2018). Kurian et al. (2016) present important
studies on governance focusing on soil conservation (Laos), watershed management (India),
water supply (Manilla) and social investment
(Honduras). But only the Indian study covers
wastewater reuse in a peri-urban agricultural
setting and does so in a rather abstract manner
with no attention for the complete sequence
starting with waste generation and ending with
application to soil and its effects. Considering all
the implications of waste disposal on soils
already offers many, often rather unique problems. Broadening the scope to other land use
problems is intellectually attractive but may
divert attention from the specific issues associated with waste treatment and the water-soilwaste nexus.
A final remark about transdisciplinarity is
wastewater application to soils results in “wicked”
problems that have no single solutions. Only
compromises between often quite different points
of view of various groups of stakeholders have to
be found, to be expressed by a series of alternative
scenarios. Scientists, acting as knowledge brokers, can play a crucial role here. A major study in
the Netherlands on sustainable land use showed
that interaction with stakeholder groups and policy makers was very time consuming, but developing joint research proposals and working
together with researchers in a “joint-learning”
mode to realize those proposals turned out to be a
recipe for success (e.g., Bouma et al. 2011). “Joint
learning” particularly applied to the stakeholders,
but interaction with the policy arena was maintained during the process, avoiding unexpected
confrontations at the end of the process.
5 Conclusions
1. The water-soil-waste nexus is of high strategic importance for achieving several SDG’s
because solid and liquid waste can provide
important contributions to achieve biomass
production, water quality, climate mitigation
and biodiversity preservation as affected by
soil management that needs to be defined for
different soils, water regimes and climate
zones.
2. Case studies on waste applications to soils
show a structural imbalance within the nexus,
with so far little emphasis on hydrology and
soils and their interaction. A meaningful
nexus can only be achieved when the constituting parts of the nexus are in balance.
3. Current databases for hydrology and soils
contain many data and monitoring methods
that are widely available. Operational ICT
makes all this well accessible. Scientists can
hardly cope with this flood of data and the
transformation of data into meaningful information and knowledge, that is relevant for
waste management, presents a major challenge. A focus on Goals (the SDGs) may
point the way to a structured approach to the
use of data for studying the water-soil-waste
nexus.
4. The policy arena, responsible for environmental rules and regulations, can most effectively be inspired by successful case studies
of waste application to soils, developed in
close interaction with diverse stakeholder
groups. Such case studies should, however,
be documented applying a thorough technical
and socio-economic analysis using modern
data, methods and models with a focus on the
entire water-soil-waste nexus.
References
Arrouays D, Grundy MG, Hartemink AE, Hempel JW,
Heuvelink GBM, Young Hong S, Lagacherie P,
Lelyk G, Mc Bratney AB, Mc Kenzie NJ,
Mendonca-Santos M, Minashy B, Montanarella L,
Odeh IOA, Sanchez PA, Thompson JA, Zhang G
(2014) Global soil map: toward a fine-resolution grid
of soil properties. Adv Agron 125:93–134
Batjes NH (2016) Harmonised soil property values for
broad-scale modelling (WISE30sec) with estimates of
global soil carbon stocks. Geoderma 269:61–68
Blum WEH (2016) Role of soils for satisfying global
demands for food, water and bioenergy. In: Hettiarachchi H, Ardakanian R (eds) Environmental
resource management and the nexus approach. Springer
International Publishing, Switzerland, pp 143–179
How to Integrate and Balance Water, Soil and Waste …
21
studies on governance focusing on soil conservation (Laos), watershed management (India),
water supply (Manilla) and social investment
(Honduras). But only the Indian study covers
wastewater reuse in a peri-urban agricultural
setting and does so in a rather abstract manner
with no attention for the complete sequence
starting with waste generation and ending with
application to soil and its effects. Considering all
the implications of waste disposal on soils
already offers many, often rather unique problems. Broadening the scope to other land use
problems is intellectually attractive but may
divert attention from the specific issues associated with waste treatment and the water-soilwaste nexus.
A final remark about transdisciplinarity is
wastewater application to soils results in “wicked”
problems that have no single solutions. Only
compromises between often quite different points
of view of various groups of stakeholders have to
be found, to be expressed by a series of alternative
scenarios. Scientists, acting as knowledge brokers, can play a crucial role here. A major study in
the Netherlands on sustainable land use showed
that interaction with stakeholder groups and policy makers was very time consuming, but developing joint research proposals and working
together with researchers in a “joint-learning”
mode to realize those proposals turned out to be a
recipe for success (e.g., Bouma et al. 2011). “Joint
learning” particularly applied to the stakeholders,
but interaction with the policy arena was maintained during the process, avoiding unexpected
confrontations at the end of the process.
5 Conclusions
1. The water-soil-waste nexus is of high strategic importance for achieving several SDG’s
because solid and liquid waste can provide
important contributions to achieve biomass
production, water quality, climate mitigation
and biodiversity preservation as affected by
soil management that needs to be defined for
different soils, water regimes and climate
zones.
2. Case studies on waste applications to soils
show a structural imbalance within the nexus,
with so far little emphasis on hydrology and
soils and their interaction. A meaningful
nexus can only be achieved when the constituting parts of the nexus are in balance.
3. Current databases for hydrology and soils
contain many data and monitoring methods
that are widely available. Operational ICT
makes all this well accessible. Scientists can
hardly cope with this flood of data and the
transformation of data into meaningful information and knowledge, that is relevant for
waste management, presents a major challenge. A focus on Goals (the SDGs) may
point the way to a structured approach to the
use of data for studying the water-soil-waste
nexus.
4. The policy arena, responsible for environmental rules and regulations, can most effectively be inspired by successful case studies
of waste application to soils, developed in
close interaction with diverse stakeholder
groups. Such case studies should, however,
be documented applying a thorough technical
and socio-economic analysis using modern
data, methods and models with a focus on the
entire water-soil-waste nexus.
References
Arrouays D, Grundy MG, Hartemink AE, Hempel JW,
Heuvelink GBM, Young Hong S, Lagacherie P,
Lelyk G, Mc Bratney AB, Mc Kenzie NJ,
Mendonca-Santos M, Minashy B, Montanarella L,
Odeh IOA, Sanchez PA, Thompson JA, Zhang G
(2014) Global soil map: toward a fine-resolution grid
of soil properties. Adv Agron 125:93–134
Batjes NH (2016) Harmonised soil property values for
broad-scale modelling (WISE30sec) with estimates of
global soil carbon stocks. Geoderma 269:61–68
Blum WEH (2016) Role of soils for satisfying global
demands for food, water and bioenergy. In: Hettiarachchi H, Ardakanian R (eds) Environmental
resource management and the nexus approach. Springer
International Publishing, Switzerland, pp 143–179
How to Integrate and Balance Water, Soil and Waste …
21