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
24 August 2026
Project "G/ArtenLeben": Turning gardens into biodiversity hotspots together
How can private gardens help support biodiversity in Austria? The new IIASA citizen science project G/ArtenLeben brings science and gardening practice together. At three G/ArtenCafés in Lower Austria, hobby gardeners are invited to contribute their knowledge and experience to research and work alongside scientists to explore how gardening can help biodiversity thrive.
28 July 2026
New citizen science campaign on mowing events launching in 2026
Starting this Friday, 31st of July, the Mowing Quest citizen science campaign invites people across Europe to help improve grassland monitoring. By using the free Geo-Quest app, participants can report mowing events directly from the field and support scientific research with their own observations. The campaign will be open during August and September to test the system capabilities in preparation for a larger 2027 campaign.
03 July 2026
Building bridges: Indian Ambassador visits IIASA
H.E. Ambassador Shambhu S. Kumaran, India's Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, recently visited IIASA to explore deeper research cooperation and meet the Institute's Indian Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) cohort.