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From
CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains
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Published on
05.01.24
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NEXUS Gains Talks is a monthly online seminar series from the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains. The talks bring together water–energy–food–ecosystems (WEFE) nexus experts from around the world and provide insights on the latest nexus research, new approaches and tools, impacts on policies, and other reflections and experiences. Each hour-long webinar includes short presentations, followed by reflections from panelists, and a Q&A session with questions submitted by the audience.
Follow the links below to read a summary of each NEXUS Gains webinar, watch a recording of the event and download the presentations. Our webinars are also now available to listen to as podcasts. You can subscribe to our newsletter to be notified about upcoming talks and register to join us on Zoom.
Catch up on our past webinars
All 29 NEXUS Gains Talks hosted between April 2022 and December 2024 are listed below.
Water in a heated worldNexus Gains Talk 29: December 2024
With: Matthew McCartney, IWMI; Stefan Uhlenbrook, World Meteorological Organization; John Matthews, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation; Darshini Ravindranath, IWMI; Xianfu Lu, Independent Advisor on Adaptation and Climate Resilience; Claudia Ringler, IFPRI. |
Crafting combinations to govern groundwater: Knowledge, motivation, and agencyNEXUS Gains Talk 28: November 2024
With: Ruth Meinzen-Dick, IFPRI; Richu Sanil, Foundation for Ecological Security; Margreet Zwarteveen, IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education; Bryan Bruns, Independent Researcher and Consultant; Hagar ElDidi, IFPRI; Alvar Closas, International Consultant, Bogotá, Colombia. |
How to design a transboundary multistakeholder platform (MSP): The Incomati experience in Southern AfricaNEXUS Gains Talk 27: November 2024
With: Jonathan Lautze, IWMI; Ryan Nehring, IFPRI; Dominic Joaquim, IFPRI; Sylvester Matemu, Nile Basin Discourse; Leonissah Munjoma, Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM); Loreen Katiyo (Global Water Partnership Southern Africa); Buyani Fakudze, Incomati and Maputo Watercourse Commission (INMACOM). |
The future of global river health monitoringNEXUS Gains Talk 26: September 2024
With: Chris Dickens, IWMI; David Tickner, WWF; Lauren Kuehne, Omfishient Consulting; Abby Lynch, United States Geological Survey; Mpho Sadiki, Digital Earth Africa. |
Reversing groundwater depletion in Northwest India: Insights from agronomic interventions and potential opportunitiesNEXUS Gains Talk 25: August 2024
With: Proloy Deb, IRRI; Swatantra Kumar Dubey, IRRI; Meenakshi Sangwan, Agricultural Research Center, Haryana; Sandeep Rawal, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Knowledge Network; Matthew McCartney, IWMI. |
Spatially explicit approaches at the food–biodiversity–climate nexusNEXUS Gains Talk 24: July 2024
With: Sarika Mittra, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT; Federico Frank, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Argentina; Sarah Jones, Alliance. |
Integrated water resources management for water, energy, and food security in the Eastern Nile BasinNEXUS Gains Talk 23: June 2024
With: Mohammed Basheer, University of Toronto; Mekdelawit Messay, Florida International University; Yasir Mohamed, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE); Biniam Iyob, USAID Bureau for Food Security. |
Water–energy–food–ecosystems dynamics in a climate crisisNEXUS Gains Talk 22: May 2024
With: Sidra Khalid and Dr Mohsin Hafeez, IWMI Pakistan; Professor Walter Immerzeel, Utrecht University; Dipak Gyawali, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology; Dr Bimala Rai Paudyal, Agriculture and Forestry University. |
The water–energy–food–ecosystems nexus and One Health: Opportunities for joint action?NEXUS Gains Talk 21: April 2024
With: Dr Jonathan Lautze and Dr Matthew McCartney, IWMI and NEXUS Gains; Vartika Singh, IFPRI-Delhi; Timmo Gaasbeek, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Alvin Lopez, Asian Development Bank. |
Transformative leadership program for women professionals in the water–energy–food–ecosystems nexusNEXUS Gains Talk 20: March 2024
