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The "Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystems" nexus, the so-called "WEFE Nexus" assumes significant attention as water supply difficulties, energy supply reliability, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, and widespread pollution constitute some of the most significant challenges in the Mediterranean area, and in particular areas with arid or semi-arid climate.

The challenges facing this region will need to be accompanied by robust social support policies for the most vulnerable populations ("leave no one behind").

The course "Water - Energy - Food - Ecosystems - Cities - Health (WEFECH)" wishes to respond to the training needs of the new concept of "one health", even as it evolves toward "planetary health" that includes the principles of sustainability and circularity to safeguard the "spaceship earth" and its "passengers."

The course, sponsored by CSTE, aims to implement and attain knowledge on the WEFECH nexus, an innovative approach that analyzes interrelationships, synergies and trade-offs between water, energy, food, cities and health, geared toward achieving the SDGs of Agenda 2030.
Below are the details of the training offerings for a total of 28 h of assisted teaching (topics/hours):

1. Sustainable Development Goals (6h)
The UN 2030 Agenda and the SDGs (2h)
The ecological and energy transition (2h)
Different consumption styles from the postwar period to the present (2h)

2. Sustainable Food: cities, energy, water, resources and waste (10h)
Urban and rural population trends and food needs (2h)
Circular management of agri-food waste (2h)
Food with low environmental impact (2h)
Water footprint of food and virtual water trade (2h)
Food production and biodiversity advocacy (2h)

3. Health and Wellness (6h)
SDG3: health, society and environment (4h)
Nutrition and health (2h)

4. Sustainable cities and communities (6h)
SDG11: targets. Definitions, characteristics, application (2h)
Direct civil society participatory approaches to urban planning. Techniques and applications (4h)

Learners are expected to acquire:

• Autonomy of judgment, i.e., ability to evaluate the implications and results of studies aimed at clarifying the operation of cross-sectoral operational strategies in the context of environmental, social and economic sustainability of food.
• Communication skills, i.e., ability to use the language of the information delivered, to interact with various professionals in the field and/or non-expert audiences/audience.
• Learning capacity, i.e., ability to keep up to date scientifically proper to the field in order to avoid obsolescence of acquired skills.