1. www.dafne-project.eu
@dafne_project
DECISION ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK TO EXPLORE THE
WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS IN COMPLEX TRANSBOUNDARY
WATER RESOURCES OF FAST DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
Funded under the H2020 Framework
Programme of the EU, GA No. 690268
A multi-perspective tool to
visualize relationships in the
Food-Water-Energy-Nexus
Prof. Dr Jasminko Novak
European Institute for Participatory Media, Berlin
University of Applied Sciences Stralsund, IACS

2. 2
Transboundary WEF issues in the developing
countries
Omo-Turkana River Basin, Ethiopia
WEF nexus issues and problems
• Large investments in hydropower plants that
can cause problems downstream
• Reduced water quality of Omo river and Lake
Turkana due to irrigation in the basin
• Environmental and cultural conservation
• Deforestation and land degradation
Gibe Dam in Ethiopia, picture from
https://www.wantedinafrica.com/news/ethiopi
a-inaugurates-gibe-iii-dam.html
Omo River Valley, picture from
https://olsonfarlow.com/portfolios/ethiopias-omo-
valley-march-2010-national-geographic-magazine
Zambezi River Basin, Zambia

3. Various stakeholders with conflicting interests
Example: Stakeholder goals in the Omo-Turkana basin
3
Double energy
production and become
exporter of energy
Avoidance of flooding
Sustainable fishing
Food security
Food productivity
Expand irrigation
ENVIRON-
MENT
TOURISM
Stabilization of the
river for navigation
Livelihood and
cultural heritage of
communities
How to contextualise the trade-offs in relation the perspectives of different sectors?

4. 5
3rd NSL
Selected
pathways
2nd NSL
Selection of
interesting
pathways
Preview of
the WEF
model
Review results
of WEF/DAF
models
WEF
WEF
modelWEF model Evaluation of
extended indicators
set and full model
resultsDAF
strategic
model
1st NSL
Efficient
pathways
Development
pathways
Design
indicators
DAF
Indicators
Actions
Screening Multi-perspective Geoportal
+
TOOLS
Online interaction
PROCESS
Scenarios
DAFNE project
Decision-Analytic Framework & Visual tools to explore the WEF nexus

5. 6
3rd NSL
Selected
pathways
2nd NSL
Selection of
interesting
pathways
Preview of
the WEF
model
Review results
of WEF/DAF
models
WEF
WEF
modelWEF model Evaluation of
extended indicators
set and full model
resultsDAF
strategic
model
1st NSL
Efficient
pathways
Development
pathways
Design
indicators
DAF
Indicators
Actions
Screening Multi-perspective Geoportal
+
TOOLS
Online interaction
PROCESS
Scenarios
DAFNE project
Decision-Analytic Framework & Visual tools to explore the WEF nexus
Screening
Visual tools to uncover relationships between different issues, solutions,
indicators & sectors from different perspectives
Multi-perspective

6. Visualizing relationships in the WEF nexus
Multi-perspective visual analysis tool
• How to present trade-offs in the WEF
sector and support comparative analysis
of alternatives for a wide range of
stakeholders?
• How to capture and present different
perspectives (sectors/stakeholders)?
• Perspective making and perspective taking
theory (Boland and Tenkasi 1995)
• Bridging between different worlds of
knowledge and competing interests
• How to make results of scientific models
understandable for non-technical users?
• Reduce information/knowledge asymmetries
7
Participatory design
process with
stakeholders
Analysis of
user needs
Design &
implement
Evaluate

7. Three main use cases
8
1: managing complexity by high-level screening of
relevant solution alternatives
2: understanding the problem space in detail from
one’s own perspective
3: understanding the problem space from other sector’s
perspectives and developing a “shared” understanding
Multi-perspective visual analysis tool

8. 1: Selecting a subset of relevant alternatives
Managing complexity with high-level screening of alternatives
9
• …collectively selecting a subset of
alternatives from a large list based
on few design indicators
representing each sector

9. 1: Selecting a subset of relevant alternatives
10
• …collectively selecting a subset of
alternatives from a large list based
on few design indicators
representing each sector
• … revealing the trade-offs already at
this stage
Managing complexity with high-level screening of alternatives

10. 2: Perspective making
Analysing solutions and defining own preferences
11
Example: trade-off
between the irrigation
agriculture and the impact
on fisheries
- Energy Gibe 1
- Energy Gibe 2
- Energy Gibe 3
- Energy production Gibe 2
- Water deficit for irrigation Kuraz
- Fish yield production Turkana
- Flow positive distance in Omo
- Flow negative distance in Omo
….
Indicators
• …understanding the impact on
indicators specific to a stakeholder
sector
• …exploring the impact of
alternatives on various indicators
and selecting preferred ones
Energy Food Environment

11. 3: Perspective taking
Enabling negotiation between sectors
12
• Getting an understanding of other
sectors’ perspectives and trade-offs
• Developing a shared understanding and
deciding on common preferences
Here one can vividly
see which alternatives
satisfy both sector
perspectives

12. Tools were tested in small group sessions
Stakeholders valued the hands-on experience
• Stakeholders trying out the tools
2
2nd NSL workshop in Lusaka, Zambia in July 2019
“We would like to have more trainings like this” – Stakeholder Zambezi

13. 14
Stakeholders collectively made decisions
Stakeholders from Kenya and Ethiopia viewed the issues from the
perspectives of each other
2nd NSL workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July 2019
“Comparison mode is also very helpful, good visualization, can compare easily,
to make trade-offs, and to have evidence for negotiation” – Stakeholder Omo

14. Tools positively evaluated by the stakeholders
16 stakeholders in Omo-Turkana
15
à Similar evaluation results in the Zambezi basin

15. Further research & challenges
„Common“ ground, understandability and trustworthiness
Multi-perspective approach and tools adaptable to broader range of
multi-stakeholder and/or multi-criteria scenarios
• Providing stakeholders with guidance for the analysis
• Enabling an easy analysis of trade-offs of alternative solutions
• Supporting the definition of preferences and different perspectives
• Facilitating the understanding of perspectives of others
• Reducing information & knowledge asymmetries
Some (ongoing) challenges:
• How to make results trustworthy and more understandable, especially to
non-technical stakeholders?
• How to connect operational WEF indicators to higher level issues
(e.g. SDGs)?
16

16. www.dafne-project.eu
@dafne_project