Co-designing meaningful WEFE Nexus Transition Pathways in Mediterranean Irrigation Systems with stakeholders: Implementing the WEFE Nexus in Agricultural Systems of the Duero Basin

The sustainable management of agri-food ecosystems in Mediterranean regions requires an integrated approach that recognizes the interdependencies between Water, Energy, Food, and Ecosystems (WEFE Nexus). This is especially important in the face of climate change, rising energy costs, and socioeconomic pressure on irrigation systems. This work presents the main results of the participatory process developed at the Nexus Ecosystem Lab (NEL) in Duero, Spain, as part of the NEXUS-NESS project. The project aims to co-design strategies for transitioning toward fair, efficient, and sustainable allocation of natural resources.

The process is based on applying an Ecosystem Innovation approach to the Nexus through a series of multi-stakeholder workshops. These workshops involved irrigation communities, public administrations, the agricultural and energy sectors, academia, and environmental organizations. Using participatory methodologies, including World Café dynamics, Nexus mapping exercises, and a serious game, the main challenges, critical interactions, and territorial priorities in the Duero basin's irrigation systems were identified.

A central element of the process was the co-development of a set of WEFE indicators. These were co-designed in a participatory approach with the Duero basin stakeholders to assess the current status and future scenarios of water, energy, productive resources, and ecosystems, as well as the performance of the measures proposed in the WEFE transition Plan. This approach defined a comprehensible, operational, and relevant indicators that align with the interests, concerns, and actual capacities of local actors. The indicators are meaningful from a territorial perspective and facilitate decision-making.

The results showed that the main challenges lie on: efficiency of water and energy use, economic viability of irrigation, multilevel governance, and integrating ecosystem services into agricultural planning. The co-created indicators also reinforces social learning, transparency, and continuous monitoring of the WEFE transition. More over, they allow for the evaluation of impacts, adjustment of measures, and risks’ anticipation under climate change conditions.

This work demonstrates the effectiveness of Living Labs combined with co-designed of WEFE indicators for operationalizing the WEFE nexus approach in real contexts. This approach provides a solid basis for designing public policies and adaptive management strategies in Mediterranean agricultural basins.