The big data revolution is here, but what does it mean for creating a life-supporting sustainable food system? Can technological innovation help us feed the world and protect against biodiversity loss? IIASA hosts this special episode of the Prophets, Wizards & The Quest to Value Nature podcast.

 

IIASA Strategic Initiatives Program Director Steffen Fritz, Juan Carlos Laso Bayas, researcher with the IIASA Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group, and Tamme van der Wal, Information Management expert with a special interest in the data revolution from Wageningen University and a commercial manager at Akkerweb, take part in this roundtable discussion looking at issues touching on global agri-food systems and how technology can help feed the growing population of the world without harming Earth systems.

This special episode is part of the Prophets, Wizards & The Quest to Value Nature podcast series sponsored by the FRAMEwork research project which enables research and empowerment initiatives for farmers and local communities to tackle biodiversity loss.

News

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23 September 2026

IIASA researchers strengthen cooperation with Kyrgyzstan on AI and industrial development

IIASA Cooperation and Transformative Governance (CAT) Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar Nadejda Komendantova and CAT Research Scholar Dmitry Erokhin have contributed to a series of scientific and policy forums in Kyrgyzstan in 2026. Their research on artificial intelligence in the production sector builds on IIASA’s longstanding cooperation with the country on sustainable industrial development.
Group photo of participants at the COP17 side event in Mongolia

22 September 2026

IIASA at UNCCD COP17: Advancing land restoration and resilience

Building on its engagement at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16) in Riyadh, IIASA contributed to a series of events and bilateral discussions at UNCCD COP17, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, towards the end of August. Under the theme, Restoring Land, Restoring Hope, COP17 advanced action on land degradation, drought resilience, and sustainable land management, with particular emphasis on rangelands and pastoral livelihoods.
Protecting the Earth - International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. A globe encircled by protective hands, with symbols of natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires, emphasizing the importance of disaster risk reduction and global safety.

14 September 2026

IIASA's CAT Group Co-Chairs Key Resilience Track at International Conference on Resilient Systems 2026

Nadejda Komendantova, Research Group Leader of the Cooperation and Transformative Governance (CAT) Group at IIASA, co-chaired a landmark track at the International Conference on Resilient Systems 2026 at the Delft University of Technology, titled "Complex Adaptive Social Systems and Natural Hazard Resilience: Application, Methods, and Future Directions." This event served as key dissemination of results from IIASA's contributions to the PARATUS project, showcasing advanced systems analysis for disaster resilience.