1. What is IIASA?
An introduction to the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

2. Global challenges
By 2030, the world’s population will have increased by one billion (IIASA)
Global temperature change is likely to exceed 1.5°C by the end of the century (IPCC)
2.5 billion people are without access to modern energy (IIASA/GEA)
783 million people have inadequate access to safe freshwater (WHO & UNICEF)
835 million people are still living in extreme poverty (UN SDGs)
Our world is changing at an unprecedented rate. The challenges of rapid globalization, radical shifts in economic and political power, pressing environmental problems, and geopolitical conflicts require a global transformation. IIASA is uniquely positioned to respond to these challenges. As a leader in applied systems analysis, the institute is able to integrate natural, social, and economic systems to produce independent, interdisciplinary research into real-world problems. The institute’s collaborations with research institutions and policymakers around the world ensures the highest quality, most relevant science.

3. Systems analysis is one of the few tools available to study global challenges in an integrated, interdisciplinary, and international way. It finds solutions that are independent, long term and explores the trade-offs of the solutions.

4. Mission
To provide insight and guidance to policymakers worldwide by finding solutions to global and universal problems through applied systems analysis in order to improve human and social wellbeing and to protect the environment.

5. Research framework
The previous IIASA research framework was divided into problem areas (e.g., energy and climate) and their drivers (e.g., economic and population growth) and impacts (e.g., environmental degradation). However, problems, drivers, and impacts are closely related elements of systems analysis, and advances in scientific understanding have shown that integrating drivers and impacts can give insights into innovative new solutions.
This framework provides both the foundation for the institute’s research direction over the next five years and the necessary flexibility to modify IIASA activities to accommodate changing scientific or policy priorities. For more information see the IIASA Research Plan

6. IIASA research programs
Within this general framework, IIASA’s strategic research focus areas can be represented by this figure. The outer circles represent IIASA’s current nine Research Programs and the inner circle represents IIASA’s integrated research activities, such as the Future Initiatives and crosscutting projects. Importantly the diagram shows how each of the Research Programs intersect and contribute to these integrated projects, which are a significantly increasing focus of IIASA’s research portfolio.
The selection of these research areas was motivated by the following criteria:
Importance of the research area to the global agenda;
NMO interest in identifying solutions to the problem; and
IIASA’s capabilities to conduct research to identify and assess policy options.
 These research areas are clearly very important to many national governments and international organizations around the world. IIASA is uniquely able to bring this set of issues to a focus in a single international, interdisciplinary research institution. One of the most significant advantages of IIASA is this ability to build interdisciplinary teams to undertake research at the intersections of these research areas, such as the nexus between food, energy, water, population, climate, and land use, all within a science-to-policy framework. This is a truly unique position among international research institutes. Full descriptions and research outlooks for each these research areas and activities are provided in the research plan.

7. Major research initiatives at the intersection of global issues
Large-scale initiatives:
The World in 2050 (TWI2050)
Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (ISWEL)
Futures initiatives:
Arctic Futures Initiative
Eurasian Economic Integration
Tropical Futures Initiative
Water Futures and Solutions
Cross-cutting projects:
Equitable governance of common goods
Dynamic vegetation models
Socioeconomic heterogeneity in model applications
Systemic risk and networks dynamics
IIASA has multiple major research initiatives that are designed to work at the intersection of global issues, in addition to internally funded, methodology-focused projects that cut across several disciplines.
The large-scale integrated projects supporting major global transformations include
The World in 2050 (TWI2050)
TWI2050 is an initiative that develops integrated pathways for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (IS-WEL)
The IS-WEL partnership aims to develop an assessment framework for informing decision-making regarding the sustainable development of water, energy, and land resources at urban, regional, and global scales.
The IIASA futures initiatives are cross-sectoral projects designed to explore plausible futures for a number of the world’s rapidly changing regions and resources.
The Arctic Futures Initiative works collaboratively with key Arctic institutions and organizations to bring together affiliated stakeholders to support an integrated, “end to end” science to decision-making framework.
The Challenges and Opportunities of Economic Integration within a Wider European and Eurasian Space Initiative aims to discuss and analyze critical issues of economic cooperation between the EU, Eurasian Economic Union, and their neighbors, extending, where relevant, to the USA as well as the key Asian players, such as China, India, Japan, and Korea.
The Tropical Futures Initiative (TFI) aims to tackle tropical deforestation through policy assessment and capacity building.
Water Futures and Solutions applies systems analysis to help identify water policies and management practices that work together consistently across scales and sectors.
IIASA also has a number of internally funded, methodology-focused projects which examine unaddressed research challenges that require an integrated and interdisciplinary expertise and focus.
These include: dynamic vegetation models: the next generation; Socioeconomic Heterogeneity in Model Applications: and Systemic Risk and Network Dynamics.

