WS3: Interconnecting societal processes, breaking the silos for water security under competing demands

06.10.2026 – 08.10.2026 14:00 – 16:00
S315 & Ludwigstr. 21
Moderator: Alejandro Pieters & Min Liu

Impluse

Food production, energy, industrial (human direct use) and technological development are crucial processes to human society but have competing demands for water use. These tensions are further exacerbated when climate change and land-use changes are incorporated as factors that influence water availability and quality. Inefficiencies within each of these sectors add complexity and impose further pressure on water resources. Despite their fundamental relevance to society and their interconnectivity, impacts of food, energy and technology on water resources have been addressed in isolation. This writeshop is intended to explore the possibilities for linking all or some of the sectors in integrated management strategies and operational solutions that can lead to a more secure and resilience water use.

Activity, output and outcome

Participants are invited to form teams (4-10 members) and identify potential linked food, energy/industry and technological processes (case studies) that can be analysed in terms of 1. Water demand (current and forecasted); 2. Impact on quality of water resources; 3. Identification of tensions among sectors for water resources; 4. Potential for integrated solutions. Teams may propose ideas on how to tackle the envisioned case study, identify knowledge gaps and access to required information/data, which would lead to deciding which output is expected/feasible (publication -research paper, review paper- research proposal, research network, etc.). During the writeshop teams will prepare the backbone of the selected output including target journals, target funding agencies or supporting institutions and an expected time plan to reach objectives.