ABSTRACT
The water-energy nexus has come to play an increasingly important role concerning issues of water and development. Triggering events and driving factors have enhanced this trend, such as: (1) the occurrence of extreme climate, weather events, and disasters; (2) social changes including migration and urbanization; (3) technological breakthroughs; (4) enhancements to regional energy and economic cooperation through the integration of energy and water security; (5) large-scale infrastructure development for water and energy in developing countries, as applied by the donor-driven top-down approach; (6) the identification of tradeoffs among water, energy, and low-carbon policies among different levels; and (7) targeting multiple global goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Social sciences have addressed the water-energy nexus by applying their disciplines into the nexus approach; however, taking interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches remain a challenge to address the complexity and uncertainty of the linkages among water and energy resources and sectors in the human-nature system in different scales and levels. The purpose of this chapter is (1) to understand academic trends in the water-energy nexus from the perspective of these triggering events and driving factors, and (2) to discuss the contributions and potential roles of the social sciences in the water-energy nexus.
