Pursuing the urban utopia

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: As cities draw in more and more people, the challenges and opportunities posed by urbanization are ever-increasing. How can we make sure that the cities of tomorrow will serve both people and the planet?

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: IIASA and Norway have enjoyed fruitful collaboration spanning multiple sectors for over two decades, helping to shape the political discourse at national, regional, and global levels. Represented by the Research Council of Norway, the country has been among the most active contributors to the work of IIASA.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: Looking back and moving forward: Systems analysis for sustainable wellbeing. 50 years of IIASA research, 40 years after the Brundtland Commission, and contributing to the post‑2030 global agenda.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: IIASA Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions Research Group Leader, Shonali Pachauri, explores policy pathways for achieving universal access to basic services and technologies. She was a lead author of the Working Group III contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), and a member of the Extended Writing Team for the Synthesis Report.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: IIASA has a long history of being home to some of the most exceptional systems thinkers of our time. In the last year, several IIASA researchers were again honored with various awards and appointments.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: Every year, a select group of talented young scientists are offered the opportunity to embark on a transformative, career-shaping journey in the picturesque town of Laxenburg, Austria when they participate in the IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP).

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: Zuelclady Araujo Gutierrez’s research supports governments to have better data and tools for their longterm climate change mitigation planning, tailored to the realities of their countries.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: The G20 is a global platform for the discussion of cooperation, policy, and governance pathways aligned with the common interests of its member states. This year, India held the Presidency of the G20 under the banner of One Earth, One Family, One Future. To support India’s Presidency, IIASA produced four policy papers providing insight into the complexities of potential multilateral institutional reforms.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: IIASA researcher Martin Jung is a rising star in the field of conservation research with a passion for exploring how biodiversity and conservation issues can truly be embedded in complex systems.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: As a Climate Change Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) alumna, Esperanza González Mahecha, is supporting countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to include climate change considerations in all aspects of planning, from infrastructure works and financing schemes, to policies that foster sustainable and inclusive development to improve lives.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: As IIASA Connect brings together the global systems analysis community, it also acts as a hub for regional communities to connect and engage.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: An international team of researchers explored a more inclusive and locally attuned approach to governance, challenging the existing top-down model and advocating for a holistic consideration of the socio-cultural and economic dimensions of Atlantic salmon fishing in Northern Fennoscandia.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: Population decline is a key demographic challenge facing modern society. While previous studies have examined population decline, less is known about the different contemporary trajectories of depopulation in small areas and their demographic and contextual factors.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: The potential rise in fertility following the end of China's one-child policy might create a dual challenge for workers in the short term, according to a recent study.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: In the quest for sustainable development, IIASA researchers advocate for a paradigm shift, urging a greater focus on mobilizing the private sector and using the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst to reshape humanity's approach to conservation and development policies.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: Soybean is a critical global crop facing growing climate-related vulnerabilities. IIASA researchers emphasized the urgent need for adaptation strategies to secure soybean supply chains in a recent study.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: A recent study shed light on the gap in residential building life-cycle assessment studies, which disproportionately exclude low- and middle-income countries.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: In many parts of the world, access to freshwater is becoming increasingly scarce. Nowhere is this truer than in South Africa, which experienced a significant drought from 2015 to 2018.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: There has been much debate around the impact of climate change on migration. The international discourses around this topic, however, have often been more politically charged and less backed by science.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: The IIASA Biodiversity Club offers both a respite from desk work and an opportunity for staff members to bond over encounters with local flora and fauna.

Options Magazine, Winter 2023: The Austrian Research Promotion Agency has ranked IIASA as one of the top participants in the Horizon Europe Programme, reflecting the institute's commitment to addressing pressing global challenges and advancing sustainable solutions.