Systems Analysis in Asia

The world is experiencing a period of rapid and profound systemic change. Humanity is facing significant challenges including increasing globalization, the coronavirus pandemic, economic power shifts, global environmental change, urban growth, geopolitical conflicts, as well as a digital revolution that is changing the way we work, live, and govern. To engage with the transformations that are shaping the future, we must understand their systemic properties - their tipping points, interconnectedness, and resilience.   

Taking an integrated, transdisciplinary policy-oriented approach to research that accounts for the interconnected nature of social, economic, and environmental challenges allows us to understand critical linkages, synergies and trade-offs between issues generally treated separately - providing policymakers and relevant stakeholders with integrated policy options to address regional and global challenges.  

In Asia, countries face regional challenges including socio-economic change, the competition for natural resources, transboundary issues, environmental problems, the management of megacities and the need for effective sustainability strategies. This conference, co-hosted by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and supported by the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF), the Japan Committee for IIASA, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), and the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) of India. This event will build on the expertise and interlinkages between the system analysts’ communities in Asia to discuss and analyze transformative approaches to achieving sustainability across multiple sectors and regions. Topics to be discussed will include both research methods and their application to regional challenges.