31.05.2024 – SDGnexus Network: May Highlights

Ongoing Call for Abstracts: Water Security and Climate Change Conference 2024

The Water Security and Climate Change Conference (WSCC24) will be held on October 09 – 11, 2024, at Justus Liebig University in Gießen, Germany. An annual event since 2016, the WSCC conference has become a notable academic platform for scientific, technical, and policy-oriented discourses and discussions. 

This year's conference topic, "Water Management for Urban-Rural Resilience," aims to explore how to ensure sustainable water supplies for both growing cities and the rural areas that support them, framed by three conference themes:

1. Integrated Urban-Rural Water Management
2. Agriculture and Resource-Use Transformation along the Urban-Rural Continuum
3. From Data to Decision: Building a Sustainable Water Future

The abstract submission deadline is June 15, 2024.

The "Call for Abstracts" document provides detailed guidelines and instructions for abstract submission. Further information can also be found on the conference webpage:
www.uni-giessen.de/wscc

Research Paper: Alternative pathways for green hydrogen economy: the case of Colombia

Nadia Catalina Combariza Diaz published an article in the Journal of Contemporary Social Science titled “Alternative pathways for green hydrogen economy: the case of Colombia”. For more insights, read the article here.

Abstract

With the escalating urgency of addressing climate change and the surge of a pro-environmental discourse during the last three to four decades, the international imperative of low-carbon societies voiced in the Paris Agreement and reiterated in the parties’ conferences call for ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems’ has gained traction. However, it remains unclear to what extent this imperative addresses the entrenched extractivist and rentier practices that underpin today's carbon-intensive economy. This article turns the case of green hydrogen, often hailed as the fuel of the future, to discern whether current actions are enabling a ‘just transition’ towards the same mode of natural resource exploitation, or one that seeks to overcome the extractivist and rentier dynamics. Taking a case study of Colombia, where debates surrounding hydrogen development swirl around what could be seen as a continuity of extractivism and a more reindustrialization-oriented trajectory, this study examines some of the possible conditions that just transitions would have to comply with if they are to overcome both fossil fuel dependence and the politico-economic behaviours that have turned swathes of Global South countries into natural resource repositories.

Participation at the SDSN Kazakhstan Conference

Researchers of the SDG^nexus Network participated at the second SDSN Kazakhstan Conference, held on May 13-14, 2024, at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan. This year's conference topic was “Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across sectors in Central Asia”. Dr. Aliya Assubayeva and Dr. Gulnara Dzhunushalieva presented in the session on SDG Monitoring, Implementation, and Challenges with the following research topics:

• Navigating Agenda 2030: Evaluating Kyrgyz Republic's Strategic Landscape for Achieving SDGs by Dr. Gulnara Dzhunushalieva, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Central Asia (UCA), Kyrgyz Republic
• Exploring SDG Synergies and Tradeoffs: Methodological Insights by Dr. Aliya Assubayeva and Dr. Jorge Marco Renau, Centre for International Development and Environmental Research, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany

Read more about the conference here.

Mini-Symposium with Master’s Students from the University of Cuenca

On May 14, a small symposium was held during an academic visit by Master's students in Hydrology from the University of Cuenca at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Justus Liebig University Gießen. Thirteen students presented on topics such as satellite imagery, machine learning, eco-hydrology, tracers, and sustainability in hydrology, with an opening speech by Prof. Dr. Lutz Breuer.

Networking Workshop on Water Governance Research in Central Asia

The SDG^nexus Network hosted a workshop on water governance research in Central Asia on May 14-15 in Gießen, Germany, co-organized with the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). The workshop consisted of several sessions, including the global discourse on water governance, recent water governance reforms in Central Asia, the role of higher education institutions, interactions of research and policy stakeholders, and the next steps in water governance research.  Distinguished researchers from Germany and Central Asia contributed their insights, enriching discussions and fostering exchanges.

Read more about the workshop here.