8. How IIASA delivers impact
Governance
Large-scale integrated projects supporting major global transformations
Community services
Cross-cutting
research
Science to policy
Science diplomacy
Core
research
Capacity development
and training
How IIASA delivers impact
Building on its strengths, and within its overall research framework, IIASA delivers impact globally and to its National Member countries by helping them to:
Better understand and find solutions to the complex global systems that are integrally connected to and impinge on a member country’s economy, environment, government, and society through the application of systems analysis;
Develop the research and science-to-policy base for system analytical approaches in a member country through international scientific collaborations and capacity development and training activities; and
Establish new multilateral scientific relationships that contribute to a country’s soft power through science diplomacy and scientific input to international negotiations.
The Institute achieves this impact primarily by:
Undertaking large-scale, multi-year integrated projects, spanning all IIASA’s activities to analyze the major global transformations;
Undertaking and publishing world-class internationally recognized scientific research, through its core research programs, crosscutting activities and international networks;
Undertaking small-scale exploratory projects around emerging research and policy trends;
Developing new methodologies in systems approaches, not only in research but also in how that research is delivered both to policy advisors and other stakeholders (private sector, civil society);
Working in partnership with policy and decision makers, globally, regionally and nationally, to translate this research into robust plausible policy options for implementation;
Building global capacity in systems analysis and IIASA’s methodologies and tools.
Thus, IIASA’s approach encompasses the full value chain and path to impact from problem identification and exploration, through model and tool development and application, data analysis, and capacity development, to the identification of possible policy options and solutions for decision makers.
In addition, IIASA provides a service to the global scientific community through hosting and maintaining a number of databases and models used by scientists and policy makers globally, e.g., IPCC, and plays an important role in science diplomacy, using science to ‘build bridges’ across increasingly complex political divides. All of IIASA’s activities are supported by the Institute’s administration, infrastructure, and services and overseen through its various governance mechanisms.
Exploratory projects
New methodologies in systems approaches
Administration, infrastructure, and services

9. Working at the heart of IPCC reports
IIASA has a long history of providing expertise to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports
IIASA researchers were integrally involved in the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC
IIASA hosts the 1.5 Degree Scenario Explorer used by the Special Report authors to explore the benefits and trade-offs of climate change mitigation options
IIASA scientists invited to contribute to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report:
Physical Science basis
Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability
Mitigation of climate change
IIASA also serves as the repository for two additional IPCC databases
Examples of the way IIASA research has had impact across the globe are easy to find. Here are just a few:
IIASA has a long history of providing expertise for every IPCC report, including the most recent Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC which highlights the strong benefits to humanity and ecosystems of keeping global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, rather than 2°C.
Multiple IIASA researchers were integrally involved in the development of the Special Report on Global warming of 1.5ºC and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)—four greenhouse gas concentration trajectories that provide the foundation for the climate modeling and research used in the report; and the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)—five possible paths human societies could follow over the next century. More than 6,000 scientific references were cited in the report. Writing the report involved 91 authors from 40 countries and 133 contributing authors, 12 of whom are from IIASA. In support of the IPCC assessment, IIASA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Integrated Assessment Modeling Consortium (IAMC) and the IPCC Working Group III to develop and host the IAMC Scenario Explorer, a database of emissions pathways which critically underpin the conclusions of the Special Report. 
IIASA scientists have been invited to contribute to the next IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). The report will be a comprehensive assessment of the science related to climate change and will inform policymakers, international climate negotiators and other stakeholders around the world. Three Working Groups have been set up to compile the report. Working Group I is responsible for the physical science basis, Working Group II looks at impacts, adaptation and vulnerability and Working Group III covers mitigation of climate change.
In addition to this, IIASA serves as the repository for two additional IPCC databases.

10. Reducing air pollution worldwide
Air pollution is a global problem causing million premature deaths each year.
The IIASA GAINS model provides an independent resource to inform successful and cost-effective policies. The model has global coverage, with regional versions available for South Asia and China.
European air pollution has improved substantially since the 1980’s due to effective policies such as the European Clean Air Policy and the EU Climate and Energy Strategy for 2030, which were informed by IIASA research.
IIASA researchers are working with the World Bank and policymakers in Beijing and its surroundings (China), Delhi and other areas in India, Hanoi (Vietnam), Johannesburg (South Africa), Cairo (Egypt), and Lagos (Nigeria) to tackle city-level pollution and other specific issues.
Air pollution is a global problem causing million premature deaths each year. It also causes environmental impacts such as damage to crops, natural vegetation, aquatic ecosystems, and biodiversity. As many air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs) have common sources, integrated policies that deal with these problems together can yield important co-benefits.
The Greenhouse gas-Air pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model developed at IIASA, assesses pollutants, their sources, and the costs and benefits of interventions, providing an independent resource that policymakers can rely on to inform successful and cost-effective policies. The model has been used for climate policy input at global and European levels, including the European Clean Air policy, the new European Clean Air and Energy Strategy for 2030, and IIASA researchers also contributed to an impact assessment which showed the benefits and costs of different policies.
The GAINS model has global coverage, with regional versions of the model available for South Asia and China. Policymakers in these regions are using the model to support new policy development. Scientists at the institute are also collaborating with policymakers in other regions to tackle city-level pollution and other specific issues.
With the help of effective policies informed by IIASA research, Europe managed to reduce population exposure to emissions of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), one of the most damaging pollutants to human health, by about 45% from 1990 to Without these policies, estimates show that PM2.5 levels would have continued to increase and in 2010 would have been approximately three times higher than in reality, while the health impacts of ozone would have been 70% higher.
IIASA researchers are currently also cooperating with the World Bank on its Pollution Management and Environmental Health (PMEH) program, which supports developing countries to significantly reduce air, land and water pollution through pollution management planning and investment. The program focuses on Beijing and its surroundings (China), Delhi and other large metropolitan areas in India, Hanoi (Vietnam), Johannesburg (South Africa), Cairo (Egypt) and Lagos (Nigeria).

