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

stakeholder groups

Social and Policy Simulations

qualitative system mapping

Integrative qualitative system mapping (IQSM)

instruction

fairSTREAM toolkit

design thinking symbolic picture

Design Thinking (DT)

Projects

Wildfire

Systems approach to EU wildfire risk management project (FIRELOGUE)

African landscape with Tsiribihina river during dry season, Madagascar

PHUSICOS

Kreatives Ideenteamwork-Konzept

makingAchange

fairSTREAM_logo

fairSTREAM

Staff

Thomas Schinko profile picture

Thomas Schinko

Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar (EQU)

Thomas Thaler profile picture

Thomas Thaler

Research Scholar (EQU)

Piotr Magnuszewski profile picture

Piotr Magnuszewski

Research Scholar (WAT, EQU)

Emma Prantl profile picture

Emma Prantl

Guest Research Assistant (EQU)

News

Illmitz

04 August 2023

WaterStress: A systems perspective on Seewinkel region and its development opportunities

IIASA Researcher Susanne Hanger-Kopp was invited to present results from the WaterStressAT project in Illmitz-Seewinkel, Austria.
Wildfire

10 July 2023

Addressing justice in wildfire risk management

The unequal distribution of wildfire risk in our society is influenced by various factors, such as social vulnerabilities and intersecting forms of inequality, including gender, age, ethnicity, or disability. A new article calls for more integrated and inclusive wildfire risk management approaches and proposes a novel framework mapping different justice aspects.

Events

Focus

Colorful paper-people cutouts holding hands

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

Policy Brief #38, September 2023. The European Commission is investing considerably in nature-based solutions to position Europe as a leader for ‘innovation with nature’. While ambition is growing, implementation remains problematic.
PB38

26 June 2023

Citizen science: Co-creating a better future

Options Magazine, Summer 2023: Citizen science is the new buzzword. Science is no longer confined to ivory towers, it is something that anyone and everyone can participate in. With numerous citizen science initiatives around the world, you can be anything from an astronomer for a day, counting stars in the night sky, to a marine biologist decoding whale sounds.  
Citizen Science- Main Image

Publications