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ASA is excited to announce that the ECOANTITRUST initiative led by ASA Program Director, Elena Rovenskaya, has been awarded the innovative Competition Policy and Power Research (CPPR) Fund to continue its exploration of systems analysis approaches for competition regulation of the digital economy.

Germany’s Permanent Representative to the Office of the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, H.E. Ruediger Bohn, visited IIASA to discuss strengthening collaboration on global challenges.

A high-level delegation from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) visited IIASA for the second meeting of the IIASA-OECD Task Force focusing on systems thinking, anticipation, and resilience.

On October 25th, 2024, EM Research Group leader Sebastian Poledna participated in an international workshop in South Korea to promote Agent-based Modelling (ABM) as a tool for economic projections. Dr. Poledna delivered a keynote speech on "Economic forecasting with an Agent-based Model". The event was attended by other organizations such as OECD, IITP and WIFO, as well as several Korean universities, to name a few, and was co-hosted and funded by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). The objective of the multidisciplinary convergence workshop was to explore innovative solutions in the digital age for data- and evidence-based national policy, using concepts and methods such as agent-based modeling, AI-driven approaches, and methods from complex systems science. 

The G4DR project aims to enhance water security and resilience in Africa by unlocking the potential of sustainable groundwater development and protection.

The 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) underscored Kazakhstan’s leadership in sustainable land management during the side event titled “Carbon Farming in the Dry Land Belt of Northern Eurasia: Unlocking Win-Win Opportunities.” This session, co-organized by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, explored how innovative carbon farming practices can combat land degradation, mitigate climate change, and foster socio-economic development.

The German Environment Agency (UBA) is adopting the IIASA MESSAGEix framework to build up integrated assessment modeling capacity. The framework is primarily used for analyzing and designing energy systems and their interactions with the economy, the environment, and the society. On 10 December 2024, IIASA Director General, Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber and UBA representatives signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), paving the way for future cooperation.

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) provided a global stage for advancing carbon farming initiatives in Kazakhstan, a country uniquely positioned to drive nature-based climate solutions in the Asian Drylands Belt (ADB). The side event, titled “Carbon Farming in Kazakhstan: Unlocking the Opportunity,” was held at the QAZAQSTAN Pavilion in Baku, co-organized by IIASA, the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, the Center for Applied Research TALAP, and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Digital sector incumbents have established themselves in the artificial intelligence (AI) space through new forms of commercial partnerships. Now, antitrust authorities are raising concerns about such arrangements and the impact this will have on the future direction of AI. To discuss the latest developments, Elena Rovenskaya delivered a presentation on the adoption of systems analysis approaches to identify complex interactions between players in the digital economy.

The Integrated Assessment Modeling Consortium (IAMC) announces the Seventeenth IAMC Annual Meeting to be held on November 4-6, 2024 at Yonsei University, Main Campus, Seoul, South Korea.

The Government of Azerbaijan will host the 29th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 29), with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change. IIASA colleagues will join world leaders and diplomats in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November.

Researchers from the Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) program participated in a seminar inviting expert dialogue on the role of BRICS competition authorities in the fast-maturing era of artificial intelligence (AI) and whether authorities from BRICS and beyond can cooperate on a common vision for AI in the interest of societal welfare.

On October 17, 2024, IIASA hosted a panel discussion to introduce the proposed Howard Raiffa Center for Science Diplomacy. A multidisciplinary panel explored the role IIASA can play in advancing science diplomacy and enhance international cooperation on global policy challenges by bridging the gap between researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders through evidence-based decision-making.

IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program is convening a session at the Science Summit during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79) to discuss a new global security framework grounded in a science-informed understanding of both social and biophysical realities.

Co-organized by IIASA, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, this hybrid event marks the Austrian launch of the Human Development Report 2023-2024 "Breaking the gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world" with a keynote presentation by Pedro Conceicao, Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office, followed by flash talks and a panel discussion focusing on human agency as a foundation for sustainable development.

Working with IIASA researchers, Ghana pioneered the adoption of a citizen science approach to address the problem of plastic pollution in marine  environments. Further analysis highlighted how a similar citizen science data validation and reporting process can benefit reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in other countries.

IIASA researchers played a central role in the European Commission’s recommendation for the 2040 climate target, from delivering the scientific  foundation and establishing dialogue with the community, to being among the renowned scientists selected as members of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change.

IIASA researchers conducted several case studies and published two policy briefs informing policymakers about policy and financing barriers limiting the uptake of nature‑based solutions (NBS) compared to conventional grey infrastructure, as well as possible ways of overcoming them.

A year in the making, the IIASA Flagship Report titled “Systems Analysis for Sustainable Wellbeing. 50 Years of IIASA Research, 40 Years After the Brundtland Commission, Contributing to the Post-2030 Global Agenda” was launched in September 2023 at an official UN event in the  framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

IIASA researchers Dilek Yildiz and Guy Abel highlight the benefits of a new statistical model that combines traditional data sources like the census with real-time Facebook data to estimate EU migrant populations, offering valuable insights for policymakers.