11. Harnessing the power of citizen science
IIASA researchers are exploring the potential of citizen science in land cover and land use monitoring. Various initiatives at the institute are reaping the benefits of combining citizen science with more traditional approaches to working with spatial information.
The Agrotutor app developed by IIASA and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) provides farmers with tutorials and expert advice to transform agriculture in Mexico.
LandSense: A project that connects citizens with satellite imagery to transform environmental decision making.
FotoQuest GO: A citizen science campaign aimed at collecting observations of land use and land cover across Europe.
Land cover information is of fundamental importance for environmental research. It serves as critical baseline data for many large-scale models used to road-test policies regarding land use and climate change. In the last decade, multiple global land cover data products have been developed. When these are however compared, there are often significant discrepancies; where one map shows cropland, another might for instance show forest.
IIASA researchers are exploring the enormous potential of citizen science in land cover and land use monitoring. With extensive experience in app design and development, and maintaining related spatial data infrastructure, various projects are harnessing the benefits of combining citizen science with more traditional approaches to working with spatial information.
For example, the freely available Agrotutor mobile app developed by IIASA researchers in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT) in Mexico, is providing farmers with tutorials and expert advice to improve their farming practices and crop yields.
Flagship citizen science projects currently underway at the institute include:
GeoWiki: Developed at IIASA, Geo-Wiki uses crowdsourcing to collect and verify land-cover data using very high resolution imagery from Google Earth and Bing.
Crowdland: A project that assesses the potential of using crowdsourcing to close big data gaps of ground sourced data on land cover, land use and change.
LandSense: A project that connects citizens with satellite imagery to transform environmental decision making.
WeObserve: The mission of this project is to create a sustainable ecosystem of citizen observatories that can systematically address identified challenges and move citizen science into the mainstream.
FloodCitiSense: A project that aims to develop an urban pluvial flood early warning service not only for, but also by citizens and city authorities.
FotoQuest GO: A citizen science campaign aimed at collecting observations of land use and land cover across Europe
GROW: The GROW Observatory (GROW) is a European-wide project that IIASA is involved with, which engages thousands of growers, scientists and others passionate about the land. The aim of this project is to support a citizen science movement on growing and the land in order to achieve more sustainable land use practices, better soil, land governance and policy, and a unique data repository for science.
CIMMYT IIASA Agrotutor mobile application

12. Sustainable land use
The Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) analyze the synergies and trade-offs between alternative uses of resources (land, water, technology).
GAEZ has been refined over 30 years, and continues to shape land-use policy today.
GAEZ findings have contributed reports for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank.
The Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) model system provides policymakers with the ability to assess the Earth's available resources in great detail, and to analyze the synergies and trade-offs between alternative uses of resources (land, water, technology) to ensure food and energy security, as well as environmental sustainability. This map, for instance, is a GAEZ map of methane emissions by bovines in the year In conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, IIASA has developed and refined GAEZ for more than 30 years, and it continues to shape land-use policy today.
The analyses and results provided by GAEZ, for instance, played an integral part in the 2011 FAO report “Scarcity and abundance of land resources: competing uses and the shrinking land resource base.” In the same year the system was also used to estimate "fair" land values in a World Bank study of responsible investment in agriculture entitled “Rising Global Interest in Farmland—Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits?”

13. Helping to protect global fish stocks
IIASA has been at the forefront of research on how fish populations react to pressures from fishing since the 1990s.
Intense fishing can alter fish species’ genetics, possibly putting them at risk of population collapse.
IIASA researchers developed a framework for Evolutionary Impact Assessments.
This framework is now in widespread use and allows fisheries managers to evaluate the impact of fishing practices on evolution.
IIASA has played an internationally leading role in bringing attention to the evolutionary consequences of exploiting the world’s fish stocks. Intense fishing not only changes the abundance of the targeted fish populations over time, but also alters their genetics. Exploited fish populations worldwide are starting to reproduce at an earlier age and smaller size. This can affect a stock’s productivity, stability against collapse, and recovery potential. What’s more, it takes a long time to reverse, even if fishing stops.
To address this, an international expert group of IIASA scientists and collaborators, working under the auspices of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, developed a framework that provides the building blocks fisheries managers need to conduct evolutionary impact assessments (EvoIA) for the fish populations they oversee. Research in this regard is ongoing at the institute and researchers continue to collaborate with a number of organizations such as the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in an effort to safeguard the world’s fish stocks, which is an important food source for much of the global population.