With: Dr Manohara Khadka, Dr Marlène Buchy and Dr Sanju Koirala, IWMI-Nepal; Dr Bharat Pokharel and Dr Meeta Pradhan, GREAT International; Anjali Sai Chalise, Nepalese Youth for Climate Action; Jigyasha Rai Yangkhurung, Nepalese Department of Water Resources and Irrigation; Deepa Oli, Nepalese Ministry of Forests and the Environment. |
Wetlands and human wellbeing: Perspectives from Asia and AfricaNEXUS Gains Talk 19: February 2024
With: Dr Matthew McCartney, NEXUS Gains Lead; Dr Priyanie Amerasinghe, IWMI; Dr Thomas Marambanyika, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe; Dr Chaturangi Wickramaratne, IWMI; Chandana Kalupahana, Urban Development Authority, Sri Lanka; Zebedee Njisuh, Ramsar. |
Water–energy–food nexus modeling: A fad or the future?NEXUS Gains Talk 18: December 2023
With: Dr Bunyod Holmatov, International Water Management Institute (IWMI); Dr Steve Davies, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Dr Bushra Yasmin, Fatima Jinna Women University; Dr Imran Saqib Khalid, WWF; Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad; Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Cheema, IWMI Pakistan; Dr Bashir Ahmad, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council. |
Energy, water, and multisectoral linkages in AfricaNEXUS Gains Talk 17: November 2023
With: Mohammad Amin Tahavori, R&D Energy Modeling, VITO; Julien Harou, University of Manchester, UK; Dr. Osman Eltom Hamad, former Minister of Water for Sudan; Claudia Ringler, IFPRI and NEXUS Gains. |
Water is life, water is food: A nexus approach to water productivity that leaves no one behindNEXUS Gains Talk 16: October 2023
With: Bruce Lankford, University of East Anglia, UK; Sanju Koirala, IWMI; Upali Amarasinghe, IWMI; Professor Ragab Ragab, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage; Professor Sue Walker, Agricultural Research Council, South Africa. |
Gender and energy: Measures to accelerate equity and social inclusion in South Asia’s rural energy transitionNEXUS Gains Talk 15: September 2023
With: Shristi Shakya, IWMI Nepal; Neha Durga, IWMI India; Muzna Alvi, IFPRI India; Suman Chandra, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India; Resha Piya, Green Growth Group, British Embassy, Nepal. |
Integrating water storage: First steps in assessment, progress toward incentivesNEXUS Gains Talk 14: August 2023
With: Jonathan Lautze, Girma Ebrahim, and Dhyey Bhatpuria, IWMI; William Rex, World Bank; Jennie Barron, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Markus Hoffman, The Federation of Swedish Farmers; Kaushal Garg, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics; Davies Saruchera, International Union for Conservation of Nature. |
Managed aquifer recharge in the Ganges Basin: Examining barriers to wider implementationNEXUS Gains Talk 13: July 2023
With: Andrew Ross, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University; Paul Pavelic, IWMI Lao PDR; Mohammad Faiz Alam and Navneet Sharma, IWMI India; Gayathri Angou, TU Delft and Wageningen University (AMS Institute). |
Country-driven nexus food and land use system pathways to achieve global goalsNEXUS Gains Talk 12: June 2023
With: Fabrice DeClerck, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and EAT; Aline Mosnier, FABLE Consortium; Charlotte Gonzalez-Abraham, FABLE Mexico; Ranjan Kumar Ghosh, FABLE India and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; John Chavarro, FABLE Colombia and Javeriana University. |
Integrating water resources management in a shared river basinNEXUS Gains Talk 11: May 2023
With: Jonathan Lautze, IWMI; Naga Velpuri, IWMI; Mikiyas Etichia, University of Manchester, UK. |
Nexus tools to support solarization of agriculture in Asia and AfricaNEXUS Gains Talk 10: April 2023
With: Claudia Ringler, NEXUS Gains and IFPRI; Shilp Verma, IWMI; Hua Xie, IFPRI. |
The future of water researchNEXUS Gains Talk 9: March 2023
With: Mark Smith, IWMI; Hasula Wickremasinghe, Climate Change Secretariat, Ministry of Environment, Sri Lanka; Marcella D’Souza, Director, Watershed Organisation Trust Centre for Resilience Studies; Muhammad Nasir Jamal, Rabail Technologies; Raunak Shrestha, Global Water Partnership South Asia. |
A nexus agreement on biodiversity: 23 global targets for nature and peopleNEXUS Gains Talk 8: February 2023
