Dynamic Integration of the Water‐Energy‐Food‐Ecosystem Nexus: A Framework for Sustainable Resource Governance

The sustainable management of water, energy, food, and ecosystem resources is a pressing global challenge, particularly in developing countries. While the WEFE nexus provides a holistic framework for addressing interconnected resource challenges, its implementation is often constrained by institutional barriers, policy fragmentation, and operational inefficiencies. This study systematically analyzes WEFE literature from 2000 to 2024, revealing three crucial insights: first, nexus approaches have significantly evolved beyond bilateral interactions to embrace systemic complexity, demonstrating how multi‐level governance structures and cross‐scale coordination enable successful integration; second, effective integration can be achieved through targeted institutional innovations, specifically boundary‐spanning units and knowledge‐action networks that operate strategically within existing governance structures without requiring extensive institutional restructuring; and third, sustainable resource management fundamentally depends on developing what we term “dynamic integration capacity,” a novel conceptual mechanism that can enable governance systems to adaptively respond to evolving socio‐environmental conditions while maintaining institutional coherence. Building on these insights, we develop the Dynamic WEFE Integration Framework that reconceptualizes integration as an adaptive process rather than a static arrangement. The framework introduces self‐reinforcing feedback loops that connect governance, policy, knowledge, and operational pathways, and deploys the concept of “scalar resonance” to generate synergistic interventions across different scales. This framework transcends existing approaches by providing targeted mechanisms for enhancing resource governance in resource‐constrained environments, demonstrating how policymakers can simultaneously achieve effective resource integration and advance multiple SDGs.