The Raiffa Academy, anchored at IIASA, is the hub of a global network of researchers, government officials, and decision analysts promoting the application of decision science and negotiation analysis methodologies in the development of solutions to complex, science-intensive policy challenges. In this personal reflection, Howard Raiffa's daughter, Judy Raiffa, shares the story of her father's transformative years at IIASA, the profound impact they had on his life's work, and the enduring vision he hoped would continue to shape the Institute's future.
IIASA researchers Pallav Purohit and Zbigniew Klimont examined the urgent challenge of air pollution in South Asia and the opportunities to address it through science-based policy and regional cooperation. In the run-up to the recent International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum, they drew on recent research and real-world examples to highlight how integrated approaches to energy, climate, and air quality can deliver cleaner air, improved health, and more resilient economies for nearly one billion people.
Ahead of the recent International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum, IIASA researchers Benigna Boza-Kiss and Shonali Pachauri explored the often-overlooked role of the building sector in achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Drawing on IIASA research, they highlight the urgent need to transform how buildings are designed, renovated, and used, emphasizing demand-side solutions, policy reform, and systemic change to avoid locking in emissions for decades to come.
In a new article published on The Conversation, IIASA researchers Gaurav Ganti and Joeri Rogelj, together with colleagues from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Ruben Prütz and Sabine Fuss, explore the complex trade-offs involved in planting trees to remove carbon from the atmosphere, highlighting how such efforts can either support or undermine environmental goals depending on how and where they are implemented.
The most recent edition of the Forest Talks webinar series – jointly hosted by the ForestNavigator project (coordinated by IIASA) together with the ForestPaths and PathFinder projects – brought together researchers, modelers, and national reporting experts to discuss advances in Earth observation (EO) for forest monitoring and greenhouse gas inventory support across Europe.
Cyberattacks, blackouts, natural disasters: in a world where physical and digital systems are becoming ever more tightly intertwined, disruptions can quickly paralyze entire infrastructures. At a recent public lecture co-hosted by IIASA and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), renowned computer scientist and mathematician Dimitris E. Simos spoke about these vulnerabilities. In this interview, he explains why our systems are particularly susceptible to attacks, how chain reactions occur, and what each of us can do to improve security.
The IIASA Urban Futures Hub is a cutting-edge research initiative dedicated to studying and assessing how cities and urban systems can lead climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts from local to global scales. The Hub regularly brings together experts from various disciplines within and beyond the Institute to collaborate on assessing cities and climate change across diverse domains and scales. IIASA researchers Leila Niamir and Merle Quade share insights from the initiative's latest expert workshop.
Validating disaster and climate resilience: how to create a gold standard for resilience-measurement
As climate risks intensify, fostering community resilience has become a global priority but a fundamental question remains for practice and policy: how can resilience be defined, measured, and proven to inform implementation? Together with the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance, IIASA researchers have spent more than a decade developing and scientifically validating a universally-applicable framework to measure community resilience, turning a concept into an evidence-based tool to guide real-world implementation in the most vulnerable communities across the globe.
In this IIASA Insights article, Nadejda Komendantova and Tahereh Zobeidi explore how behavioral science can strengthen disaster resilience by deepening our understanding of how people perceive and respond to risk. Drawing on their work within the PARATUS project, they highlight how integrating human decision-making into multi-hazard risk assessment can support more effective and socially grounded resilience strategies.
Participation in leading international scientific conferences is an important element of IIASA’s engagement with the global research community. In December, IIASA researchers participated in the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2025 (AGU25) in New Orleans, one of the world’s largest annual conferences in Earth, climate, and environmental sciences. IIASA researcher Andre Nakhavali shares some reflections and experiences from the event.
What happens to essential maternal and child healthcare when floods or extreme heat make it harder for families to reach clinics and for health workers to deliver services? IIASA Health, Aging, and Health Systems Research Group Leader, Josephine Borghi, shares perspectives from the REACH project, which is exploring emerging risks and promising strategies to build more climate-resilient health systems.
IIASA recently introduced its latest innovation to country teams of the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium: the Public Policy Lab (PPL), an interactive platform designed to help stakeholders explore, develop, and assess national food and land-use pathways together.
With intensifying climate-related risks deepening existing injustices across and within countries, it is paramount to center justice considerations in climate risk management research and practice. Earlier in December, around 50 participants worked intensely on this topic at a highly interactive three-day conference at IIASA to exchange expertise and develop concrete ideas and next steps.
If you’ve ever tried to piece together from academic publications how our planetary landscapes are shifting – from forests greening to croplands drying – you know it can feel like trying to assemble a puzzle when each piece comes from a different box. EvoLand’s new STAC Catalogue changes that. It aims to offer a simple, open doorway into the vast world of land-monitoring data, making it easier than ever to understand how our planet is evolving.
International scientific collaboration brings people together, but also carries hidden costs. Jack Vahnberg and Steffen Lohrey share their experiences living in short-term rentals in Vienna during the 2025 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP). From wasted household items and energy inefficiency to the impact on urban structures and housing affordability, they explore how the realities of temporary stays can conflict with the very sustainability goals their research aims to promote.
IIASA and partners are advancing research on how interconnected global crises can be transformed into opportunities for resilience and sustainable development. Drawing on insights from a new International Journal of Disaster Risk Science special issue, IIASA researchers working at the coalface of this topic highlight innovative frameworks and tools for understanding systemic risks and guiding more integrated, science-informed policymaking.
What begins as a summer research experience can sometimes grow into a lasting collaboration. In this blog post, Jaewon Son reflects on her path from participating in the 2024 IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP), to returning as a Guest Research Scholar with the Equity and Justice Research Group.
IIASA Capacity Development and Academic Training Dean, Fabian Wagner, recounts a moment of convergence at the recent first author meeting of the upcoming Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Spatial Planning and Connectivity Assessment, that speaks to the enduring reach of the IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP).