The Collaborative Learning School (CLS) is a field workshop led by U.S. and African scientists and practitioners as a part of SustainFood. The CLS connects participants with farmers, policymakers, and other stakeholders at the community level to assess food security challenges and identify innovative solutions using the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus framework. The workshop takes place over a two-week period and involves both community-scale and policy-scale modeling and analysis around a community-identified water-energy-food (WEF) nexus problem. The goal of the CLS is to foster collaboration, co-creation, and inclusivity among scientists, community partners, and policymakers. Participants in the CLS will take an active role in these experiences, gaining practical knowledge from exercises that have set objectives and are targeted to benefit stakeholders served by the partnering networks.

The specific objectives of the CLS are to:

• Understand the complex nature of the food security challenges faced by communities.
• Introduce practical methods for applying WEF nexus tools and methods to enhance food security at the community scale.
• Design practical solutions which the community can implement or advocate for, and which may be supported by policy at larger scales.