Latest News & Upcoming Events

Don't miss out on the 2019 Summer School!

"Complex sustainability challenges: The nexus between water, energy and food" is the title of the forthcoming 2019 edition of the Summer School. The event will take place from 8-12 July 2019 at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain, and is co-organized by LIPHE4 and the Horizon2020 project "Moving Towards Adaptive Governance in Complexity: Informing Nexus Security" (MAGIC). The purpose of the Summer School is to familiarize the participants with the theory and applications of Multi-scale Integrated Analysis of Society and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) and Quantitative Story-Telling (QST). We will illustrate the use of MuSIASEM to carry out relational analysis (nexus approach) of the metabolic pattern of social-ecological systems across different dimensions and scales of analysis in relation to complex sustainability problems dealt with in MAGIC. More details on course content and registration here.

The 2018 edition of the LIPHE4 Summer School is a fact!

The 2018 edition of the Summer School took place from 2-6 July at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Under the theme Can Cities Be Sustainable? Novel tools to explore urban metabolism, the course covered: (i) accounting of water, energy, food and waste flows in relation to land uses and human activity (MuSIASEM); (ii) construction of a multi-level end-use matrix; (iii) relational analysis (resource nexus approach) applied to the metabolic pattern of urban systems; (iv) the role of externalization in sustaining urban metabolism. The course was co-organized by LIPHE4, the ENVIROSPACE Lab of the University of Geneva and ICTA-UAB. More details on course content.

2017 sees another edition of the LIPHE4 Summer School

The 2017 edition of the LIPHE4 Summer School took place from 10-14 July at the Botanical Garden of Naples, Italy, and was organized by LIPHE4 in collaboration with ICTA-UAB and the Dept of Biology of the University of Naples Federico II. The focus was on: A Critical Appraisal of Current Narratives of Sustainability through Quantitative Storytelling (more details on course content). The summer school counted with 24 professionals and students from Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Colombia.

11-15 July 2016: Another successful edition of the LIPHE4 Summer School!

Thirty-two students and professionals participated in the 2016 edition of the LIPHE4 Summer School that took place from 11-15 July 2016 on the UAB Bellaterra Campus, Barcelona, Spain. The Summer School was organized in collaboration with the IASTE research group of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and focused on The Nexus between Food, Energy, Water and Land-use: Quantitative Storytelling with MuSIASEM. 

13-24 July 2015: Summer School on Nexus & MuSIASEM at IAEN, Quito, Ecuador

From 13 to 24 July 2015, about 30 professionals participated in the Summer School: "Análisis del Nexo Entre el Uso del Suelo, el Agua, la Energía, los Alimentos, y la Población para el Diseño de Políticas Públicas" at the Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales (IAEN), Quito, Ecuador. The course focused on: (1) demonstrating the need for a nexus analysis between land use, water, energy, food production and its relationship with population dynamics; (2) providing the basis of the Multi-scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to carry out this type of analysis; (3) application of this knowledge to selected case studies to provide the student with the tools to develop new proposals for sustainable development. More details and photos here.

November 2014: LIPHE4 at Workshop on Water-Food-Energy Nexus 

LIPHE4, represented by Cristina Madrid, participated in the Workshop “The water-food-energy nexus in the context of the post-2015 agenda – From the conceptual framework to practical applications” in Madrid on 27 November 2014. The workshop was organized by ONGAWA in collaboration with the General Secretariat for International Development Cooperation (SGCID) of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Consult the program and report on the outcomes of the Workshop for more details.

8-10 September 2014: MuSIASEM Training and Discussion Days, UPC Terrassa

Three days of training in the theory and applications of Multi-scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) took place in September 2014 at the Escola d’Enginyeria in Terrassa, Spain. The event was organized in collaboration with the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and the Sustainability Measurement and Modeling Lab (SUMMLAB) and UNESCO Chair in Sustainability (CUS) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, with the aim to strengthen collaboration between participating institutions.

28 April—16 May 2014: NETEP Summer School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 

In the context of the European-Brazilian Network on Energy Planning (NETEP), an ad-hoc summer school was organized in Rio de Janeiro, entitled An innovative approach to energy analysis: Multi-scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM). The Summer School took place from 28 April through 16 May 2014 at The Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE) of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

March 2014: SENPLADES Team takes Training Course in MuSIASEM

The Ecuadorian Secretariat for Planning and Development (SENPLADES) sent a team of 16 experts to Barcelona to take part in an intensive training course in MuSIASEM organized by LIPHE4. The course was aimed at strengthening human and institutional capacities in designing and evaluating future development scenarios within the context of the National Plan for Good Living. The course took place from 10 to 21 March 2014 at the UAB Campus Barcelona (Casa de Convalescència).

New Book Out June 2014

Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: The Nexus between Energy, Food, Water and Land Use

Edited by Mario Giampietro, Richard J. Aspinall, Jesus Ramos-Martin and Sandra G.F. Bukkens

Routledge, 2014

Ordering Information — Flyer (with discount information)

Exploring the NEXUS between Land, Water, Food, Energy, and Population

During 2013, LIPHE4 worked with FAO on the extension of the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach as a general accounting framework to assess the nexus between land, water, food, and energy. The study was organized around three case studies: Alternative options to current sugarcane cultivation for export in Mauritius; Future prospects of grain production in the Indian state of Punjab; Alternative energy sources to produce electricity in South Africa. See our dedicated website for more details.