14. Informing migration policies in Europe
IIASA research provides a scientific basis to inform evidence-based migration policies that will benefit Europe while ensuring that humanitarian needs are met.
Since its establishment in 2016, the IIASA / EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) has produced several insights and new methods to provide a more scientific basis for policymaking.
Biannual European and Asian population data sheets produced by IIASA are a valuable resource for policymakers, presenting information about demographic trends, current statistics, and projections.
Migration has become an increasingly divisive issue across Europe in the last decade. In 2016, EU policymakers turned to IIASA to launch a new partnership for migration research. The Center of Expertise on Population and Human Migration (CEPAM) includes five researchers at IIASA and five at the European Union’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), who are conducting applied research that provides timely answers for policymakers’ urgent questions on migration issues. The partnership has already produced several insights and new methods that could provide a more scientific basis for policymaking.
At the core of these efforts are IIASA population projections, which were updated in 2018 to include data up to 2015 and published in a new book in the context of CEPAM. IIASA researchers presented these updated projections to policymakers in Brussels, along with initial findings from the initiative.
While the project focuses on Europe-specific scenarios, the research also takes into account the broader context of worldwide drivers of migration such as climate change, which can contribute to conflicts, food insecurity, or other challenges. As their models become more detailed, IIASA demographers hope their research will help policymakers gain a better understanding of the people they are working to help.
The biannual European and Asian population data sheets produced by the IIASA World Population Program have been presenting summary information about demographic trends, current statistics, and projections since The 2018 edition provides information on changes in education composition and labor force, measuring economic dependency, and estimating healthy life years and fertility. The data sheets continue to be an invaluable resource for regional and national development practitioners and policymakers.

15. Strengthening flood resilience
IIASA is a founding member of the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, which:
Strengthens the resilience of communities against floods
Disseminates knowledge and expertise
Conducts innovative research
More than 110 communities in nine countries have benefited from alliance projects.
Extended for another 5 years until 2023, the alliance will generate US$1 billion in additional funding for flood resilience
To help improve flood resilience and aid community-based disaster risk reduction, IIASA, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Zurich Insurance Group came together in 2013 to establish the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance. The initiative helps to strengthen the resilience of communities against floods and to develop and disseminate knowledge and expertise. The research collaboration is equally innovative, bringing together academic institutes, the private sector and policymakers to focus on project implementation. The first working paper of the initiative was published in 2014 and the authors emphasized that disaster resilience should be seen as an integral part of development. The Alliance has been extended for another 5 years until 2023 and will generate US$1 billion in additional funding for flood resilience
IIASA is involved in many innovative initiatives like this, in fact IIASA was a partner in 170 externally funded projects in 2017 alone.

16. Helping countries bounce back
The IIASA catastrophe simulation model (CATSIM) allows countries to evaluate different policy options for dealing with natural disasters.
Madagascar sought IIASA assistance in the wake of cyclone Gafilo, which killed 363 people. This helped develop risk management and technology approaches for the country to reduce future disaster impacts.
Two variants of the model are used to understand, and quantify the fiscal consequences of extreme climate events.
CATSIM Inter-industry Impact Assessment module was used to assess the impact of flood damage in Cambodia and Laos.
CATSIM Stochastic Debt Assessment has been applied to assess flood risk in 28 EU countries. Now applied in Austria to assess flood and drought risk under climate change.
Natural disasters, particularly in developing countries, can cause devastating impacts that can swamp governments’ abilities to support the relief and reconstruction process. Through its catastrophe model simulation model (CATSIM) —which gives insights into the pros and cons of different policy options—IIASA has helped many governments to assess their financial and economic resilience and design appropriate risk-management strategies.
During 2011–2012 IIASA used CATSIM to support a major study by the government disaster agency of Madagascar on “Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change in Economic Development.” Madagascar, which suffers an average of two tropical cyclones every three years, sought IIASA assistance in the wake of cyclone Gafilo which killed 363 people and caused damages of 5% of the country’s GDP. Following the study, the disaster agency now plans to adopt risk management and technology approaches to help reduce disaster impacts.
Two variants of the CATSIM model has also been helpful in understanding, and quantifying the fiscal consequences of extreme climate events. The CATSIM Inter-industry Impact Assessment module was developed in 2015 to assess the higher order impact of flood damage in Cambodia and Laos, while the CATSIM Stochastic Debt Assessment has been applied in the assessment of flood risk in 28 EU countries and is now being applied in Austria to assess flood and drought risk under climate change.

