Operationalizing Resource Nexus: a systematic review from water perspective

Going beyond traditional silos, the Resource Nexus approach has the potential to achieve sustainable resource management by maximizing synergy and minimizing trade-offs in resource planning and management. This review addresses four main research questions: (i) How has the concept advanced in recent years? (ii) What are advancements in assessment methods and tools? (iii) What are the practices and opportunities ? and (iv) What are the potential pathways for harnessing those opportunities? Our findings, based on a systematic review of 203 research articles, reveal that the Resource Nexus is evolving with new components such as land, pollution (i.e. negative resource), and climate change, in addition to traditional components like water, energy, and food. The field has been enriched over the years with the advancement of knowledge and the development of new tools and assessment methods for the Resource Nexus. However, the application of the Resource Nexus approach in real-world scenarios is still limited as these models lack the ability to fully capture the complex interconnected nature of the Nexus, which necessitates further efforts to realize its full potential. Addressing these challenges, we propose a conceptual framework for the operationalization of the Resource Nexus that identifies three key areas: developing comprehensive yet flexible tools for Nexus assessment, bridging the data gap, and creating a nexus-informed society within a supportive policy and regulatory environment with monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning mechanisms in place.