(Re)Connect the Nexus: Young Brazilians' experiences of and learning about food-water-energy

Recent research about the food-water-energy nexus has tended to focus on flows (e.g. between producers and consumers) and ways of governing the nexus. However, there is a real need to examine how people (especially young people) understand, learn about and participate in the nexus, in their everyday lives. Only by doing so can we address crucial concerns - such as persistently high levels of poverty amongst Brazil's children, their unequal access to nexus resources, their resilience to nexus threats, and the role of education in addressing the those threats in the future. In Brazil, as in similar countries, young people are a hugely important group, demographically and socially. In Brazil, young people (aged 0-24) make up 42% of the population. Moreover, we already know that in diverse global contexts, young people are instrumental in terms of securing access to resources (including nexus resources), economic productivity, societal resilience, and community life. In addition, young people are often the main recipients of education programmes - especially Education for Sustainability (EfS) - that attempt to address nexus threats and sustainable development goals. However, there is scant research - either in Brazil or globally - that focuses on young people and their interactions with the nexus. This unique, collaborative research will address these important gaps.

This project's main aim is to examine young people's (aged 10-24) understandings, experiences and participation in the nexus in Brazil. It focuses on this age group as older children/young adults are a key target group for EfS, and research shows that they are likely to have greater capacities for reflection on the nexus than younger children. In achieving this aim, the project will address three core research questions (with several sub-questions).

1: What are young people's (aged 10-24) understandings, experiences and participation in the nexus in Brazil?

Focussing on the Metropolitan Region of Paraiba do Sul River Basin and Sao Paulo State North Shore (Sao Paulo State) as a case study, how do these experiences vary in terms of young people's diverse geographical (urban, suburban, rural) and socio-economic positioning (focussing on age, gender, class and ethnicity )? Amidst the complexities of the food-water-energy nexus, what are the key priorities for young people, their families and communities? How are young people included or (not) in accessing parts of the nexus?

2: What is the role of '(re)connection' in young people's engagements with the nexus?

What are the everyday choices that young people - with adult others - must make in, for instance, choosing between the food, water or energy that fuel their bodies, homes and public services? What does it mean for young people to have 'closer' or more 'distant' connections with food in a Brazilian context - and does the principle of 'reconnection', so important to EfS and other programmes for sustainable development have salience there? To what extent do young people's experiences challenge (perhaps Minority World) assumptions about what constitutes 'food', 'water' and 'energy'?

3: How does EfS in Brazil address the nexus?

Given that EfS is present, but not compulsory, in Brazil's National Education Plan, to what extent does learning about the nexus currently support young people's understandings of food-water-energy? How can EfS in Brazil be developed to support greater societal resilience against nexus threats?

The research questions will be addressed by producing both a baseline survey of ca. 5,000 young people and detailed, multi-method, qualitative research with 100 young people. The project will be undertaken by an established, inter-disciplinary team of UK and Brazilian social scientists and engineers, building on the work of a Newton Research Partnerships Grant. Such collaboration is vital to achieving a step-change in research and societal impacts on (young) people and the nexus.

As detailed in 'Pathways to Impact', a major programme of impacts, outputs and user-involvement activities is a core, scheduled element of the proposed project. Key beneficiaries of the project shall be as follows.

1. Community groups, policy-makers, engineers and practitioners in Sao Paulo state working on the food-water-energy nexus.

Clear routes to national/regional impacts are in place via the Brazilian team's partners in the water/energy/food sector (e.g. Paraiba do Sul River Basin State/National Committees, Committee of Mantiqueira Range Watersheds, Committee of São Paulo State North Shore Watersheds). Community participatory workshops are a key element of the project, bringing together working groups of local residents (young people & adults) and professional stakeholders to make recommendations on addressing specific local issues relating to the nexus. Bespoke briefing papers, drawing on project data and workshops, will support policy-makers and practitioners leading food-water-energy projects to address access inequalities through social, educational and (where applicable) engineering programmes.

2. Brazilian regional and national agencies engaged in work relating to the nexus.

Impacts will be assured via ongoing engagement with expert reference groups, with representation from agencies (e.g. Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) with whom the project team have strong, established links from recent projects. A programme of impact workshops, shall engage key agencies in networking, mutual learning and partnership-building activities in relation to project activities. Members of the project team shall also provide bespoke evaluative evidence and support for public, private and third sector organisations engaged through the project. We will target groups where such activity is likely to produce meaningful impacts in terms of self-evaluation, changing organisational practices, enhanced effectiveness of services, enhanced user engagement, or longer-term enhancement of skills and capacities of personnel/organisations (all as per ODA relevance). Briefing notes, good practice guides and portfolios of evidence shall also be made available, in English/Portuguese, via the project website (where they will be available beyond the project's duration).

3. International communities of practitioners and students engaged in Education for Sustainability (EfS) activities in diverse formal/informal educational settings.

In collaboration with UK and Brazilian Education experts, the project shall produce a range of open access multimedia/online evidence-based L&T/curriculum and guidance materials - in Portuguese/English - for use in diverse EfS contexts, which will support educators in enhancing awareness about food-water-energy, encouraging pro-environmental behaviours, and educating the next generations of policy-makers/practitioners tasked with addressing nexus threats in different global contexts. Through a media campaign, the international Nexus Olympics event shall serve as an awareness-raising exemplar of intercultural EfS, designed to engage educators and young people with nexus issues.

4. International communities of stakeholders in food-water-energy sectors.

International impacts will be facilitated via engagement with the project's international advisory group. In particular, note that outputs/benefits from the project shall be transferred to other OECD priority areas via existing links with Fundación Avina (NGO for sustainable development in Latin America). A range of evidence-based open-access training materials and resource packs - published in Portuguese and English - shall be made available via the project website. These resources shall be designed for stakeholders, educators, engineers, local/national policy-makers and community groups to support, evidence and enhance their policy/practice in relation to the food-water-energy nexus.