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.
Projects
Open-Earth-Monitor Cyberinfrastructure (OEMC)
Transformations within Reach (TwR-II)
Staff
Chihiro Watanabe
Guest Research Scholar (CAT)
Ulf Dieckmann
Principal Research Scholar (EM, SYRR, CAT)
Hans Metz
Guest Research Scholar (EM)
Ulf Dieckmann
Principal Research Scholar (EM, SYRR, CAT)
News
04 October 2024
Countries under fiscal pressure from recent disaster events
Recent flood events in Europe have caused huge losses in many countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. IIASA research shows that while Pan-European emergency aid financing is important to assist countries in coping with large-scale natural hazard induced disaster events, there is a need to think about new ways forward for the size and scope of funding levels as well as bringing fairness and other proactive risk financing instruments into consideration.
30 September 2024
Transforming climate action through data
After the devastating floods that recently struck Vienna and other areas of Europe, global attention has turned to the need for better tools to combat climate change impacts. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also highlighted the need to build a competitive, decarbonized and circular economy, with a fair transition for all as a high-priority objective for this legislature. In this spirit, the Open Earth Monitor project will kick off the second edition of its flagship event in collaboration with IIASA on 2 October.
26 September 2024
In Memory of Yuri Ermoliev
In Memory of Yuri Ermoliev, an outstanding world-known scientist, more than 35 years contributing his knowledge and experience to IIASA research agenda, IIASA Schoalar and Emeritus, “Pioneer” in Stochastic Optimization, Academician of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor Dr.
Events
Laxenburg, Austria
Open-Earth-Monitor Global Workshop 2024
Online and Austrian Academy of Sciences (Doktor-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2, Vienna)
Human Agency to Navigate the Anthropocene
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) & Online
German IIASA Networking Event: "Systems analysis for a sustainable and peaceful future"
Focus
29 August 2024
Experiencing the science that we write about
IIASA researcher, Linda See, shares her experiences at the coalface of where plastic pollution is collected by volunteers during a beach cleanup event.
08 July 2024
Future food demand in The Gambia: can increased crop productivity and climate adaptation close the supply–demand gap?
The Gambia faces significant food availability issues due to low agricultural productivity. IIASA researchers and colleagues used the FABLE Calculator to explore actions to reduce the food supply-demand gap by 2050. The results, published in Food Security, reveal that current cropland will not meet food demand by 2050.
Publications
Feichtinger, G. & Wrzaczek, S. (2024). The optimal momentum of population growth and decline. Theoretical Population Biology 155 51-66. 10.1016/j.tpb.2023.12.002. Barthelme, P., Darbyshire, E., Spracklen, D.V., & Watmough, G. (2024). Detecting Vietnam War bomb craters in declassified historical KH-9 satellite imagery. Science of Remote Sensing 10 e100143. 10.1016/j.srs.2024.100143. Wu, W., Wang, Z., Wu, K., Chen, Y., Wang, S., & Niu, X. (2024). Urban resilience framework: A network-based model to assess the physical system reaction and disaster prevention. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 109 e107619. 10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107619. Erokhin, D. & Zagler, M. (2024). Who will sign a Double Tax Treaty next? A prediction based on economic determinants and machine learning algorithms. Economic Modelling 139 e106819. 10.1016/j.econmod.2024.106819.