Education in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: A

Transdisciplinary Community

Cory T. Forbes, Ph.D.Associate Professor and Coordinator, Science Literacy Initiative

Director, Nebraska Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water EducationInstitute for Agriculture and Natural Resources

University of Nebraska – Lincoln

The Challenge

• By 2030, projected world population of 8.3 billion people

• Nearly 1 billion more people in 15 years

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• 50% projected increase by 2100

Food-Energy-Water Nexus

• Interrelationships between food, energy, and water

• 70% freshwater used for irrigation

• 30% global energy used in agriculture

• 7% of global energy used to move water

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Socio-ecological systems

Future Projections

• Global demand for food is expected to increase by 70% by 2050

• Global energy consumption is expected to increase by about 50% by 2035

• Global water demand for the manufacturing industry is expected to increase by 400% from 2000 to 2050

• Urban population of the world is forecast to grow to 6.3 billion people in 2050 from 3.4 billion in 2009

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FEW-Nexus Initiatives

• Many international organizations have emphasized the FEW-Nexus in recent years (UN, FAO, EPA, etc.)

• Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, & Water NSF and USDA-NIFA “Research that enables new means of adapting to future

challenges”

“catalyze well-integrated interdisciplinary and convergent research to transform scientific understanding of the FEW

nexus (integrating all three components rather than addressing them separately)”

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What’s Missing

• Emphasis on FEW education• Particularly PK-16 initiatives to foster STEM learning

and literacy• An opportunity for collaborative, systemic FEW

education efforts situated in the Nexus space• This is the niche we’re attempting to define and

work in

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NCDC231

• National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education

• Multistate Research program (USDA-NIFA)• Wide array of contexts, including K-12 classrooms,

university settings, informal and non-formal learning environments, and in public spaces

• 2-year Planning Committee phase

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NCDC231 Underlying Assumption

The FEW-Nexus affords a novel theoretical and analytical lens through which to both foster and

understand science literacy from ‘cradle to grave’

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NCDC231 Goals

1. Advance programmatic FEW education efforts

2. Serve as a hub for research on FEW education efforts

3. Enhance collaboration around FEW education and education research in the state of Nebraska and beyond

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NCDC231 Vision

• Cultivating a national (international?) network of FEW educators and education researchers

• Transdisciplinary (FEW-Nexus as a discipline)• Synergizing educational programming and

education research on FEW education (design- and discipline-based education research)

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NCDC231 Who are we?

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UNL’s NC-FEW Leadership

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Science Literacy Initiative• Nebraska Collaborative

for Food, Energy, & Water Education

• Cultivating scientific literacy through food, energy, water systems

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NCDC231 Guiding Questions

• What novel theoretical and analytical insights does the FEW-Nexus afford for research and development efforts?

• What are key outcomes for learners?• What programmatic elements of FEW Nexus-based

educational programming efforts are most effective in bringing about these outcomes?

• How do empirical findings help elaborate the FEW Nexus as a theory of learning about natural systems and their human dimensions?

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Current Priorities

• 12 committee members met in April, 2017 Articulation of key principles for NC-FEW Invited symposium with 25 national projects and invited

panel• Engagement with professional communities Presentations and sessions at NACTA, Earth Educators

Rendezvous, NSEC, NAAEE Proposals submitted for others

• Funding proposals for an invited conference

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Next Steps

• A concrete mission statement and set of objectives for a DBER FEW-Nexus network

• Fully-developed plan for a 5-year Multistate Research project proposal (due May, 2018)

• Replicable model of intra-institutional FEW-Nexus team-building strategy

• Dissemination and recruitment plan (identification of and plan of action for engaging with professional communities spanning FEW-Nexus interests)

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Looking further out

• An annual conference• Cultivating small working groups as FEW education

‘innovation hubs’ at partner institutions• Funding staff time for network coordination• Seed grants to institutional working groups• Graduate student funding for multidisciplinary,

intra-institutional assistantships• Faculty time to integrate FEW education methods

and strategies into existing post-secondary courses and other student experiences

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Thank you

Cory T. ForbesAssociate Professor of Science EducationDirector, NE Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water EducationCoordinator, IANR Science Literacy InitiativeUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln523 Hardin Hall, 3310 Holdrege StreetLincoln, NE 68583-0995402.472.7844 (phone) | 402.472.2946 (fax)cory.forbes@unl.eduhttp://www.unl.edu/nc-few/

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