A high-level IIASA delegation visited the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) for the third meeting of the IIASA-OECD Task Force on Systems Thinking, Anticipation, and Resilience.

Eiffel tower © Viorel Dudau | Dreamstime

The OECD’s mission is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity, and well-being for all. Together with IIASA, the two organizations build a unique partnership, formulating systems-based strategies to address global issues and disseminating systems thinking through education and training.

The third Task Force meeting between the OECD and IIASA focused on strengthening the collaboration further, and presenting the joint publication on systemic thinking for policymaking. Being coauthored by more than 50 experts from both sides, this document has been the first major result of efficient practical collaboration between IIASA and the OECD, within the framework of the Strategic Partnership, launched in 2018.

During the meeting, Gabriela Ramos, OECD Chief of Staff and G20 Sherpa, outlined the increasing interest and relevance of the Strategic Partnership to the member states of OECD. Martin Lees, Chair of the Task Force, summarized the progress made in 2019. Albert van Jaarsveld, IIASA Director General and CEO, presented the institute’s views on the potential and the future direction of the Strategic Partnership.

Ángel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, participated and delivered a statement during the formal presentation of the joint OECD-IIASA publication.

The IIASA delegation in Paris, led by van Jaarsveld, included representatives from almost all of the IIASA research programs.

OECD

The OECD has its beginnings in the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which was established in 1948 to run the US-financed Marshall Plan for reconstruction of a continent ravaged by war. By making individual governments recognize the interdependence of their economies, it paved the way for a new era of cooperation that was to change the face of Europe. Encouraged by its success and the prospect of carrying its work forward on a global stage, Canada and the US joined OEEC members in signing the new OECD Convention on 14 December 1960. The OECD was officially born on 30 September 1961, when the Convention entered into force.