Mission
Advance the Nexus Approach to the integrated management of environmental resources through research, dialogue, and capacity development.
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Dresden Nexus Community
A community for nexus thinking.
Since 2015, the Dresden Nexus Community has convened researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to advance the integrated management of water, soil, and waste — and to turn that thinking into action.
The Nexus Approach
Resources, connected.
The Dresden Nexus Conference (DNC), since its inception in 2015, creates dialogue on nexus thinking that fosters research and capacity-development activities in the sustainable and integrated management of water, soil, and waste. The addition of waste as a resource makes DNC unique among other recent nexus discussions.
Furthering nexus thinking requires looking in-depth not only at the sciences, but also at the science–policy interface, implementation, monitoring, and real-world cases. This means modelling at various spatiotemporal scales, applying management strategies under different governance contexts, and dealing with the trade-offs between ecosystem functions and services to integrate the role of institutions in policy and decision making.
To accomplish this, DNC brings together experts from sciences and practice as well as decision- and policy-makers from universities, United Nations agencies, governmental ministries, the private sector, and civil society from around the world.
What guides us
Mission · Vision · Values
Vision
A world where resource management decisions are taken in full awareness of the connections between water, soil, waste, energy and food — in service of the SDGs.
Values
Interdisciplinarity, integrity, inclusion, and a commitment to translating science into actionable policy at every scale.
Our story
A decade of nexus thinking.
2015 · DNC2015
The first Dresden Nexus Conference
UNU-FLORES, TU Dresden, and IOER convene the inaugural DNC in Dresden — establishing a forum for the Water–Soil–Waste nexus and producing the first State of the Nexus Approach report.
2017 · DNC2017
SDGs & Multifunctional Land-use
400+ international experts gather in Dresden to debate Multifunctional Land-Use Systems and Resource Management in Resilient Cities.
2020 · eDNC2020
Circular Economy in a Sustainable Society
The pandemic pivots DNC2020 to a fully virtual format — five keynotes, thirteen sessions, the PRISMA Award, and the inaugural DNC Declaration.
2025 · DNC2025
The Future of Resources
Returning in person to the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden with participants from over 75 countries, and the launch of Business Meets Science.
2027 · DNC2027 — Mediterranean Edition
Source-to-Sea Continuum
For the first time outside Germany — Sant Pau, Barcelona — joined by ICRA and UPC alongside the three founding institutions.
11
Years of nexus dialogue
5
Editions delivered
75+
Countries represented
2,000+
Researchers convened
Convened by
Three institutions, one community.
EMEA
EMEA promotes economic research, policy dialogue and regional cooperation to support sustainable development, green transitions and shared prosperity across the Euro-Mediterranean region
IOER
Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development — research on sustainable development of cities and regions.
PRIMA
PRIMA Foundation brings together research, innovation and regional cooperation to advance integrated Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus solutions across the Mediterranean
Recognition
Endorsed in Saxony and beyond.
UNU @ 50
EKU Preisträger 2021
SMEKUL
Join the community.
Become part of a global network advancing the Nexus Approach. Or get in touch — we’re always happy to hear from researchers, policymakers and practitioners.