The Local Nexus Network

Building sustainable local nexuses of food, energy and water: from smart engineering to shared prosperity.

Dr Laura Purvis, CAMSAC researcher at Cardiff Business School, has been awarded a grant from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to carry out research as part of a Local Nexus Network on Re-Distributed Manufacturing.

The Local Nexus Network is one of the six 24-month scoping research projects on Re-Distributed Manufacturing funded by the EPSRC and the ESRC which started in early 2015. Local nexuses refers to the connection between more localised food systems and decentralised energy and water supply.

The LNN focuses on the development of local nexuses of food manufacturing with energy and water supply. These connections may provide opportunities for modifying resource utilisation, production, and consumption to meet the services required within a local context.

They may also contribute to the shared prosperity between business and community and between human society and natural ecosystems. This represents a complex and significant transition, which requires “smart” engineering (smaller scale technologies, integrated processes), and driving forces from businesses, communities and policy makers, to turn the potential of local nexuses into an economic and social reality.

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