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Options Winter 2021: Kian Mintz-Woo participated in the IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) in 2018 and is currently a guest researcher in the Equity and Justice Research Group of the Population and Just Societies Program. He is also a permanent lecturer at University College Cork in Ireland.

Options Winter 2021: Dilek Fraisl researches how citizen science can provide data needed to monitor progress on the UN Sustainable Goals (SDGs).

Options Winter 2021: Q&A with Roula Inglesi-Lotz, Professor of Economics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and member of the Global Young Academy (GYA). IIASA collaborates with the GYA to develop, connect, and mobilize young research talent from around the world. The GYA gives young scientists a voice in the global scientific community and empowers them to make evidence-based and inclusive decisions, and lead international, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational collaboration.

Options Winter 2021: Jim Hall, Chair of the IIASA Science Advisory Committee, writes about how new data sets, systems analysis, and machine learning can help pinpoint hotspots of vulnerability and target measures to enhance resilience to future threats from climate change.

Options Winter 2021: The integrity of traditional reindeer husbandry in Finland is under threat. In a study that analyzed the perceptions of herders on the drivers of change in reindeer management, IIASA researcher Mia Landauer and colleagues hoped to amplify local voices so they can be included in future policy decisions.

Options Winter 2021: While urbanization is a common cause of biodiversity decline, the Republic of Korea has managed to maintain its biodiversity during its rapid economic development. IIASA researcher Florian Kraxner and colleagues analyzed the persistence of plants in the country and constructed future scenarios to better prepare for the pressures of climate change.

Options Winter 2021: In an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint, Japan has put ambitious strategies in place to reduce energy demand. IIASA researcher Shinichiro Fujimori and his colleagues used modeling to explore potential energy system changes and their cost implications.

Options Winter 2021: Renewable energies such as wind power will be increasingly important for a net-zero future. IIASA participated in a study that looked at the impacts of wind power expansion in Brazil and explored possibilities to reduce the environmental risks.

Options Winter 2021: The herd immunity approach was initially considered as a management option for the COVID-19 pandemic. IIASA researchers looked at what the cost of inaction would have been in the USA.

Options Winter 2021: Lack of proper waste management poses a threat to both the environment and human health. To alleviate the problem, IIASA researchers analyzed how waste management interventions such as turning waste into biofuel and a ban on open burning would impact air pollution, CO₂ emissions, and health in Kisumu county, Kenya.

Options Winter 2021: Water scarcity and rising fertilizer prices are causing complications for sustainable agriculture in South Africa. IIASA researchers have validated and calibrated models to help address the issue. 

Options Winter 2021: Human activity is the main cause of climate change. It is also people who endure the worst of its impacts. It is a matter of utmost urgency that people are part of the solution.

Options Winter 2021: Scenarios are essential for exploring climate change. These stories of future Earth help to reveal how we might prevent global tragedy.

The concept of systems analysis is difficult to pin down, but in fact, the flexible, shapeshifting nature of this discipline turns out to be its superpower.

Options Winter 2021: IIASA research highlights role-playing simulation games as a promising approach to engage stakeholder of sustainable development across sectors in systems thinking and societal understanding of environmental challenges.

Policy Brief #32, October 2021. A comprehensive risk finance framework supports the identification of international funding options for reducing climate-related risk and addressing residual impacts beyond adaptation in vulnerable countries.

Policy Brief #31, October 2021. A harmonized scenario framework can help to align national climate policies with global goals.

Policy Brief #30, October 2021. Overshooting global temperature goals is risky. New research from the ENGAGE project shows the long-term economic benefits of scenarios that avoid overshoot and points out the investments needed to make it happen.

Policy Brief #29, October 2021. A new framework assesses the feasibility of climate scenarios, pointing out stumbling blocks and how to surmount them.

Impact Sheet #20, August 2021. IIASA and partners in East Africa are studying how the region’s economic development could affect water resources.