With: Dr Fabrice DeClerck, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and EAT; Dr Carolina Navarrete Frias, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. |
Carbon emissions from inland waterNEXUS Gains Talk 7: December 2022
With: Bunyod Holmatov, Nishadi Eriyagama and Matthew McCartney, NEXUS Gains and IWMI |
Tools for groundwater governanceNEXUS Gains Talk 6: November 2022
With: Ruth Meinzen-Dick, IFPRI; Bryan Bruns, independent researcher and consultant; Pratiti Priyadarshini, Foundation for Ecological Security in India. |
Recurring floods: building resilience in the wake of climate changeNEXUS Gains Talk 5: October 2022
With: Dr Santosh Nepal, IWMI Nepal; Dr Mohsin Hafeez, IWMI Pakistan; Dr Claudia Ringler, IFPRI. |
Towards an integrated water storage diagnosticNEXUS Gains Talk 4: September 2022
With: William Rex, IWMI; Anita Lazurko, IWMI and University of Waterloo, Canada. |
Foresight modeling and trade-off analysis for the water–energy–food nexusNEXUS Gains Talk 3: July 2022
With: Simon Parkinson, IWMI; Vartika Singh, IFPRI, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. |
Applying water–energy–food–ecosystem nexus thinkingNEXUS Gains Talk 2: June 2022
With: Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, IWMI Ghana; Natalia Estrada Carmona, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. |
Sustainably energizing food systemsNEXUS Gains Talk 1: April 2022
With: Shilp Verma, IWMI; Muzna Alvi, IFPRI. |
With rising global temperatures, the hydrological cycle is accelerating, increasingly threatening the availability and quality of freshwater. In 2023, many regions globally experienced severe water scarcity due to prolonged droughts and shifting patterns of precipitation, while others had to contend with devastating floods that destroyed homes and livelihoods. We can no longer rely on the weather patterns of the past; we have to rethink how we manage water. This webinar examines the impacts of climate change on the water cycle and discusses why nexus approaches are central to technical and policy approaches for climate resilience and adaptation.
Groundwater is an increasingly vital common pool resource for water supply, irrigation, and ecosystems, but difficult to govern. While there are many institutional tools for governing groundwater, there are no panaceas, and successes are rare. Effective groundwater governance requires that key stakeholders have combinations of knowledge, motivation, and agency to act together effectively. This 
While multistakeholder platforms (MSPs) are proliferating in shared waters, there is a diversity of approaches with little comparison or shared learning between them. This webinar reviews experiences in transboundary MSPs, presents a proposed design for a new transboundary MSP in the Incomati Basin, and facilitates discussion on the suitability of that design. The webinar also includes a roundtable discussion of notable MSP practitioners to offer relevant lessons for MSP development in other shared watercourses, including the Incomati Basin.
River health is declining globally, but there is no reliable monitoring system for tracking global trends. NEXUS Gains therefore reviewed national and regional approaches for river health monitoring to develop a comprehensive set of scalable indicators. This webinar evaluates the readiness of these indicators and presents recommendations for coordinated action and investment to implement a framework to support conservation and restoration of river health globally.
The groundwater table in Northwest India is depleting, largely attributed to irrigation led by intensified paddy cultivation. This webinar presents the findings of research on farmers’ water application and productivity under both direct-seeded rice and puddled transplanted rice across four districts in Haryana, as well as a case study on the co-benefits of crop diversification. The results show how water savings can be achieved and can contribute to groundwater rejuvenation.
Achieving food, biodiversity, and climate goals in tandem requires managing land-use systems for multiple purposes. This webinar focuses on using spatial datasets to guide and prioritize interventions on and off-farm to support food security, biodiversity conservation, and climate mitigation objectives.
