How to get faculty who have expertise on different aspects of Food-Energy-Water (FEW) systems to overcome barriers (intellectual, cultural, institutional, disciplinary) to collaborate (CEDD/AESS workshop)
Type of Session
Workshop
Abstract
The nexus among food, energy and water (FEW) systems is an emerging area of societally relevant scholarship. The scholarship is enabled by advances in science (e.g. Liu et al, Science 2015) that enable simultaneous examination of multiple interacting systems. The need for this scholarship is enhanced because of trends in population growth and natural resource consumption that are causing stresses on food, energy and water resources. NSF and other federal agencies are recognizing the societal need and scientific opportunity through new funding opportunities.
Informal conversation indicates great interest among the scientific community in the FEW nexus but that most researchers are only looking at one system or perhaps the interplay between two such as energy and water. Relatively few scientists are exploring the three systems as an interacting system of systems. One of the biggest gaps is between humanities and the sciences. Faculty in the humanities are hungry for connections to scientists. Humanities faculty are instrumental in focusing on “sustainability” as a theme to weave together themes such as food security, energy and the environment, and health and wellness.
This workshop will enable faculty from natural sciences, social sciences and humanities with expertise in different aspects of FEW to share examples of challenges and successes in developing collaboration in this area. An outcome of the workshop will be an electronic document that presents the examples discussed in the workshop and recommendations for those who want to work on this trilemma.