17. Education not income the best predictor of a long life
Research from IIASA and the Vienna University of Economics and Business shows that level of education is a much better predictor of life expectancy than rising income.
The work highlights the importance of improving educational attainment for multiple dimensions of development
IIASA World Population Program scientists presented the results of the program’s research at global conferences influencing global policy frameworks and shaping national policy priorities.
The widely held assumption that health and survival improved due to higher living standards and advances in medical care is being disputed by new research from the IIASA World Population Program and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) indicating that education in fact drives all these changes.
According to the researchers, better education leads to improved cognition and in turn to better choices for health-related behaviors. This falls into a line of earlier IIASA research that established the importance of improving educational attainment for multiple dimensions of development. In particular, this work found that universal primary and secondary education is key for poverty eradication and economic growth, as well as for strengthening adaptive capacity to climate change.
Together, these analyses suggest that universal education and health can be considered as root causes of development and deserve to be seen as priority policies when it comes to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals as they are prerequisites for successfully meeting the other goals.
IIASA World Population Program scientists present the results of the program’s research at key global conferences influencing global policy frameworks and shaping national policy priorities.

18. Buoying up resilience in financial systems
IIASA researchers collaborated on the development of a methodology for banks to increase understanding of how climate change and climate action could impact their business, and help them become more transparent. 16 banks from four continents are piloting the methodology.
IIASA researchers are looking at systemic risk in financial systems, including:
- halving systemic risk in government bond markets by optimizing investment portfolios
- identifying that non-financial firms contribute to systemic risk in financial systems in the same way as financial institutions and should therefore be regulated in the same way.
IIASA researchers, working in collaboration with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), provided detailed scenario data from two models, MESSAGEix-GLOBIOM (IIASA) and REMIND-MAgPIE (PIK), which were used to develop a methodology to increase banks’ understanding of how climate change and climate action could impact their business, and help them to become more transparent. The work resulted in the publication of a major report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The methodology provides the first publicly available guidance designed specifically for banks to carry out forward-looking, climate-related risk and opportunity assessments as envisioned by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). More specifically, the methodology helps banks to apply state-of-the-art global climate change scenarios that are available today. Sixteen leading banks from four continents are currently piloting the methodology.
Systemic risk is the chance that a crisis at one institution could lead to the collapse of an entire financial system. The financial crisis in 2008 was triggered by the failure of a single bank, with high systemic risk.
A major cause of systemic risk is contagion, which occurs when many investors have overlapping portfolios of stocks. If one particular institution under financial stress is forced to sell large quantities of a particular asset at a reduced cost – a fire sale – it will devalue it, which in turn devalues the portfolios of other institutions also holding that particular asset. IIASA researchers developed a model to optimize the market and minimize the systemic risk, by rearranging overlapping portfolios within the market’s network of institutions. While the portfolios are reshuffled, the overall size of each institution’s portfolio remains the same. Systemic risk was halved.
In another study, an IIASA-led team showed that non-financial firms such as vehicle manufacturers and energy companies can contribute to systemic risk in the same way as financial firms. However, non-financial firms are not subject to the same stringent regulations for financial firms under the Basel II regulatory framework introduced after the 2008 crash. In the most comprehensive study yet, analysis of the 796 banks and 49,363 firms which made up the Austrian economy in 2008 found that 55% of systemic risk came from non-financial firms. This strengthens the argument for regulations for systemically important non-financial firms to be applied more widely. 

19. Safeguarding the future of forests
IIASA research covering all facets of sustainable forest management has impacted policy across the globe.
IIASA researchers led the development of new guidance for EU member states estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forests.
IIASA research was used in the development of Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which now specifies that deforested areas should be restored and the Forest Code properly enforced.
The RESTORE+ project, which is active in Indonesia, Brazil, and the Congo Basin, aims to inform key national and sub-national policies including the countries’ climate resilience strategies, national biodiversity strategies, and action plans.
The importance of forests cannot be underestimated. We depend on them for our survival, from the air we breathe to countless products we use every day. Apart from providing habitats for animals and livelihoods for over 2 billion people across the globe, forests also stabilize the land, reduce soil erosion, and prevent desertification. IIASA has been involved in research covering all facets of sustainable forest management and involving various programs and numerous interdisciplinary initiatives for many years. To name but a few:
Most recently, IIASA researchers led the development of new guidance for EU member states estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from their forests and developing plans to show how they will account for these emissions and removals in the future.
Another IIASA led project, which included researchers from several international institutions including the Brazil National Institute for Space Research, set out to understand the implications of fully enforcing Brazil’s Forest Code on both the environment and agriculture to the year This research has already impacted Brazilian policy as it was used in the development of the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions by 43% by The NDC now specifies that 12 million ha of deforested areas should be restored and the Forest Code properly enforced.
The Restoration for Land Use Sustainability in the Tropics (RESTORE+) project aims to provide decision makers in the tropical region with lasting capacity, technical recommendations, and enhanced datasets to inform the restoration of degraded and marginal areas at the Food-Land-Energy nexus. RESTORE+ researchers are currently active in Indonesia, Brazil and the Congo Basin in Africa. In Indonesia, the project aims to inform key national and sub-national policies such as the country’s medium-term economic development plan, NDC, climate resilience strategy, and national biodiversity strategies and action plan. In Brazil, the project aims to inform, among others, ministry regulations, and technical- and policy guidelines that contribute to the implementation or enhancement of Brazil’s Forest Code to help achieve objectives such as those in its NDC, while in the Congo basin training activities will be undertaken throughout the project to enhance systems analysis capacity in the region.

