How can authorities and stakeholders work together to address the connections between water, energy, food and ecosystems? The NEXOGENESIS guide offers a practical pathway, bringing together the project’s methods, tools and lessons to support more integrated policymaking and river-basin management.

Decisions about water, energy, food and ecosystems rarely affect just one sector. Irrigation influences water availability and energy demand, while hydropower operations can affect downstream agriculture and ecosystems. Addressing these connections requires both scientific evidence and cooperation between the people and institutions involved.

Now available on the NEXOGENESIS website, A Practical Guide to Co-Creating WEFE Nexus Governance provides practical guidance for putting this integrated approach into practice.

Connecting evidence, participation and implementation

The guide draws on work carried out in five river-basin settings across Europe and South Africa: Nestos/Mesta, Lielupe, Lower Jiu, Adige and Inkomati-Usuthu. It brings this experience together into a practical route connecting stakeholder engagement, governance assessment, policy analysis, future scenarios, modelling and implementation planning.

The guide provides methods and guidance to:

  • Frame a shared challenge and involve relevant stakeholders, bringing scientific, institutional and local knowledge into the process.
  • Assess governance conditions and policy coherence, identifying barriers, enabling factors and interactions between sectors.
  • Explore possible futures and policy options, using scenario analysis, system dynamics modelling and the NExus Policy Assessment Tool (NEPAT).
  • Develop governance roadmaps, translating preferred policy packages into actions, responsibilities, resources and stakeholder commitments.

Throughout the guide, each chapter explains what authorities can lead, where specialist support is needed and which outputs should be available before moving forward.

A resource adaptable to different needs

The publication is designed for river-basin authorities, ministries, water agencies, regional administrations, transboundary bodies and utilities, as well as researchers, consultants, facilitators and stakeholder organisations.

The guide offers both a complete implementation pathway and individual modules addressing specific needs, such as improving stakeholder engagement, reviewing policy coherence or preparing a governance roadmap. Case-study insights and quick-reference sheets illustrate how the methods can be adapted to different contexts.

By connecting technical analysis with stakeholder knowledge and institutional responsibilities, the guide supports the move from understanding WEFE interdependencies to developing shared, actionable responses.

You can find the guide here for more information: https://nexogenesis.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/NEXOGENESIS-A-Practical-Guide-to-Co-Creating-WEFE-Nexus-Governance.pdf