326
In Sect. 3.2, we recognized that food, energy, and water security require these
resources to be available, accessible, utilizable, stable and reliable, sustainable, and
resilient. Achieving and maintaining FEW security entails human decision-making
related to every aspect of each resource and the complex interrelationships between
them (Chap. 4).
In this chapter, we will build upon the key issues raised in Sect. 1.5 regarding
decision-making contexts and noted that there is tremendous variation in geographic
factors and time consideration. Geography defines the environmental conditions
and the natural resources initially present within a system. Geopolitics and international governance (Chap. 6) and trade (Chap. 7) connect the physical, biological,
and human resources of one subsystem to the greater regional and/or global system,
and thereby connect each local system to many other local systems. Connections
express themselves quickly but not instantaneously, so time lags and especially
political and economic decision timescales are usually a significant factor. Decisionmaking occurs within a context of the culture, social, legal customs operating at the
scale of the decision-makers who have varied economic, technological, economic,
and other factors acting upon them (Chap. 4).
We will begin by exploring the relationship between science and the type of
human-centric challenges confronted in the nexus of FEW systems. We will then
explore the wide range of scales in space and time which arise in FEW nexus studies. These scales are rooted in factors related to decision-making; natural, political,
and cultural geography; ecological functioning; engineering and infrastructure; scientific practice and capabilities; economics; and other considerations such as social
structure, politics, culture, demographics, and human aspirations. Some of these
factors have been explored in earlier chapters, and others will be explored in later
chapters.
In addition to reviewing the questions and scales at which we need to measure,
collect data, model, and carry out significant computation work on FEW systems.
This chapter sets up a deep exploration of these topics in Chaps. 13–16. In Chap. 17,
we will return to the integration of these areas science and connect them to decisionmaking at the Nexus. We will explore of communities of science are require for
effective research and communities of practice are required for the effective application of Nexus science to problem-solving in the real world.
P. Saundry (*)
Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
e-mail: psaundr1@jhu.edu
S. Shekhar
Computer Science & Engineering, College of Science & Engineering, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
e-mail: shekhar@umn.edu
M. Carbajales-Dale et al.
In Sect. 3.2, we recognized that food, energy, and water security require these
resources to be available, accessible, utilizable, stable and reliable, sustainable, and
resilient. Achieving and maintaining FEW security entails human decision-making
related to every aspect of each resource and the complex interrelationships between
them (Chap. 4).
In this chapter, we will build upon the key issues raised in Sect. 1.5 regarding
decision-making contexts and noted that there is tremendous variation in geographic
factors and time consideration. Geography defines the environmental conditions
and the natural resources initially present within a system. Geopolitics and international governance (Chap. 6) and trade (Chap. 7) connect the physical, biological,
and human resources of one subsystem to the greater regional and/or global system,
and thereby connect each local system to many other local systems. Connections
express themselves quickly but not instantaneously, so time lags and especially
political and economic decision timescales are usually a significant factor. Decisionmaking occurs within a context of the culture, social, legal customs operating at the
scale of the decision-makers who have varied economic, technological, economic,
and other factors acting upon them (Chap. 4).
We will begin by exploring the relationship between science and the type of
human-centric challenges confronted in the nexus of FEW systems. We will then
explore the wide range of scales in space and time which arise in FEW nexus studies. These scales are rooted in factors related to decision-making; natural, political,
and cultural geography; ecological functioning; engineering and infrastructure; scientific practice and capabilities; economics; and other considerations such as social
structure, politics, culture, demographics, and human aspirations. Some of these
factors have been explored in earlier chapters, and others will be explored in later
chapters.
In addition to reviewing the questions and scales at which we need to measure,
collect data, model, and carry out significant computation work on FEW systems.
This chapter sets up a deep exploration of these topics in Chaps. 13–16. In Chap. 17,
we will return to the integration of these areas science and connect them to decisionmaking at the Nexus. We will explore of communities of science are require for
effective research and communities of practice are required for the effective application of Nexus science to problem-solving in the real world.
P. Saundry (*)
Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
e-mail: psaundr1@jhu.edu
S. Shekhar
Computer Science & Engineering, College of Science & Engineering, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
e-mail: shekhar@umn.edu
M. Carbajales-Dale et al.