20. Integrated solutions for a sustainable future
The IIASA Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (ISWEL) project is developing sustainable solutions to jointly meet water, energy and land demands globally.
Researchers are also looking at two basins in Africa and India.
Stakeholder engagement and capacity building is an important part of the project.
Collaboration between IIASA and the Ukrainian NMO has informed national policy and led to improvements in sustainable management of the food-energy-water-environment nexus.
Food, energy, water, and land are interconnected aspects that together form a nexus within the complex system in which the various sectors of a country’s economy operates. Because these aspects are so closely linked, policies that affect one sector in a region can have consequences for others, which means that the integrated management of the nexus is critical to secure sustainable development and the efficient and viable use of resources.
The IIASA Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (ISWEL) project, which is run in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), explores cost-effective solutions to jointly meet water, land and energy demands under different development and climate pathways. Although the project takes a global approach, it also zooms in on two large transboundary basins facing multiple developments and environmental challenges, namely the Zambezi and the Indus. The project aims to develop an integrated nexus assessment framework suitable for rigorous analysis of potential interactions, synergies, and trade-offs between water, energy and land resources and under different future climate and development scenarios. The integrated nexus assessment framework will be used to identify multi-sectorial scarcity hotspots and assess the synergies and trade-offs among sectors and countries. This information will be used for distilling portfolios of integrated solutions for water, energy, and land under different climate and socio-economic development pathways, at the global level and for the two basins. Stakeholder engagement and capacity building also forms an important part of the project.
A collaborative project between IIASA and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) that started in 2012, has informed national policy and led to real improvements in sustainable management of the food-energy-water-environment nexus. Specifically, IIASA research has fed into the preparation of strategically important documents, such as the country’s sustainable agriculture and rural development strategy, national demographic strategy, and sustainable energy sector development strategies. In 2017, IIASA renewed its strategic collaboration with NASU on the topic of robust solutions for the food-water-energy-environment nexus, by committing to a five-year joint research program. Future work on the program will build on the outputs of the collaboration.

21. Climate implications of energy policies
The way society uses energy gives rise to major environmental, social, and economic challenges.
IIASA research revealed that behavior-influencing policies are critical for the mass market success of low carbon vehicles to reduce transport sector carbon emissions.
Another IIASA led study showed that removing fossil fuel subsidies will not reduce CO2 emissions as much as hoped, and highlighted regional differences in effects and the impact of such removals on the poor.
The way society uses energy gives rise to major environmental, social, and economic challenges. IIASA research analyzes whether current policies are on track to meet policy targets, and examines the interaction between different sectors. We need to understand the emissions implications of today’s energy policies to know if we are on the right track to meet global climate targets and what needs to be clarified within policy pledges to reduce uncertainty.
Transport is responsible for 25% of energy-related CO2 emissions globally, with half of that coming from private passenger vehicles. More than 90% of such vehicles are powered by internal combustion engines burning oil-derived fuels. In a study that for the first time looked at the non-financial reasons why consumers choose certain vehicles, and the long-term energy and carbon emissions implications those choices may have, researchers found that it is not just the upfront costs and running costs that a consumer will look at when they consider what to buy. The results indicate that focusing on the behavioral aspects of consumers in vehicle purchase decisions is key to encouraging the rapid uptake of plug-in hybrid, battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Policies to entice consumers away from fossil-fuel powered vehicles and normalize low carbon, alternative-fuel alternatives, such as electric vehicles, are therefore vital if the world is to significantly reduce transport sector carbon emissions.
Another study led by IIASA researchers looked into the global and regional effects of removing fossil fuel subsidies. They found that removing them would only have a small effect on CO2 emissions and renewable energy use overall, and that the largest emissions savings would be in oil and gas exporting countries, where fewer poor people would be affected, and subsidy removal can be aided by currently low oil prices.

22. Science to policy
Science and policy must work together to achieve a sustainable future for humanity, and providing robust policy advice is a key objective for IIASA.
IIASA research in Brazil shows compromise could be established between agriculture and the environment and underpinned Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030
IIASA researchers led the development of new guidance for EU member states estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forests for
IIASA research was used in the preparation of two major UN-linked reports – The World in (TWI2050) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C.
Science and policy must work together to achieve a sustainable future for humanity, and providing robust policy advice is a key objective for IIASA. Below are a few examples of IIASA research that has helped to inform policy around the globe:
A recently published study led by IIASA, shows that if Brazil’s new Forest Code is properly enforced, a compromise could be established between agriculture and the environment. In Brazil, to be successful, any land-use policy must take into account both sectors. The work in Brazil has been ongoing for a while and was used in the development of Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions by 43% by The NDC now specifies that 12 million ha of deforested areas should be restored and the Forest Code properly enforced.
Researchers from IIASA led a project to develop guidance for EU member states estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from their forests (so-called Forest Reference Levels) and report National Forestry Accounting Plans showing how member states will account for these emissions and removals. Member states and the European Commission were involved in the production of the report, which was launched in 2018.
The IIASA Low Energy Demand (LED) Database covers scenarios, or futures, in which the earth could meet the aspirational target set out in the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, focusing on drastically lowering global energy demands, without having to resort to unproven technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. The LED scenarios look at decarbonizing the planet while simultaneously achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, rather than merely focusing on the former. The research was used in the preparation of two major UN-linked reports – The World in 2050 (TWI2050) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C.

