Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Dipak Gyawali, former Minister of
Water Resources, Nepal stated that “at the level of a farmer,
everything including energy, food and water” are a nexus. “Nexus
Nirvana or Nexus Nullity: A dynamic approach to security and
sustainability in the water-energy-food nexus” was the theme of his
keynote which addressed issues of scarcity, sustainability and
security. Citing the example of the Kulekhani reservoir in the
Himalayas, Mr. Gyawali mentioned how a cloudburst filled up a large
percentage of the storage capacity causing a flood, though the river
was averaging only 60 per cent of its monthly flow. Traversing the path
of development narratives from critical thresholds to tipping points
and planetary boundaries, Gyawali cited instance of pluralistic
approaches in development.
Dr. Erik Kemp-Benedict, Director, Stockholm Environment Institute
(Asia), delved on the complex issues in the dynamic environment in the
Ayeyarwady basin with a focus on the Chindwin tributary. He remarked
that Ayeyarwady is one of the least developed basins with conflicting
uses of navigation, hydropower, irrigation and fisheries having
multiple impacts. Dr. Surachai Sathitkunarat, Executive Director, APEC
Center for Technology Foresight, and Director, Energy and Environment
Department, National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office,
Thailand, spoke on the issue of “Water-Energy-Food Foresight for
Sustainable Economic Development and Eco-Resilience in ASEAN
Countries.” Dr. Michel van der Valk, Scientific Secretary of the
Netherlands National Committee, IHP-HWRP, The Netherlands provided a
European view of the water nexus.
Other prominent speakers who participated in the two-day international
workshop included Dr. Anthony Watanabe, Managing Director, Asia Clean
Innovations; Prof. Raffaele Zanoli, Department of Agricultural, Food
and Environmental Sciences – Università Politecnicadelle Marche, Italy;
Dr. Sirintornthep Towprayoon, Director, The Joint Graduate School of
Energy and Environment, Center of Excellence on Energy Technology and
Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi,
Thailand; Dr. Thomas Hennig, Scientific Assistant, Philipps-Universität
Marburg, Faculty of Geography, Germany; Prof. Mukand S. Babel, AIT; Dr.
Shobhakar Dhakal, AIT; Dr. Hezri Adnan, Program Director Technology,
Innovation, Environment & Sustainability (TIES), Institute of
Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia; Dr Antonio
Loporto , Researcher, RSA-CNR - Water Research Institute, Italy; Dr.
Antonio Acedo, Postharvest Specialist AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center
South Asia Regional Office ICRISAT campus, India; Dr. Nguyen Mai Dang –
Thuyloi University – Hanoi, Vietnam; and Dr. Adrian Wing-Keung,
Associate Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
Dr Sangam Shrestha of AIT welcomed the delegates, while Dr. Anil Kumar
Anal briefed the participants about the SEA-EU-NET program. Dr. Sangam,
Dr. Anil and Dr. Abdul Salam of AIT are the three principal
investigators in this project. This is the second in the series of
two-day expert workshops organized under the project. The previous
workshop titled “Managing Water Resources under Climate Uncertainty:
Challenges and Opportunities” was held on 17-18 October 2013.
