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The BrightSpace Project funded under Horizon Europe brings together partners from across Europe, including IIASA, to design a roadmap for effective and sustainable strategies for assessing and addressing the challenges of EU agriculture to navigate within a safe and just operating space.

IIASA researcher Ali Kharrazi contributed to the Expert Group Meeting on Food System Risk Assessment at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the World Food Program (WFP).

IIASA researchers are collaborating on a new Horizon Europe project, which will use artificial intelligence to help farmers and land managers analyze their soil health without the need for a laboratory.

Former Director at the European Commission, Anastassios Haniotis, joined IIASA as a senior guest research scholar in the Integrated Biosphere Futures Research Group earlier this year. We want to take this opportunity to share his journey to IIASA, as well as to highlight the unique expertise he brings to the institute.

Florian Kraxner and Andrey Krasovskiy participated in the workshop "Drivers of Climate Risks in Europe: Harmonizing Research on Impact Attribution of Past Events," which took place on Friday, September 22, 2023, at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Potsdam, Germany.

The project Quantifying Migration Scenarios for Better Policy (QuantMig) has launched three freely-accessible, open online tools.

Deteriorating water quality poses major threats to human health, economic development, and local ecosystems in Uganda. The Ugandan government is working with international scientists to build up knowledge and enhance institutional capacity for better water quality management, as well as improve the understanding of water quality status in the country. 

IIASA recently welcomed Ron Milo, an Associate Professor from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, to discuss ongoing research projects and explore future collaborations between the two institutes.

Introducing a Game-Changing Social Media Intelligence Mining Tool! The ASA/CAT Groups proudly unveil a groundbreaking tool that promises to redefine our understanding of public sentiment and discourse across digital landscapes. With support from contributors Hossein Hassani, Nadya Komendantova, Elena Rovenskaya, and Mohammad Reza Yeganegi, this cutting-edge innovation is set to transform the way we harness insights from platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Google, and news outlets.

IIASA scientists contributed to a new UN report focusing on the importance and potential benefit from synergistic action with regard to climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report highlights potential knowledge barriers and major political and economic challenges and provides recommendations to address them. 

Accurate estimates and forecasts of crop area and yield play an important role in guiding policy decisions related to food security, especially in light of the growing impacts of climate change. IIASA researchers and colleagues highlight the value of integrating remote sensing and data sharing for timely agricultural information critical for food security and sustainability planning in a new paper.    

Working with IIASA researchers, Ghana has adopted a citizen science approach to addressing the problem of plastic pollution in marine environments, becoming the first country to integrate this type of data on marine plastic litter into its official monitoring and reporting processes. A new study presents this innovative approach on Ghana’s citizen science journey and offers a pathway that can potentially be adopted in other countries.

IIASA is proud to announce the launch of its Flagship Report, "Systems Analysis for Sustainable Wellbeing. 50 Years of IIASA Research, 40 Years After the Brundtland Commission, Contributing to the Post-2030 Global Agenda” on Wednesday, 13 September 2023 at an official UN event in the framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly and the Sustainable Development Goals mid-term review.

Boreal forests often bring to mind a winter wonderland: spruce and pine forests as far as the eye can see, fluffy snow dotted with reindeer beneath a nighttime sky brightened by the aurora borealis. Climate change threatens this fragile, pristine habitat that spans 8 countries in the far north. Now boreal forests are associated not just with snowy landscapes, they are becoming synonymous with raging wildfires and massive plumes of smoke, such as those found currently in Canada. Mitigating the threats posed by climate change in this unique ecosystem and discussing the most recent boreal-related research is the focus of the International Boreal Forest Association conference. Organized in large part by IIASA’s own Florian Kraxner, IBFRA 2023 was held in Helsinki, Finland, where researchers from around the globe gathered to discuss recent findings, foster new connections, and contribute to a plan of attack to save boreal forests as we know them.

Replacing 50% of meat and milk products with plant-based alternatives by 2050 can reduce agriculture and land use related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 31% and halt the degradation of forest and natural land, according to new research.

Climate change and increases in drought and rainstorms pose serious challenges to water management, not only in terms of the quantity of water, but also its quality. However, according to the most recent IPCC report, our current understanding of this issue is inadequate. To fill this gap, an international group of scientists has brought together a large body of research on water quality in rivers worldwide.

New research by an international team challenges the common narrative linking climate change to migration. The findings emphasize the importance of human development factors over climate considerations and reveal the complexity of migration patterns often obscured by national averages.

Johanna San Pedro is the latest addition to the Agriculture, Forestry, and Ecosystem Services Research Group at IIASA. We wanted to take this opportunity to share her journey before IIASA, her passions, and what makes her a unique addition to the FLAM team.

An Austrian choreographer, an American playwright, and a Dutch composer have collaborated with scientists to shed light on various dimensions of the ecological crisis in artistic ways. On 6 October 2023 at 20:00 CET, they will present some of their work in an engaging program titled “What We Want” at the MuTh, one of Vienna’s well-known concert halls.

Every summer, IIASA turns into a buzzing hub of knowledge seekers, and this year is no different! The AFE FLAM team welcomed three interns and three YSSP fellows this summer and we took a moment to chat with Rasheed, Adrian, Laura, and Lawrence about their experiences and goals.