Sustain Food Network Champions Systems Thinking and Global Partnerships at
DNC2025
By: Zeeshan Tahir Virk
The Dresden Nexus Conference 2025 (DNC2025) from 8th – 10th April 2025 served as a powerful stage for the SustainFood Network to showcase its leadership in advancing systems thinking, integrated resource governance, and global collaboration for sustainable development. From redefining theoretical foundations to tackling the pressing challenges of migration and resource insecurity, SustainFood members; Prof. Abdullah Konak, Dr. Bassel Daher, Dr. Annette Huber-Lee and Mr. Zeeshan Tahir Virk hosted and participated in various sessions during the conference and played a central role in shaping the discourse on the resources’ nexus throughout the three-day event in Dresden, Germany.
Tackling Climate-Driven Migration through Nexus Resilience
Dr. Bassel Daher, Assistant Director for Sustainable Development at Texas A&M organized and contributed to the special session “Building Nexus Resilience: Addressing Migration and Conflicts in
Water-Energy-Food Systems.” The session brought together experts from the IOM, FAO, IWMI, and PRIMA Foundation to address the complex links between resource insecurity, forced migration, and fragile governance systems. Highlights from the session were published in a communication brief which included key research gaps and open research questions. A recording of the session can also be found on webinar series webpage.
Dr. Daher highlighted the urgent need to integrate human mobility dynamics into resource modeling and planning frameworks. By advocating for anticipatory action and systems approaches, the session advanced a roadmap for embedding migration within climate and development policies, a step essential for building resilience in vulnerable regions.
Dr. Daher also contributed a talk titled “Training Systems Thinkers of the Future: The Power of Project-Based Interdisciplinary Learning” in the session on Advancing a Curriculum of the Resource Nexus. The talk highlighted how project-based learning fosters critical systems thinking, adaptive decision making, and stakeholder engagement, all essential skills for future sustainability leaders.
Redefining the Nexus for Real-World Impact
Mr. Zeeshan Tahir Virk, a rising voice in the Nexus community and an alumnus of the SustainFood Collaborative Learning School-2024, delivered a compelling intervention on the evolving definition of the Nexus in the session “A Robust Definition of the Nexus”. Dr. Annette Huber-Lee, a co-principal investigator of Sustain Food at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), also joined this session online which was moderated by and featured renowned scholars in the resource nexus discourse. She reflected on the conceptual evolution of the Nexus since its emergence in 2011.
Based on learnings from the session and insights gathered from over 250 global stakeholder survey responses, the session culminated in a policy brief titled “Redefining the Nexus: From Concept to Coherent Action”. The brief proposes a new definition of the “Resource Nexus” as a systems-based framework that moves beyond the water-energy-food (WEF) triad to incorporate a wider spectrum of environmental and socio-economic interconnections. The definition emphasizes the role of governance, the integration of biophysical and social systems, and the need for inclusive, equity-centered planning. By doing so, the Resource Nexus aims to bridge the gap between high-level ambitions and local realities, offering guidance to policymakers, practitioners, and donors alike.
In addition to contributing to the proposed new definition of the resource nexus, Mr. Virk launched the horizon scan for Nexus research and policy during the session. Looking to the future, the SustainFood Network in collaboration with University of Oulu and NexusNet EU has launched a strategic foresight initiative to explore emerging trends, critical challenges, and frontier questions in Nexus thinking. This effort seeks to identify the 100 most important questions for the future of Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus research and policy. By engaging the Nexus epistemic community in this collective endeavor, the scan will map the
future trajectory of the Nexus approach and establish shared priorities to guide impactful, inclusive, and coordinated action in the years to come
Accelerating Network-to-Network Collaboration
For Prof. Abdullah Konak, one of the Co-PIs of Sustain Food, DNC2025 was a celebration of global connection made tangible. After months of virtual engagement, Prof. Konak met face-to-face with fellow SustainFood collaborators, including Bassel Daher and members of the Belmont Forum Africa Call team.
Prof. Konak also participated in the panel “Systems Approach for Disaster Risk Reduction,” further reinforcing SustainFood’s role in framing WEF Nexus solutions for complex risk environments. He emphasized how network-to-network collaborations fostered by AccelNet evolved into deep, interdisciplinary partnerships capable of addressing sustainability challenges that transcend national and institutional boundaries.
Looking Ahead: A Community in Motion
From foundational debates to applied policy solutions, the SustainFood Network’s contributions at DNC2025 reflected the full spectrum of Nexus thinking rooted in rigorous research, enriched by cross-regional collaboration, and driven by a shared vision of sustainability and resilience. As the Network continues to foster dialogue, build bridges, and shape next-generation solutions, its role as a catalyst for global change is more vital than ever.