The Water–Energy–Food (WEF) nexus describes natural resource use in the context of social needs and economic development, addressing food, water, and energy security. Population growth and rising economic prosperity will increase the demand for energy, food, and water in the Mediterranean region, compromising the sustainable use of resources. As governments are required to make decisions in order to cope with increasing demands for resources, this paper performs a review of the legislation and WEF policies, identifying the main political and institutional actors involved and the possible policy (in)coherence in four MED countries located on two continents: Egypt, Italy, Spain, and Tunisia. This choice will allow the identification of the barriers and catalysts influencing the implementation of WEF policies and will improve our understanding of the WEF trade-offs and synergies by exploring them on national, regional, and local scales.

Citizens are increasingly concerned with environmental issues and some of them take contentious political actions or adapt their lifestyles to reduce their environmental footprint. Research finds that there is an eco‐gender gap in everyday environmental behaviours, with women more active than men. However, studies of the eco‐gender gap have infrequently looked at other forms of pro‐environmental political behaviours and focused mostly on young people. We contribute to the literature by examining to what extent older women and men differ in a range of pro‐environmental political behaviours, using a unique dataset based on a survey of individuals 64 years and older. We find strong evidence of a gender gap in everyday behaviours and political consumerism, but not in relation to contentious forms of political participation. This gender gap in relation to everyday behaviours and political consumerism diminishes with age.

Amidst the escalating impact of climate change, the agricultural sector faces the challenge of maintaining productive capacity while conserving increasingly scarce water resources. Modernizing irrigation systems by replacing inefficient open‐channel distribution infrastructures is crucial to address this challenge. Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) offers a valuable tool to assess the effectiveness of such actions, in terms of both financial and socio‐environmental impacts. CBA is also valuable for optimizing the allocation of limited financial resources to the most impactful measures and addressing trade‐offs within the water‐energy‐food (WEF) nexus. This study applies CBA to two modernization projects in the ‘Villalar de los Comuneros’ irrigation district in the Duero River Basin, located in northern Spain. The first project focuses on enhancing energy efficiency by installing a photovoltaic system to power irrigation pumps, while the second promotes climate‐smart agriculture through the use of soil moisture sensors to improve irrigation precision and facilitate the transition to higher value crops. The results of the CBA demonstrate the financial and economic viability of both projects, highlighting the social and environmental benefits generated, and providing policymakers with a valuable framework for guiding similar future interventions.

The present article applies a tripartite conceptualization of precarity–precariousness–precarization to examine the condition of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the basis of 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with UAMs from 5 foster homes in Milan and 3 group interviews with their educators in 2022. By providing a detailed ethnographic account of UAMs’ trajectories, this study distinguishes between the macro-level forces of structural precarity (global inequalities, border regimes governing the entry of UAMs) and the micro-level, individual experience of precariousness (anxiety, necessitated short-termism) produced by processes of precarization, by which we refer to the normalization of insecurity, and the internalization of imperatives of adaptability. These appear evident both in the decision to migrate, with migration being described as a “normal” strategy, and in UAMs’ interaction with the border regime, whose moral economy (imposing a deservingness test to UAMs in order to include them) serves the States’ interests, rather than children’s best interest. This work shows that, on the one hand, the concept of precarization can significantly contribute to migration scholarship—by shedding light on the uncertain agency that individuals can exert amidst the ubiquitous precarity they face along their trajectories—and, on the other hand, the study of UAMs’ migration may add further layers of understanding of precarization dynamics.

Switzerland's federal structure offers a unique context to examine how cantonal integration policies shape citizens' perceptions of migrants. While research has linked integration policies and citizens' attitudes, it often neglects subnational variation. Moreover, dominant theories, like intergroup threat, explain negative perceptions but offer limited tools to overcome them. This paper proposes reflective solidarity as a mechanism: it may emerge in inclusive policy environments, where lower levels of perceived threat make horizontal civic bonds more likely, enabling a shift from exclusionary ‘us vs. them’ framings to a collective ‘we’. In contrast to polarized narratives that reinforce boundaries, this framework underscores how inclusive policies can foster integration and collective belonging. Based on cantonal policy analysis and survey data, this study shows that more inclusive policies are associated with reduced perceptions of both realistic and symbolic threat. Reflective solidarity provides a valuable perspective for understanding how policy can reshape intergroup relations.