Hydro Nation scholar presents research at international water, food, energy and climate conference

"We're very pleased that this Scottish Government-funded PhD project is contributing to capacity developing in Nexus thinking to help achieve SDG targets"

A Hydro Nation scholar carrying out research on common challenges across water, energy and food and their connections to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) presented her PhD research during a session on “Achieving the SDGs” at a recent water, food, energy and climate Nexus conference (16-18^th April) organised by the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.

PhD researcher Fortune Gomo, who hails from Zimbabwe, presented research on how to evaluate water, energy and food linkages for the achievement of SDGs in countries in the Zambezi river basin. She is supervised by John Rowan (University of Dundee), Kairsty Topp (Scotland’s Rural College), Jagadeesh Yeluripati and Kit Macleod (both James Hutton Institute).

On her experience of the event, Fortune said: “'It was a privilege to attend and contribute to the Nexus 2018 message on water, energy, food, and climate that will be presented at the High Level Political Forum (HPLF) in New York in July 2018, and to the Heads of State when they review Sustainable Development Goal commitments in 2019.”

Kit Macleod, from the Institute’s Information and Computational Sciences group, commented: “We’re very pleased that Fortune was selected to talk about her research, and that this Scottish Government-funded PhD project is contributing to capacity developing in Nexus thinking to help achieve SDG targets.”

The conference focused on the science-policy interface, partnerships, solutions, SDG commitments, methodology and identification of potential gaps.

A statement by the conference participants and organisers said: “We have concluded that the Nexus approach remains essential in recognizing the indivisible nature of the SDGs and that such an approach is fundamental in delivering these goals.

“We recommend using a Nexus thinking when implementing capacity building for SDGs delivering as such approach can strengthen understanding regarding the various development goals, and thus equipped communities with tools to better address these challenges.”

The Nexus approach is notable in that it focuses on crossovers across sectors, while acknowledging sectoral policy, business and scientific expertise is vital for achieving more integrated plans. This was the second Nexus conference organised by the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina.

The Hydro Nation Scholars programme is funded by the Scottish Government, as well as managed by the Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW) and supported by the James Hutton Institute.