The focus of the AFE Group is to generate knowledge and develop state-of-the-art modeling tools to advance the scientific community and support policies that enable better understanding and management of global and regional agriculture, forestry, and natural land ecosystems.
The basis for improved assessment and management of natural resources is a deep understanding of complex and interacting biophysical processes within terrestrial ecosystems. The AFE Group aims to achieve a leading position in addressing research questions requiring integrated analyses of agriculture, forestry, and natural land ecosystems at global and regional levels.
The group’s strategic ambition of biophysical tool integration for, among others, the assessment of nature-based/climate solutions, landscape restoration options, agro-forestry, or future cropland management, is at the core of the IIASA research domain on biodiversity and ecosystem services. With sustainability and biodiversity aspects as cross-cutting environmental safeguards, the group is closely aligned with the strategic direction of its host program on Biodiversity and Natural Resources. This structural and strategic setup will ensure that AFE becomes a valuable research pillar and contributor to the overarching IIASA strategy.
The Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) at IIASA offers an exceptional opportunity for PhD students to engage in collaborative research with IIASA's interdisciplinary teams.
Models, tools, datasets
Wildfire climate impacts and adaptation model (FLAM)
The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate-based global gridded crop model (EPIC-IIASA)
Global Forest Model (G4M)
BeWhere Model: A Spatially Explicit System Optimization Tool
Projects
Evolving Participatory Information System for Nature-based Climate Solutions (Epistem)
Accelerating collection and use of soil health information using AI technology (AI4SoilHealth)
Integrated Future Wildfire Hot Spot Mapping for Austria (Austria Fire Futures )
BioClima EU-China
Staff
Enrico Confienza
Program and Project Officer/RESTORE+ Project Manager (AFE)
Sophia Götzinger
Guest Researcher (AFE)
Wenying Han
Guest Researcher (AFE)
Kentaro Aoki
Guest Research Scholar (AFE)
News
07 October 2026
MOSAIC results highlighted during Austria’s Protective Forest Week 2026
MOSAIC project results and IIASA research on climate-resilient protective forests are featured during Austria’s Protective Forest Week 2026, including work on wildfire risk, decision-support tools, and the Alpine Resilience Web Atlas.
06 October 2026
IIASA celebrates long-term partnership with MSc European Forestry Program
Coordinators, partners and graduates of the MSc European Forestry program visited IIASA on 29 September 2026. Twenty visitors from at least eight countries came as part of the alumni event held alongside the program's graduation ceremony at BOKU University in Vienna.
01 October 2026
Fire&Ice brings the boreal fire community together at IBFRA 2026 Conference in Canada
Where, under future climate, will fire put people's health at risk? And what can we do?
These are the questions we asked in the Fire&Ice workshop that we held on 24 August 2026, at the International Boreal Forest Research Association (IBFRA) Conference in Québec City with around 28 participating boreal specialists, from students and researchers to practitioners and decisionmakers from leading institutions and organizations.
Events
Focus
19 October 2026
Arms, food, and nuclear winter: An IIASA modeling story spanning 40 years
In the 1980s, IIASA researchers asked what cutting military budgets and redirecting these funds to agriculture could do for the world's food supply. Today, researchers at the Institute are asking the reverse question: what would happen to the world’s food if nuclear weapons were used? A folder of working papers from 40 years ago highlights some striking connections between these two questions.
Annual Report 2025
Annual Report 2025: Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program Highlights
Balancing the needs of people and nature is one of the defining challenges of our time. Throughout 2025, the Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program advanced research on how societies can pursue climate, biodiversity, and development goals while managing growing pressures on land, water, energy, and ecosystems.
Publications
Göransson, A., Umeki, K., Allansson, J., & Wetterlund, E. (2027). Integrating pyrolysis-based biocarbon production with sawmills: Heat recovery and techno-economic performance. Energy Conversion and Management 371 e122206. 10.1016/j.enconman.2026.122206.
Matschegg, D., Fuhrmann, M., Strasser, C., Krobath, P., Wetterlund, E., Stern, T., & Dißauer, C. (2026). GHG reduction potential of biomass gasification pathways: An Austrian life cycle emission analysis. Cleaner Environmental Systems 23 e100506. 10.1016/j.cesys.2026.100506.
Torto, S.O.G., Pachauri, R.K., Singh, J.G., Tiwari, S. , Malik, H., Jadoun, V.K., & Afthanorhan, A. (2026). Transactive energy management in modern multi-vectored energy systems: A comprehensive framework. Sustainable Futures 12 e102073. 10.1016/j.sftr.2026.102073.
Oberleitner, T. , Baklanov, A. , Ferreira, T.B., Hoogenboom, G., Jägermeyr, J., Jain, A.K., Lin, T.‐S., Mialyk, O., Müller, C., Ruane, A.C., Zabel, F., Balkovič, J. , Wang, C., Faye, B., Guarin, J.R., Iizumi, T., Khabarov, N. , Liu, W., Okada, M., Rabin, S.S., Scheer, C., Skalský, R. , & Folberth, C. (2026). Explaining Climatic Drivers of Yield Anomalies in Global Crop Models Through Metamodel‐Based Attribution. Earth's Future 14 (10) e2025EF007457. 10.1029/2025EF007457.
González-Alvarado, M., Mendoza Ponce, A. , Orozco-Ramírez, Q., Arellano, L., & Bonilla-Moheno, M. (2026). Livestock-driven agricultural expansion and the transformation of a dryland food system in northern Mexico. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 10 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1923361.
Robeling, N.-M., Boro Saikia, S., Van Looveren, G., Stanković, I., Schleich, S., Johnstone, C., Güdel, M., & Kislyakova, K. (2026). Self-consistent 1D modelling of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere as an exoplanet analogue. Astronomy & Astrophysics 713 A260. 10.1051/0004-6361/202659081.