Research // Nexus Scientific Research: Theory and Approach Serving Sustainable Development
By Joachim von Braun and Alisher Mirzabaev. The current chapter first explores the factors of global change that are generating an ever greater demand for Nexus approaches in scientific research. Second, it presents the key conceptual underpinnings of Nexus science. Next, the chapter provides some practical examples of modelling the Nexus domains (or sectors) at different scales, and shows how previous modelling approaches need to be enhanced to better suit the Nexus concepts. Finally, the chapter concludes with suggestions for ways to integrate Nexus thinking into science management and organization, including the implications of investment strategies for research on sustainable development across the Nexus domains and Nexus governance, taking into account the realities of the Nexus political economy.
By
Joachim von Braun is Director of the Center for Development Research (ZFF), Bonn University, and a professor of economic and technological change. His main research interests are in sustainable economic development,poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, resource economics, trade, science and technology policy. He is Chair of the Bio-economy Council of the Federal German Government, Vice-President of the NGO “Welthungerhilfe”, Vice Chair of the Board of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). He was Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (2002–2008), and President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE).
Alisher Mirzabaev is a senior researcher at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn. His current research areas include the economics of land degradation, bioenergy and the Water–Energy–Food Security Nexus. Before joining ZEF in 2009 he was an economist with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). He holds a PhD from the University of Bonn in Germany, writing his thesis on the economics of climate change in Central Asia.
Published
2016