Creating knowledge about food-water-energy nexus at a local scale: A participatory approach in Tulcea, Romania

The concept of the food-water-energy nexus (FWE nexus) presents an alternative paradigm to traditional sectoral approaches for managing natural resources while promoting climate resilience and sustainable development. Applying the FWE nexus in the urban context, however, has been limited due to the complexity of the concept and the challenges of integrating interdisciplinary and local knowledge with the governance structure available to resource managers. This case study from Tulcea, Romania explores the participatory process used to analyze the dynamic character of the FWE nexus in the context of current societal challenges and practices. Participatory research activities presented in this study focused on the ‘food’ component of the FWE nexus (i.e., local vegetable markets), while exploring connections with water (irrigation and water quality) and energy (consumption and renewable energy sources). The results illustrate the utility of adopting a transdisciplinary integrative approach to understanding the nexus, particularly for local-scale applications of the FWE system integrations within broader sustainable development initiatives.