
The Equity and Justice Research Group at IIASA advances the justice debate in global change research and sustainability science using mixed, systems-based, and participatory methods.
EQU research aims to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by developing and applying conceptual and analytical frameworks for integrating equity and justice into systems analysis. Scientists in EQU bring a valued perspective to major global and local policy issues, including the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, by identifying and co-designing governance reforms and policy options that take account of diverse perceptions of procedural, distributive and compensatory justice.
EQU researchers pioneer innovative mixed methods, with a special focus on the complementarity of qualitative systems approaches to quantitative systems analysis, to mobilise the manifold ideas of justice and governance approaches for complex societal challenges. To bridge the gap between conceptualization and implementation, EQU researchers develop and employ participatory processes that provide a safe space to co-produce options for transformative change. Stakeholder-inclusive research means putting people's lived experience at the center to solve “real policy problems” that our societies face. We aim for systematic and transparent research and to make our processes and output accessible to all.
In our team, we appreciate and harness diversity in views and work styles and we foster an enabling and collaborative work environment. We remain self-reflexive and open-minded. The research group works closely with other IIASA research programs and external partners to position our research activities in a systems analysis framework that reconciles both hard and soft systems methodologies and is grounded in ethics.
Models, tools, datasets
Projects
Staff
News

03 April 2025
Celebrating Research on Health at IIASA; World Health Day 2025

02 April 2025
Save the Date: INQUIMUS 2025 Workshop

11 March 2025
IIASA provides insights on research, technology, and innovation to Austrian federal states
Events
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
INQUIMUS workshop 2025 edition: Centering Justice in Climate Risk Management for Transformative Change
Focus

16 January 2025
Strengthening transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production at IIASA
Transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production are transforming the way IIASA addresses complex societal challenges. Susanne Hanger-Kopp reports on behalf of the participants of an IIASA-wide workshop that highlighted the potential of and hurdles to these approaches.

04 September 2024
The role of urban green spaces as nature-based solutions in Korea and Germany
Imagine a city where every neighborhood has lush green spaces that not only beautify the area but also improve the quality of life for its residents. How can we work together to make this vision a reality? Jaewon Son, a participant in the 2024 IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program shares insights into this important question.
Publications
Hochrainer-Stigler, S. , Mechler, R. , Higuera-Roa, O. , Bachmann, M. , Šakić Trogrlić, R. , Handmer, J. , & Dieckmann, U. (2025). Understanding multiple resilience dividends and system boundaries in disaster- and climate-risk management: a systems approach for enhanced decision-making. Environmental Research Letters 20 (4) e044026. 10.1088/1748-9326/adac7a. Scheifinger, K. , Brutschin, E. , Zimm, C. , Mintz-Woo, K. , Kikstra, J. , Pachauri, S. , Rogelj, J. , Riahi, K. , Żebrowski, P. , Sovacool, B., Schinko, T. , Low, S., & Fritz, L. (2025). Breaking Barriers with Patterns: New Tools for Integrating Distributional Justice into Global Mitigation Scenarios. DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-12797. In: EGU General Assembly 2025, 27 April-02 May 2025, Vienna. (Submitted) Folberth, C. , Sinabell, F., Schinko, T. , Hanger-Kopp, S., Lappöhn, S., Mitter, H., Sandén, T., & Süssenbacher, E. (2025). Integrating Global Comparability and National Specificity in Agricultural Sustainability Indicators Through Stakeholder‐Science Co‐Evaluation in Austria. Community Science 4 (1) e2024CSJ000092. 10.1029/2024CSJ000092. Mora, C.J., Malik, A., Alexander, L.V., Stuart-Smith, R.F., King, A.D., Perkins-Kirkpatrick, S., & Schinko, T. (2025). Attributing global impacts of local extremes to climate change for improving loss and damage estimates. Environmental Research Letters 20 (3) e031009. 10.1088/1748-9326/adb9fe. Andrijevic, M. , Zimm, C. , Moyer, J.D., Muttarak, R. , & Pachauri, S. (2025). Representing gender inequality in scenarios improves understanding of climate challenges. Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-024-02242-5.