of the terminology adopted at the conference, and the need for approaches sensitive to local contexts. The concluding talk, by Rabi Mohtar (Texas AM University) pertinently stressed the need for good diplomacy to leverage the scientifically proven potential of the nexus approach.
The second day, with the theme urbanization, started with a dramatic yet effective talk by Professor William Rees at University of British Columbia, who predicted a civil insurrection before sufficient political action is taken against unsustainable urban growth. Rees’ talk contrasted starkly with the more optimistic talk about urban agriculture by Saeed Nairizi, Chair of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, and set the scene for a day of lively debate.
I attended sessions on integrated urban water management and local solutions to urbanization. The most noteworthy presentations in the session on urban water management, convened by Sarantuyaa Zandaryaa of UNESCO-IHP, were given by Max Maurer (Switzerland Institute of Environmental Engineering), who introduced technologies, such as the Blue Diversion Toilet, that take a more comprehensive approach to sanitation systems, and Reba Paul (University of Queensland), who proposed an alternative and less contentious form of water transfer for Bangalore. In the session on local solutions to urbanization, convened by Jan Schlenk of GIZ, Katherine Brekke from the International Council for Local Environments Initiative (ICLEI) made the important point that “Without the engagement of local communities, interventions are unsustainable.” In both sessions, it was clear that politics was a blocker for both good research and successful interventions. This need for innovation in political processes was discussed in the concluding panel, excellently moderated by Bernhard Muller, Director of Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development.
Population growth was the theme of the final day. Michael Hermann, UNFPA, opened by reminding the audience of the value in demographic data. Lazslo Miklos gave a keynote on the institutional hurdles for implementing integration, citing the lack of youth in management positions as a significant blockage to innovation. However, the session on wastewater use in agriculture held much promise for the rising role of youth in the field, as three of the presentations were given by PhD students who had conducted impressive studies suggesting feasible solutions to the water-food-health-waste nexus.
An exhibition hall in the museum showcased work from 19 different organizations and research institutions, and was also the sight of several side-events such as the launch of the book Governing the Nexus: Water, soil & waste resources considering global change (Springer, 2015) and an extended poster session showcasing the incredible work of a range of PhD students from around the world.
Some of the posters I found most compelling provided evidence-based critique of current resource management approaches, such as water transfer in Iran (Ehsan Tavakoli-Nabavi, Australian National University) and payments for reforestation in Mexico (Elsa Maria Cardona Santos, Karin Holm-Muller and Daniel Kyalo Willy, University of Bonn). Other posters more optimistically showed the potential for new approaches such as ecosystem services in Singapore (Jeanette Sieber and Manon Pons, European Institute for Energy Research) and Eritrea (Blal Adem Esmail and Davide Geneletti, University of Trento).
The conference made me raise a lot of questions about the extent to which we are capable of working together and taking integrated multi-disciplinary approaches. More importantly, it exposed me to an impressive range of initiatives being offered, especially by young researchers, to solve our most pressing global problems. I left Dresden optimistic that my generation has the potential for positive change, as long as we are able to overcome the major political hurdles to innovation.