23. The Global Energy Assessment
The Global Energy Assessment (GEA) addressed four topics that are key to energy transformation:
a review of major energy challenges
an assessment of current technologies
pathways to solutions
policy recommendations and tools
The GEA provided the scientific basis for the global initiative Sustainable Energy for All and the basis for the UN Sustainable Development Goal Number 7 on Energy.
The Global Energy Assessment (GEA), coordinated by IIASA and published in 2012, revealed findings that will transform the way society thinks about, uses, and delivers energy. Conducted by 500 of the world’s leading energy experts in research, business, and policy, and subjected to peer-review, the GEA took over five years to complete. It was supported by government and nongovernmental organizations, the UN, and the private sector.
The GEA addressed four topics that are key to energy transformation: a review of major 21st century energy challenges; an assessment of current energy technologies; options and pathways to solutions; and policy recommendations and tools.
A key impact of this ground-breaking work was that it formed the inspiration and scientific basis for Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All). This global initiative, launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2012, used the findings from the GEA to shape its three core objectives, namely: i) providing universal access to modern energy services, ii) doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and iii) doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

24. IIASA members
National Member Organizations (NMOs) represent the scientific community of a country and are often the National Academy or principal research funding agency.
The International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an independent, international research institute with National Member Organizations (NMOs) in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
In 2017 IIASA had 23 member countries representing 71% of the world’s economy and 61% of the world’s population.

25. Funding
Annual income in 2017 was €21 million, of which 58% was from IIASA National Member Organizations.
Additional funding comes from contracts and grants. Between 2012 and 2017, IIASA research was awarded grants that amounted to €52 million.
This was part of a total funding portfolio of €265 million of the external projects in which IIASA was and is involved.

26. International collaborations
CD-LINKs: combining climate change mitigation with sustainable development objectives. IIASA is coordinating with a consortium of 18 leading international research organizations. Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land, and Energy Project (FABLE): IIASA is collaborating with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the EAT Foundation to mobilize a global network of research institutions from the major G20 countries and other countries with large land-use and food sectors.
Two notable examples of IIASA collaborations are CD-LINKs and the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land, and Energy (FABLE) initiative.
CD-LINKS is a €5.5 million project, encompassing 18 international partners, is producing specific roadmaps for the majority of the G20 countries. The need to ratchet up countries’ INDCs was a key part of the Paris agreement, and the CD-LINKS roadmaps will provide policymakers with concrete advice for the measures needed to meet long-term objectives. Importantly, the project will also identify countries which are already showcasing best practices—where policies are consistent with both climate and broader sustainable development goals—and those where current policy is creating barriers to sustainability.
Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land, and Energy (FABLE) is an initiative to develop consistent global and national pathways towards sustainable land use and food systems by 2050. Led by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and the EAT Foundation, the initiative is mobilizing leading research institutions in each country as well as global knowledge organizations spanning the full FABLE spectrum.
The FABLE pathways initiative under the Food and Land-use Coalition (FOLU) aims to address three challenges through a global network of research institutions from the major G20 countries and other countries with large land-use and food sectors: 
No shared global targets and pathways.
Global targets are not translated to the national level.
Short-term strategies vs. long-term pathways.

27. International collaborations
The OECD: IIASA and OECD launched a strategic partnership in 2017 which aims to jointly shape policies by applying systems thinking to improve the quality of people’s lives. Ferrero: IIASA has developed an innovative industry-research partnership with the third biggest chocolate and confectionary company in the world - looking into the sustainability of palm oil.
In 2017 IIASA launched a strategic partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The partnership aims to combine the world-renowned scientific expertise of IIASA with OECD’s powerful analytical capacities and unique political access and influence. This will facilitate the development of innovative models and methodologies to tackle systemic risks and harness cross-cutting opportunities, and bring these concepts closer to real-life implementation in view of reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  At the same time, the partnership will promote systemic thinking across the OECD to cope with today’s pressing demands.
Ferrero and IIASA share a commitment to exploring the potential of science to transform industry in sustainable and economically viable ways
In 2016 Ferrero and IIASA launched a unique industry-research collaboration project to finance Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) participants at IIASA. A recent IIASA study in collaboration with Ferrero shed light on efforts to avoid deforestation on palm estates in Malaysia where the company sources its products.
In 2017 Ferrero and IIASA signed a memorandum of understanding to increase the scope of this unique collaboration between business and science.

