IIASA researchers contributed to a new international study showing that a combination of healthier diets, improved farm productivity, and reduced food waste could fundamentally reshape global agriculture, substantially reducing pressure on land and greenhouse gas emissions while delivering significant benefits for human health and the environment.
Lisa Palmer reflects on the Raiffa Academy which opened with a premise that many global challenges suffer from failures in decision-making, negotiation and implementation, not a lack of data.
A new Focus Issue has been launched in Environmental Research: Climate on ‘Climate Risks and Socioeconomic Vulnerability’, bringing together Guest Editors from sister projects SPARCCLE, CROSSEU and ACCREU.
IIASA recently welcomed Professor Subra Suresh – Vannevar Bush Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Professor at Large at Brown University, former Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and former President of Carnegie Mellon University and Nanyang Technological University Singapore – for a full day of exchange culminating in a Science Parliament Lecture titled, Innovation 4.0 for Humanity 4.0.
Climate change does not affect everyone equally. Vulnerability to extreme heat is shaped by a combination of conditions in which people live and work. If climate adaptation is to reduce vulnerability rather than simply manage its consequences, it must address the underlying conditions that create vulnerability. This is particularly relevant for workers, whose experiences remain a major blind spot in climate adaptation despite their essential role in providing the goods and services society depends on.
At a time when strengthening biodiversity protection and climate resilience has never been more urgent, cost-efficient and evidence-based approaches to conservation are gaining real policy traction. The NaturaConnect project has spent four years developing precisely these approaches – and this event is your opportunity to engage with the results.
We will present the project’s scientific outputs, innovative decision-support tools and policy recommendations, covering protected area expansion, restoration priorities and key ecological corridors that together form the Trans-European Nature Network (TEN-N) across a range of climate and land-use scenarios. Through panel sessions and keynote speeches, the event will help chart a path forward – ensuring NaturaConnect’s tools, datasets and guidelines continue to inform conservation planning beyond the project’s lifetime.
IIASA has been invited to participate in the 48th Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, taking place from 13–17 July 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Following his recent Science Parliament Lecture at IIASA, Prof. Subra Suresh sat down with us to discuss the future of innovation, science diplomacy, and international collaboration. Drawing on a career spanning academia, government, and global research leadership, he reflects on the importance of building trust across borders, communicating science effectively, and ensuring that emerging technologies benefit society.
Farmers, extension workers, and governments now have a powerful new tool to help identify the crops best suited to specific parcels of land, enabling more efficient use of resources and greater resilience to climate change.
The final Open-Earth-Monitor Global Workshop will take place on 7–9 October 2026 in Barcelona, Spain, marking the culmination of four years of collaborative research and innovation in open-source Earth Observation applications and showcasing the project's final tools, results, and impact.
IIASA is committed to a workplace where everyone can thrive, regardless of background. This page centralizes our Gender Equality and DEI plans, alongside our annual, data-driven progress reports, reflecting our ongoing commitment to institutional excellence.
The Gender Equality and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Plan (GEP) 2026–2028 reaffirms IIASA’s commitment to a workplace where diversity, equity, and inclusion are fundamental to institutional excellence, and where all employees – regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ethnicity, or background – can thrive.
Freshwater ecosystems are under growing pressure worldwide, but conservation resources are limited. A framework developed by IIASA researchers and partners can help identify where conservation could prevent biodiversity loss and where restoration efforts are likely to have the greatest ecological impact across the United States and Europe.
The Epistem initiative launches Luma – Land Use Mapping for All at a national workshop in Indonesia on collaborative land use and land cover mapping in Indonesia.
Effective sustainable landscape management depends on spatial data that is both high-quality and accessible. To address this need, the Epistem initiative launched Luma (Land Use Mapping for All), a participatory web-based mapping platform, at a national workshop in Jakarta on 20 May 2026.
Students from Lower Austria and Vienna were recognized for their commitment to climate action and received their certificates at IIASA in Laxenburg.
David Nusbaum
Senior Science Diplomacy Advisor (CER)
H.E. Ambassador Shambhu S. Kumaran, India's Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, recently visited IIASA to explore deeper research cooperation and meet the Institute's Indian Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) cohort.
Tree-Quest is a citizen science mobile tool that enables users to measure aboveground biomass related attributes (tree diameter, height and species) and estimate carbon stored in trees while contributing data for forest and urban tree mapping, supporting research on biomass and carbon storage. Engaged citizens can measure nearby trees in their local surroundings, such as parks and along the streets in urban areas, integrating science into their daily routines. This helps generate valuable ground-based observations on trees in urban environments that can be used for satellite-based carbon assessment.
As part of the 35th Meeting of the International Resource Panel (IRP), held in Berlin from 8-12 June 2026, CircEUlar and its sister project CIRCOMOD contributed to a dedicated side event for IRP Steering Committee members focused on the role of circular economy measures in greenhouse gas emission mitigation.