Science Diplomacy and the Formation of an Epistemic Community: The Case of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (2011–2022).

Science diplomacy (SD) is increasingly used to encourage international collaboration and produce knowledge for global challenges.This study explores how a twelve-year SD campaign helped shape a scientific community around the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus-a framework linking resource systems for sustainability.By analyzing events, recruitment efforts, and over 1,600 scientific publications, we trace how this community formed, evolved, and interacted with policy agendas.The results show both progress and challenges: growing collaboration and new research directions, but also delays between diplomatic goals and scientific output.The findings offer insights into how SD can support long-