28. International collaborations
In 2017 there were 1,831 conference participants and visitors.

29. International collaborations
In 2017 IIASA had 833 partner institutions in more than 65 countries worldwide.

30. Attracting the best scientists
IIASA is at the center of an international network of researchers who specialize in systems analysis. 382 researchers from 48 different countries worked at IIASA in 2017, compared to 333 in 2010 and IIASA researchers now serve on over 91 advisory boards and steering committees compared to just 60 in 2010.
With its global research network of over 3,500 scholars comprising collaborators, alumni, and visitors from different countries and disciplines, the institute provides science based insights into critical issues with global significance

31. Crossing disciplines
IIASA researchers span research fields, creating a dynamic, interdisciplinary environment.
*2017 numbers

32. Capacity building
The Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) trains the next generation of researchers from around the world.
The YSSP celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2017
Since 1977, over 1,920 young scientists from 87 countries have benefitted from the YSSP
In 2018 there were 52 YSSPers from 22 countries.
IIASA equips today’s young scientists with the skills to develop tomorrow’s solutions. The Young Scientists Summer Program, the flagship of IIASA capacity building, allows PhD students to work alongside distinguished IIASA researchers for three months, gaining new insight into their own field of research as well as those of the institute. This mentoring is complemented by a program that includes lectures, seminars, and workshops to broaden participants’ perspectives and skills. Over 1,920 young scientists have benefitted from the YSSP in total. Participants of the program have gone on to achieve high positions in science, business, and government. Just a few examples are Holmes Hummel, who is now a senior policy advisor for the US, Elena Rovenskaya, now Advanced Systems Analysis Program director at IIASA, and Michael Raghib, a researcher at IBM.
4,028 IIASA alumni hail from 94 countries, and 25% are still actively involved in the institute’s activities
Building on the success of the YSSP, in 2012 IIASA and its South African National Member Organization—the National Research Foundation—launched the first regional expansion of the YSSP. Hosted by the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein in South Africa, the Southern African YSSP ran from December to February for three years.

33. Postdoc opportunities
IIASA offers a range of postdoctoral opportunities to early career researchers that provide fully funded research positions of up to two years to study topics related to the IIASA research agenda. IIASA postdoc scheme: enables postdoc researchers to work alongside 382 researchers from 48 countries in an interdisciplinary environment with access to a global research network of over 3,500 scholars. Bilateral programs funded by NMOs: IIASA currently has bilateral postdoctoral fellowship programs with Brazil, China, Finland, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, and Sweden. In 2017, there were a total of 27 postdocs at IIASA.
The IIASA Postdoctoral Program is intended to build the participants' experience and expertise, and especially their knowledge of systems analysis.
IIASA offers a range of opportunities for early career scientists:
Every year IIASA provides full funding for several postdoctoral researchers. These early-career scientists get the chance to work in a rich international, interdisciplinary environment with access to the worldwide network of IIASA collaborators. The opportunity to gain hands-on experience of research aimed at solving real-world problems is invaluable.
In addition to the above, IIASA has been establishing bilateral postdoctoral fellowship programs funded by national member organizations (NMOs) since These programs are an effective way for NMOs to increase the number of its nationals who are postdoctoral fellows at IIASA, and to develop system analytical expertise among its researchers. IIASA currently has bilateral postdoctoral fellowship programs with Brazil, China, Finland, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, and Sweden.
In 2017, there were a total of 27 postdocs at IIASA.

34. Output: journal articles
Through fostering strong collaborations and supporting up-and-coming young scientists, IIASA produces the highest quality science. This can be seen though publications in peer-reviewed journals including many of the most prestigious publications. Citations of IIASA research has increased significantly over recent years according to SCOPUS, the independent database of peer-reviewed literature. This shows an increasing uptake of the Institute’s research findings.

35. Home of IIASA since 1972
In October 1972 representatives of the Soviet Union, United States, and 10 other countries from the Eastern and Western blocs met in London to sign the charter establishing the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). It was the culmination of six years’ effort by US President Lyndon Johnson and USSR Premier Alexey Kosygin, and marked the beginning of a remarkable project to use scientific cooperation to build bridges across the Cold War divide and to confront growing global problems on an international scale. The refurbished Schloss Laxenburg near Vienna was made available by the Austrian government shortly after the foundation of IIASA in The Schloss has been the Institute's home for nearly four decades. When the Cold War ended, IIASA’s sponsoring countries could have said "mission accomplished" and disbanded the Institute. However, as well as helping foster mutual understanding among scientists from East and West, IIASA had shown the scientific benefits of different nationalities and disciplines working together toward common goals to deal with major global challenges.

36. Nobel Prize winners
Professor Tjalling Koopmans and Professor Leonid Kantorovich Nobel Prize in Economics (1975)

37. Nobel Prize winners
Professor Lawrence Klein Nobel Prize in Economics (1980)

38. Nobel Prize winners
Professor Paul Crutzen Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1995)

39. Nobel Prize winners Professor Thomas C. Schelling
Nobel Prize for Economics (2005)

40. Nobel Prize winners Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Nobel Peace Prize (2007)

41. Nobel Prize winners
Professor William D. Nordhaus Nobel Prize in Economics (2018)

42. Thank you
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