ASA Program aims to discover, develop, and deploy new, more effective, and efficient ways of infusing systems science into policy and decision making for sustainable development.
Despite numerous success stories, many policies and decisions that currently aim to deal with global change are not sufficiently informed by cutting-edge science. Among the major barriers that prevent the effective input of science into policy are perceived shortfalls in agility, realism, and relevance of the current generation of methods and models from the standpoint of end users. To address these barriers, ASA strives to advance agile, realistic, and relevant systems analytical tools and methods, and facilitate a shared understanding of the capabilities and limits of these tools and methods with end users. Consequently, ASA’s efforts span the full range, from advancing research methods and tools of systems analysis to innovating at the interface between policy- and decision making, as well as with society at large.
ASA Program’s major objectives are:
- To innovate approaches and tools to analyze increasingly systemic, social-ecological risks and support decisions aimed at enhancing resilience and facilitating sustainability transitions and transformations.
- To further the capacity of agile, on-demand systems analysis underpinned by a suite of modeling frameworks of appropriate complexity.
- To mobilize multiple sources of data and the power of data science to diagnose and identify solutions to reduce vulnerabilities and risks.
- To advance feasible and effective ways of engagement with policymakers, the private sector, and citizens.
- To enhance trust and shared understanding of systems analysis methods and tools, in particular, through open science.
Explore options to engage with ASA
The Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Program welcomes expressions of interest from researchers at all career stages who wish to collaborate with us in advancing data, methods, and models as well as inter- and trans-disciplinary research to tackle the complexity of pressing sustainability challenges. More information on options to engage with ASA.
Projects
Open-Earth-Monitor Cyberinfrastructure (OEMC)
Transformations within Reach (TwR-II)
Staff
Daniel Kroos
Guest Research Scholar (CAT)
Dipesh Chapagain
Guest Research Scholar (SYRR)
Oleksandr Bogdanov
Guest Researcher (CAT)
Pradeep Monga
Guest Senior Research Scholar and Senior Advisor to the Program (ASA)
News
11 March 2025
IIASA provides insights on research, technology, and innovation to Austrian federal states
IIASA contributed to the Austrian Bundesländerdialog — a forum bringing together the federal government, representatives of different states, and other interested institutions to discuss recent developments in research, technology, and innovation. It provided an important platform to increase IIASA’s visibility in the Austrian federal states and strengthen connections with key stakeholders in research and innovation.
06 March 2025
IIASA’s CAT Research Group joined the UN ECOSOC Partnership Forum 2025’s event: Global Challenges Action Innovation, Emerging Technologies & the Power of Partnerships
The ever-evolving global challenges have made the need for innovative solutions more evident. Due to their work and experience in developing AI-based tools for addressing global issues, IIASA's Cooperation and Transformative Governance Research Group has been invited to share their insights on developing AI-based solutions for sustainable policy crafting at the “Global Challenges Action Innovation, Emerging Technologies & the Power of Partnerships" event, a side event to the "UN ECOSOC Partnership Forum 2025.”
14 February 2025
Strengthening citizen science and sustainability monitoring in Europe
Researchers from the IIASA Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability (NODES) Research Group are part of the newly launched RIECS-Concept (Towards A Pan-European Research Infrastructure for Excellent Citizen Science), a project designed to develop a conceptual framework for a pan-European citizen science research infrastructure. The initiative aims to enhance the role of citizen science in data collection, validation, and policy engagement, ensuring long-term sustainability and broader participation in scientific research across Europe.
Events
Wodak and Gvishiani Room, IIASA
Wiedner Gymnasium to visit IIASA
ESA-ESRIN, Frascati - Italy
NODES at BIOSPACE25
Focus
18 November 2024
Leveraging social media intelligence for disaster risk management: a game-changer in real-time response
Social media intelligence mining is transforming disaster risk management. A new cutting-edge tool developed by IIASA researchers provides real-time insights from platforms like X and Google, enhancing rapid response during and after disasters, resource distribution, and effective crisis communication to better safeguard communities.
13 November 2024
COP29: Loss and Damage funding has to be at core of new climate finance regime
The focus of the ongoing COP is to decide on a new finance regime. Major polluters will be asked to massively increase their financial contributions to developing nations. Researchers from IIASA and CMCC show that Loss and Damage needs of vulnerable countries range between roughly 130 and 940 billion Dollars in 2025 alone. On top of money for mitigation and adaptation.
Publications
Peichel, C.L., Bolnick, D.I., Brännström, Å., Dieckmann, U. , & Safran, R.J. (2025). Speciation. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology a041735. 10.1101/cshperspect.a041735. Zisopoulos, F.K., Fath, B. , Meirelles De Oliveira, B., Toboso-Chavero, S., D'Assenza-David, H., de Souza, V.M., Huang, H., Scrieciu, Ş., Clark, O.G., Noll, D., Singh, S., Stefanakis, A., Boyd, G., Schraven, D., & de Jong, M. (2025). Towards an ecological metaphor for regenerative circular economies. Ecological Economics 231 e108545. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108545. Erokhin, D. (2025). Public Discourse Surrounding the 2025 California Wildfires: A Sentiment and Topic Analysis of High-Engagement YouTube Comments. Geosciences 15 (3) 10.3390/geosciences15030100. Elroy, O., Woo, G., Komendantova, N. , & Yosipof, A. (2025). A dual-focus analysis of wikipedia traffic and linguistic patterns in public risk awareness Post-Charlie Hebdo. Computers in Human Behavior Reports 17 e100580. 10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100580.