The Nexus Group introduces itself: Prof. Marianela Fader

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Prof. Marianela Fader is the holder of the Chair for Physical Geography and Nexus Research. She has more than 15 years experience in leading research on large-scale modelling the interactions and interdependence between water security, energy production, food security, and nature conservation – especially taking into account climate and societal change. Her research is guided by the question: Can we, as global community, cover future human needs and promote wellbeing for all while not destroying the ecosystems we rely on?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵?

What excites me most is the broadness of the field: Nexus questions deal with interactions between water, food, energy, and ecosystems – and with effects that we might have not even considered beforehand. I’m fascinated by this complexity of the nexus system in which all parts influence each other, build synergies and require trade-offs.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻?

Germany is usually considered a water-rich country. Depending on the region we use for comparison, this is true—but I think many people are not aware of how drastically and quickly this is changing. In the face of climate change, we will need large amounts of water for irrigation, especially in agriculture. But if we extract all the water that we need from the rivers, what are the trade-offs? How does this affect the natural ecosystems in the rivers and the energy sector? Water is needed in hydropower plants but also in thermal power plants, for cooling. The analysis of the regional patterns of trade-offs and the implications for policies and water management is not only extremely interesting but also socially relevant.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱?

Nexus research is much more complex than one might initially think. The idea always sounds quite simple, and it's easy to say, 'It's not new knowledge that food production, water, energy generation, and natural ecosystems interact.' After all, large parts of geographical research are based on this premise. But investigating these relationships and developing a theory for how such complex systems function is very challenging. Since the field is relatively new, we don't yet have a unified 'go-to' method available. We do have several methodologies that work very well for specific questions, but no comprehensive methodology for studying the Nexus as a whole.

In this context, I would wish for national administrative structures to work more closely aligned with the Nexus approach. Currently, everything is quite fragmented: we have ministries for each individual Nexus element, which makes it difficult for stakeholders to get a holistic view of the system—both politically and legally. We especially need to focus more on the bigger picture from a stakeholder perspective. Otherwise, laws or regulations are passed that are useful for a specific area, but may even prove harmful in another because the interplay of Nexus elements hasn't been taken into account.