Nexus Regional Dialogue LAC // Government entities in Chile participate in a Nexus simulation and build bridges across institutions.
On May 16, representatives from several Chilean governmental institutions built a new collaborative relationship by tackling the security challenges of water, energy and food in the Nexus Game workshop.
Professionals from the Institute for Agricultural Development (Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario, INDAP) of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Rural Sanitation Service of the Ministry of Public Works of Chile came together on May 16 to experience, through the Nexus Game workshop, the interactions and interconnections between water, energy and food security, and build new collaborative relationships in the process. Eleven professionals from the three institutions participated in the game, five of which were women.
Embarking on the Nexus challenge
The participants engaged in the challenge of assuming decision-making roles in a simulated river basin, shared between two fictitious countries, having to make investment decisions, manage resources, and face different environmental situations that ultimately determine the well-being of each respective country. The initiative was organized and carried out by the GIZ Nexus Program in coordination with INDAP, with the aim of transferring lessons, insights and methodology to small farmers and landowners.
The Nexus program mission is “to foster a paradigm shift in the international development agenda”, by sharing the knowledge on the Nexus approach and prompting to think beyond individual sectors to ensure access to water, energy and food, in a way that is efficient and environmentally responsible. Furthermore, it is intended to improve inter-institutional work in different countries, promoting dialogue between local organizations, water resources management and territorial planning with a view to sustainable development.
The Nexus Game: Exploring the theory through a practical guide
The Nexus Game workshop, developed by the Centre for Systems Solutions in collaboration with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, gathers 8-12 players in the role of decision makers, with the aim of providing them a wider insight in the challenges of integrated water management and environmental flows.
Participants in the Nexus Game reported that the exercise helped them understand the interrelations that are part of the governance at different levels, acknowledging that the system, as a whole, only benefits when all sectors work together, taking into account the externalities that affect sustainable development. Representatives from INDAP and other participating institutions hope to convey this message and foster a Nexus perspective to small landowners and subsistence farmers in the field at a local level.
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