‘Nexus thinking‘- focusing on the interdependencies, tensions and trade-offs between systems, and treating challenges as interconnected rather than separate, is the focus of this year’s Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Annual International Conference on 30 August to Friday 2 September 2016 bringing together over 1600 geographers from around the world. The theme was chosen by Professor of Human Geography and conference Chair, Peter Jackson:

“Nexus thinking has a specific meaning in relation to food, water and energy security but also encourages people to think about connections and networks and think across different scales, domains, sectors and disciplines.”

Nexus thinking and its importance has also been regularly highlighted at our 21st Century Challenges events, including:

Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO discussing how design can help us understand and manage the connections between people and planet as part of the 21st Century Challenges event ‘The Energy-water-food stress Nexus‘ on 5 December 2012.

Professor Tim Jackson,  Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey discussing prosperity without growth.

Explore the Challenges section for more videos and resources.