Food, Energy and Water management innovation in Doha: a design-led nexus approach

Abstract

Urban communities are affected by population growth, urbanization and climate change, thus being vulnerable to food, energy and water demand. According to the United Nations, the world's population is expected to increase by 2 billion people in the next 30 years and 68% of them are projected to live in urban areas by then. At the same time, 1/3 of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets lost or wasted and still, 795 million people worldwide are malnourished. A sustainable Food, Energy, Water and Waste Nexus is urgent. The Moveable Nexus Project is aiming to give a solution to the FEW Nexus through urban design methods and agricultural practices by practicing the design method, the evaluation effect and the participation. The design method will be practiced through design charrettes and international workshops and the evaluation will be realized by a Food, Energy & Water consumption environmental footprint calculator. Finally, the participation phase will engage the stakeholders and the community at the Doha Living Lab. The Doha Living Lab will quantify the urban FEWW-fluxes through urban agriculture and will try to achieve sustainability in terms of food production, new crops and new production technology, water management, organic waste management, reuse and recycle. The Living Lab will also assess the needs of the community and the involved stakeholders, by engaging them in every process thus enhancing resilience among people and agri-food systems.