News | IIASA

Concept of eco with city, clean energy and nature. paper art style.

04 February 2026

An integrated, society-centered approach to reducing pollution in European cities

End of January saw the launch of the new EU-funded ATMOPOLIS project, an innovative study that integrates environmental and social sciences to understand how air and noise pollution exposure affect citizens across European cities and propose actions to help improve their quality of life. IIASA researchers are leading a work package to develop an integrated decision support tool for cities.

04 February 2026

Science, policy, and partnership: IIASA Director General visits Israel

In January, IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber visited Israel as part of an effort to deepen scientific cooperation and advance discussions on Israel’s continued membership in IIASA. The visit highlighted the growing role of science diplomacy in connecting research, policy, and international collaboration to support evidence-based decision-making and long-term sustainability.

04 February 2026

Towards a Community of Practice for Centering Justice in Climate Risk Management and Adaptation

INQUIMUS 2025 organized by the Equity and Justice (EQU) Research Group was successfully held at IIASA in December 2025. The interactive three-day conference brought together around 50 participants from a wide range of disciplines, all sharing a commitment to making justice dimensions more explicit in transformative climate risk management and adaptation research and practice.

02 February 2026

Climate enters the overshoot era – and science and policy need to react

In 2024, global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C for the first time, signaling that the world is on track to pass this limit within the next decade. In a new commentary, IIASA experts and collaborators argue that this new reality requires a rethink of accountability in climate policy.

A group of Young Indian graduating college student studying with books and laptop at the campus ground in India.

02 February 2026

Education matters more than income to reduce premature adult mortality in India

IIASA researchers explored why mortality among adults of working age remains high in India alongside rapid economic growth, finding that education – at both individual and community levels – is more strongly associated with lower premature mortality than income or household wealth.

Photo of H.E. Ambassador Eduardo Paes Saboia, Ambassador of Brazil to Austria, Fabio Alves Schmidt da Silva, Head of the Trade Promotion and Science Technology Section at the Embassy of Brazil in Vienna with John Schellnhuber and Karen Lips

28 January 2026

Science without borders: Brazilian Ambassador visits IIASA

IIASA recently welcomed H.E. Ambassador Eduardo Paes Saboia, Ambassador of Brazil to Austria, for a high-level visit to the Institute’s headquarters in Laxenburg. The visit provided an opportunity for an in-depth exchange on IIASA’s research portfolio and on future avenues for strengthening cooperation between IIASA and Brazilian institutions.

27 January 2026

Heatwaves could put millions of European cattle at risk by mid-century

Within the next few decades, intensifying heatwaves could expose a significant share of Europe’s cattle to dangerous levels of heat stress. New research maps where and how millions of animals may be affected by mid-century.

The image depicts a hand drawing on a blueprint with a detailed miniature model of a sustainable city.

26 January 2026

Citizen science and the challenge of measuring urban sustainability

Cities are expected to track sustainability progress with data that are often incomplete, outdated, or available only at national level. New research led by IIASA in collaboration with UN-Habitat finds that citizen science could address these gaps and support nearly 70% of global sustainability indicators, yet is currently used in only 4% of cases.

22 January 2026

China can meet its rapidly growing cooling demand without heating the planet

China’s rising demand for cooling doesn’t have to drive rising temperatures. A new study shows how rapid shifts to cleaner refrigerants and high-efficiency technologies could cut cooling-related climate impacts to near zero by mid-century.