Over 500 million people, across 11 countries, reside in the Nile Basin. However, the basin’s water resources are under increasing pressure from a combination of social, political, and climatic threats. This webinar explores how nexus thinking can help address these growing threats, presenting results from the Eastern Nile Basin that can help policymakers develop more impactful and integrated water solutions in a climate crisis.
The all-encompassing nature of climate crisis means that it is deeply connected to the WEFE nexus. This webinar attempted to answer how decision makers can use these connections to their advantage to support climate mitigation and adaptation goals – as well as sustainable development initiatives – while addressing the urgent challenges brought about by a changing climate.
One Health advocates that human, environmental, and animal health are closely interlinked and that interventions should actively consider these interlinkages. This webinar presents two case studies where One Health and the WEFE nexus overlap: the first links built surface water storage systems with human health, while the second assesses the WEFE nexus of the rice–fisheries system.
NEXUS Gains’ WEFE Leadership Course launched in Nepal in June 2023, with the aim of creating WEFE nexus champions that can advance the uptake of people-centric WEFE approaches, while contributing to greater equality and social inclusion among professionals. In this webinar, facilitators and participants reflect on their experiences of the course.
Discover how community initiatives and government policies in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka are fostering the wise use of wetlands – balancing the needs for human wellbeing and environmental protection of these precious ecosystems.
Held as part of Pakistan Water Week, this seminar underscores the merits of integrated modeling frameworks through a series of case studies, and d
An exploration of how new local- and national-scale open-source systems modeling can cut through competing demands to identify clear trade-offs and synergies between Africa’s water and energy sectors.
As the climate shifts and water demand grows, improving water productivity is crucial. This webinar discusses how nexus solutions can boost water productivity and food security without increasing consumption, energy use, and inequality.
Universal access to affordable clean energy continues to be a global challenge. This webinar examines how South Asia’s rural energy transition can better include women and marginalized groups and how to widen access to affordable clean energy.
Experts from NEXUS Gains and partners come together at World Water Week to share practical examples from two integrated storage assessments. Listen to the speakers’ perspectives on the institutional reform necessary to support integrated storage planning.
The underground transfer of floods for irrigation is an innovative new approach to managed aquifer recharge. Experts examine whether it can help improve water security and lessen flood and drought severity.
An exploration of how the FABLE Consortium uses WEFE nexus thinking to support joined-up sustainability policies in India to ensure that global and national sustainability goals are not contradictory.
The Incomati is a vital transboundary basin in Southern Africa. However, climate change and population growth mean that it is at risk of drying up without responsive, data-driven, and coordinated management. Experts explain how they work together to build a robust and comprehensive river basin system model.
An engaging discussion on new 
Transformative Futures for Water Security is an initiative co-convened by IWMI. Learn about the missions created for inclusive, science-based action on water security and the collaborative process that led to their development.
This review of the 23 global targets agreed at COP15 explores their relevance to the WEFE nexus and discusses implications and opportunities for research and development activities.
A discussion on the carbon footprint of water, how it relates to the WEFE nexus and why this is important, alongside an explanation of how to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs.
A discussion of the importance of groundwater governance with examples of institutional tools and policy instruments to support changes in water productivity and sustainability. Experts share their experiences of increasing capacity for community governance of groundwater in India.
This webinar discusses the impact of climate change on snow and glacier melt patterns, floods and agriculture in the Indus Basin. It features a presentation of the systemic approaches to mitigating water risks in the basin in a changing climate.
From melting ice sheets to groundwater depletion, our planet has lost 27,000 billion cubic meters of freshwater storage since 1971. This webinar shares expert insights on 
An expert analysis of water use and crop production in India and a discussion on balancing smart irrigation and hydropower investments for sustainable water conservation in the Indus Basin.
An exploration of lessons learned from the introduction of WEFE nexus thinking in Southern Africa, alongside an examination of trade-offs and synergies in sustainably and equitably energizing food systems.
An overview from speakers of the extensive work in India and across South Asia, a presentation of key lessons learned through the evolution of the WEFE nexus, and future research for development activities as part of NEXUS Gains.The CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains is grateful for the support of CGIAR Trust Fund contributors: staging.cgiar.org/funders
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