
The POPJUS Program continues and builds upon research activities previously undertaken in the IIASA World Population and Risk and Resilience programs. Insights into current and future population sizes, structures, and distributions are fundamental to understanding human impacts on ecosystems and simultaneously, the impact of environmental changes on human wellbeing differentiated by sub-populations.
The program’s research agenda embraces the key priority in the IIASA strategic plan by identifying sustainable development challenges and exploring people-centric systems solutions for sustainable, resilient, just and equitable societies. The program focuses on strengthening the human-centered and population-based approach, taking into consideration equity and the just distribution of opportunities, outcomes, and processes. In doing so, the program builds on existing strengths and expertise in population and human capital modeling as well as expertise in understanding, managing, and equitably governing systemic and existential risks associated with global change. The program will continue to invest in advancing its methods, approaches, and data to deliver results that can be incorporated into system analytical models, inclusive policy processes, and ultimately into equitable and effective policy pathways and transformations.
POPJUS Research Groups

Equity and Justice (EQU)
The EQU Group focuses on the human dimension of selected globally relevant policy challenges, with the aim of delineating and advancing their analysis, management, and governance with special attention paid to the design and application of equity and justice frameworks, both within the group and across IIASA.

Migration and Sustainable Development (MIG)
MIG focuses on applying advanced data collection and estimation methods to quantify and better understand the trends, patterns, drivers, and consequences of different types of migration considering its interactions with the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

Multidimensional Demographic Modeling (MDM)
Through its research, the MDM Group aims to advance demographic modeling methods to assess and forecast population dynamics with a focus on demographic and spatial heterogeneity under different socioeconomic scenarios at the global, national, and sub-national level.
Wittgenstein Centre
POPJUS is one of the three pillars of The Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, a collaboration among the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the University of Vienna.
Read POPNET Newsletter WIC Report of Activities 2018–2022
Models, tools, datasets
Projects
Staff
News

04 October 2023
Migration Estimates, Scenarios and Policies: Three new QuantMig online tools

13 September 2023
IIASA Flagship Report: Illuminating the path to sustainable wellbeing

07 September 2023
A finer picture of global migration reveals complex patterns
Events
06 October 2023 MuTh, Am Augartenspitz, 1020 Vienna
Eco-theater: What we want - Breath and a Piece of Cake
06 December 2023 Vienna, Austria
Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2023-Exploring Population Heterogeneities
Focus

19 September 2023
Engaging communities in resilience planning: Insights from the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance learning event
IIASA researchers Teresa Deubelli-Hwang and Jung Hee Hyun share insights from a decade of collaborating on fostering flood resilience in communities around the world following a recent Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance learning event.
05 September 2023
Policy and finance innovation for nature-based solutions

26 June 2023
Addressing population decline in Ukraine after the Russian invasion

Publications
Schirpke, U., Tasser, E., Borsky, S., Braun, M., Eitzinger, J., Gaube, V., Getzner, M., Glatzel, S., Gschwantner, T., Kirchner, M., Leitinger, G., Mehdi-Schulz, B., Mitter, H., Scheifinger, H., Thaler, S., Thom, D., & Thaler, T. (2023). Past and future impacts of land-use changes on ecosystem services in Austria. Journal of Environmental Management 345 e118728. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118728. Birkmann, J., Schüttrumpf, H., Handmer, J., Thieken, A., Kuhlicke, C., Truedinger, A., Sauter, H., Klopries, E.-M., Greiving, S., Jamshed, A., Merz, B., Solecki, W., & Kirschbauer, L. (2023). Strengthening resilience in reconstruction after extreme events – Insights from flood affected communities in Germany. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 96 e103965. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103965. Russell, C., Gyawali, D., Linnerooth-Bayer, J., & Thompson, M. (2023). Disaster risk reduction reconsidered. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 96 e103895. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103895. Campo, P., Willaarts, B. , Magnuszewski, P., Giger, T., Ksiazczak, A.M., Brychczynski, H., & Kułakowska, M. (2023). Collaborative Design of Pathways to Sustainability. Guidebook for designing and running in-person workshops. Zenodo 10.5281/zenodo.8345513. Lutz, W. & Pachauri, S. (2023). Systems Analysis for Sustainable Wellbeing. 50 years of IIASA research, 40 years after the Brundtland Commission, contributing to the post-2030 Global Agenda. IIASA Report. Laxenburg, Austria: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) 10.5281/zenodo.8214208.