The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) partners with Government of Germany to organize the international “Bonn2011 Conference: The Water, Energy, and Food Security Nexus–Solutions for the Green Economy” to be held in Bonn, Germany from 16 to 18 November.

In line with IFPRI’s water research, the goal of the multi-stakeholder conference is to devise solutions to global challenges—from water and energy shortages to population growth and rising economic prosperity—by maximizing the links among water, energy, and food security. The conference will generate specific social, economic, and ecological policies and programs, based on the water-energy-food security nexus. It will focus on how to improve the lives of people at risk, boost economic development, prevent social and geopolitical tensions due to limited natural resources, and protect the environment.

Organized under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, the conference also aims to position water, energy, and food security as crucial components of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012.

IFPRI’s water research program focuses on three areas: [1] ensuring sustainable food production under growing water scarcity, [2] devising governance structures, policies, and institutions for effective water resource management, and [3] identifying links among water management and access and gender and human health.

“IFPRI’s water research program is unique in that it assesses water supply and demand together with food outcomes, nonagricultural water demands, and environmental outcomes at the local, basin, national, and global levels. It works across disciplines and with strong partners to deliver documented policy impact,” said IFPRI senior researcher Claudia Ringler, who leads IFPRI’s water research.

Conference attendees will include 500 high-ranking decisionmakers and decision-shapers from the spheres of politics, academia, the United Nations, civil society, and the private sector. Keynote speeches, plenary sessions, workshops, and cross-sectoral dialogues are all geared toward the creation of concrete solutions that lead to real, sustainable impacts.