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.
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.
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
Sebastian Poledna
Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar (EM)
Anna Shchiptsova
Guest Research Scholar (EM)
Martin Hofer
Researcher (NODES)
Yadong Yu
Guest Research Scholar (ASA)
News
08 April 2025
The 19th International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks: Spotlight on Sustainability and Risk Management
The prestigious international forum took place from February 10 to 14 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. It brought together leading academics, policymakers, and industry experts to discuss critical global challenges in sustainability, food security, and risk management. It was also endorsed by international scientific associations in agricultural economics, agribusiness, engineering, and information research including European Association of Agricultural Economists, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, Associzzione Internazionale di Economia Alimentare e Agro-Industriale, International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and International Network for IT in Agriculture, Food and the Environment.
03 April 2025
Celebrating Research on Health at IIASA; World Health Day 2025
Researchers at IIASA are studying the direct and indirect effects of climate change on health, shedding light on healthy aging drivers and metrics and analyzing interconnections between the components of multi-dimensional national well-being.
14 March 2025
Launch of New Citizen Science Picture Pile Campaign on Livestock and Grassland Management
Want to contribute to the European Union’s climate neutrality target but not sure how? Join the latest Picture Pile campaign as part of IIASA’s LAMASUS project. Help us to identify livestock and grassland management practices from photographs, which will be used to validate a new geodatabase on land use management.
Events
Laxenburg, Austria and online
IIASA Resilience Hub Series: Communicating resilience: Visualization, virtual/augmented reality, serious games, and AI
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. Higuera-Roa, O. , Bachmann, M. , Mechler, R. , Šakić Trogrlić, R. , Reimann, L., Mazzoleni, M., Aerts, J.C.J.H, Buskop, F.E., Pirani, A., & Mysiak, J. (2025). Challenges and opportunities in climate risk assessment: future directions for assessing complex climate risks. Environmental Research Letters 20 (5) e053003. 10.1088/1748-9326/adc756. Huang, Y., Dieckmann, U. , & Heino, M. (2025). Socio-economic status and occupational mobility of China’s Fishery Population: A quantitative analysis based on social-survey data. Fisheries Research 285 e107362. 10.1016/j.fishres.2025.107362. Razzaghzadeh, Z., Tabesh, M., Nasseri, M., Masoumi, F., & Yazdanpanah, M. (2025). Beyond tradition: Unveiling the socio-psychological drivers of sustainable water use in farming. Journal of Environmental Management 382 e125313. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125313.