Abstract Given the need for transformative changes towards more sustainable, integrated management of water, energy and food systems, the water-energy-food nexus concept seems highly relevant. However, while intuitively compelling, the nexus has also been criticized for abstracting and thereby dis-embedding the collaboration processes through which further integration could be achieved. There is a lack of empirical analysis and context-sensitive understanding, of the opportunities and constraints of, collaboration and cross-sector coordination, as faced by actors governing interconnected water, energy and food systems. In this paper we analyse how actors involved in the governance of water, energy and food systems are embedded in social networks, and discuss how that embeddedness shapes collaboration and coordination processes that are relevant for addressing interconnected sustainability challenges. Drawing on the notion of problemsheds, we delineate an analytical space that captures the interactions between water, energy and food systems and the actors influencing them in the Upper Blue Nile of Ethiopia. Our empirical data suggest that the claim that actors from different sectors are disconnected from each other is overly simplistic. The ways in which actors are embedded in hierarchical structures may help to explain why coordination challenges persist, despite the presence of cross-sectoral linkages among them.

中文翻译：

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对水-能源-食物关系的关系理解：对埃塞俄比亚上青尼罗河地区的嵌入和治理的分析

摘要 鉴于需要对水、能源和粮食系统进行更可持续、综合管理的转型变革，水-能源-粮食关系概念似乎高度相关。然而，虽然直观上引人注目，但这种联系也被批评为抽象化并因此脱离了可以实现进一步集成的协作过程。正如管理相互关联的水、能源和粮食系统的行为者所面临的那样，缺乏对合作和跨部门协调的机会和限制的实证分析和上下文敏感的理解。在本文中，我们分析了参与水、能源和粮食系统治理的参与者如何嵌入社交网络，并讨论这种嵌入性如何塑造与应对相互关联的可持续性挑战相关的协作和协调过程。借鉴问题区的概念，我们描绘了一个分析空间，捕捉水、能源和粮食系统之间的相互作用以及在埃塞俄比亚青尼罗河上游影响它们的行为者。我们的经验数据表明，来自不同部门的参与者彼此脱节的说法过于简单化。行动者嵌入等级结构的方式可能有助于解释为什么协调挑战持续存在，尽管它们之间存在跨部门联系。能源和粮食系统以及影响埃塞俄比亚上游青尼罗河的行动者。我们的经验数据表明，来自不同部门的参与者彼此脱节的说法过于简单化。行动者嵌入等级结构的方式可能有助于解释为什么协调挑战持续存在，尽管它们之间存在跨部门联系。能源和粮食系统以及影响埃塞俄比亚上游青尼罗河的行动者。我们的经验数据表明，来自不同部门的参与者彼此脱节的说法过于简单化。行动者嵌入等级结构的方式可能有助于解释为什么协调挑战持续存在，尽管它们之间存在跨部门联系。