Research Project
The Global Shield initiative, a collaboration between the G7 and V20, aims to revolutionize Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) support. Led by Germany in 2022, it focuses on enhancing pre-arranged finance, country ownership, and evidence-based gap analysis. The Global Shield Solutions Platform (GSSP) provides technical assistance and financial support to countries, addressing protection gaps through risk assessments and capacity development.
Research Project
Natural and man-made disasters are causing huge losses, which are likely to rise due to the risk ignorance, population and development growth in disaster-prone areas, as well as interdependencies among sectors, regions, locations, increasing current and future exposure and vulnerability. The interdependencies among systems and regions involve interactions between socio-economic, natural, technological systems. They resemble complex networks connected through various “balance” relations (supply-demand, input-output, inflow-outflow) at different levels. Disruption of such networks can trigger systemic risks associated with critical imbalances, exceedances of vital thresholds, which affect provision of goods (food, energy, water), environmental norms, endanger population and developments, thus undermining socio-economic-food-energy-water NEXUS security (SEFEW NEXUS security) at local, regional, national levels with possible global spillovers.
Co-development of integrated and multi-disciplinary advanced system analyses and decision support methods and tools is essential for stakeholders and experts to build up regional resilience through timely investments into disaster preparedness and response measures enabling to properly mitigate and adapt to systemic risks of all kinds.
Research Project
Recent technological and scientific advancements have improved our understanding of natural hazards. However, despite efforts, natural disasters continue to take a heavy toll on communities, resulting in loss of life, environmental impact, and economic damage. The MEDiate project aims to use a resilient-informed, service-oriented, and people-centered approach for developing a disaster risk management decision-support system by considering multiple interacting natural hazards and their cascading effects, changes in hazards, vulnerability, and exposure.
Research Project
AGORA project fosters European climate resilience through collaboration and community-based adaptation. It co-designs and implements tailored solutions, engages stakeholders, and promotes climate justice, empowerment, and societal transformation aiming for a climate resilient Europe with innovative approaches and effective policies.
Research Project
CORE addresses SU-DRS01-2018-2019-2020 call for disaster-resilient societies. It analyzes natural & anthropogenic risks (earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, terrorist attacks, industrial accidents, Covid-19). It focuses on vulnerable populations, preserving dignity & autonomy during emergencies. It investigates social media's ethical impact on autonomy, dignity, equity, & well-being as well as aims to provide recommendations for improved preparedness & resilience, considering human and social characteristics.
Research Project
While the buildings sector is directly responsible for about 10% of Austria’s anthropogenic CO2 emissions, its carbon footprint is 3 to 4 times larger than that if indirect and life-cycle emissions are considered (dependent on the accounting method). In that regard, Austria’s building sector is representative of building sectors of other countries in the European Union. Moreover, the CO2 emissions attributed to the global building stock are structured in a similar way. Thus, due to its interlinkages with other sectors (notably energy generation and industry), building stock provides effective leverage points that are of critical importance for global and national mitigation efforts, and for a successful transition to carbon-neutral economy.
Research Project
Horizon Europe: Link4Skills is a global project addressing skill shortages through four processes: upskilling established populations, raising wages, automation, and migration. It spans Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, analyzing skill shortages and flows. The project includes the development of an AI-Assisted Skill Navigator for stakeholders in employment and vocational training organizations across origins and destinations
Research Project
SEED MICAT - Support Energy Efficiency Deployment with the Multiple Impacts CAlculation Tool, aims to help EU and member states at national, regional and local governance levels in including Multiple Impacts (MI) in their implementation of the Energy Efficiency First (EE1) principle. Basing this on strong and reliable analytical tools, "sowing thus the seeds" for a broad application of the principle.
Considering MI in target setting argues for a fast phase-out of fossil fuels but also for a careful analysis of MI related to different pathways to climate neutrality, with varying contributions from energy demand and energy supply options.
Therefore, the project extends its MI framework to include renewable energy sources, advocates integrating policy modules, and showcases how it applies at different levels. SEED MICAT also includes replication analysis, capacity building, and a strong dissemination approach to promote knowledge on implementing the EE1 principle.
Research Project
In the A-LEVERS project funded by the Austrian Climate Research Programme (ACRP), IIASA researchers contribute to the development of a methodological framework for prioritizing adaptation options. Collaborating with the University Graz, GeoSphereAustria, and experts, they derive adaption pathways for key climate-related risks for Austria.
Research Project
The Citizens for Copernicus (C4C) project, coordinated by the IIASA Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group in the Advancing Systems Analysis Program, aims to develop an Austrian citizen science data component to bridge the in situ data gap for more reliable forest mapping with Copernicus data. The project focuses on the combined use of citizen science and satellite images to develop AI models for forest resource (biomass/carbon) monitoring.
Research Project
MultiFutures systematically broadens the scope for policy action towards sustainable societies by assessing and developing transition scenarios based on alternative economic paradigms. This involves extending established transition scenarios (e.g. the EC's 'Long term strategic vision' scenarios or the IEA’s net zero scenarios) to include alternative economic paradigms that are based on a wide spectrum of sound economic and social theories and have demonstrated potential to address global challenges. These paradigms introduce new policy options and instruments, which we aim to critically assess regarding their relevance, effectiveness, and potential trade-offs.
Research Project
This project aims to capture the medium to long-term spillover effects of financial markets and related stakeholders such as regulatory institutions on climate relevant emissions from land-use and changes to its pattern. Previous research has emphasized the spillovers of shocks, volatilities, and policy decisions from financial markets to commodity prices and thus on agricultural decisions. However, the long-term impacts of these spillovers, in terms of emissions have not been explored yet in a systematic global manner.
Research Project
PHOENIX (Human Mobility, Global Challenges and Resilience in an Age of Social Stress) is a Belmont Forum funded project that aims to examine how Global Changes - including environmental and climate changes, demographic changes, changing consumption patterns, energy and land-use, developments in the politics of food and mental health, and socio-cultural transformations - impact mobility.
Research Project
The project Data-driven understanding of low-carbon lifestyles (LOW-AI) aims at using social media data to understand behavior change with respect to low-carbon lifestyles. In order to limit global warming to a safe level of 1.5℃, individual action is required. LOW-AI deploys social media data to monitor lifestyle changes and attitudes towards lifestyle changes in the global population, developing tools that can be implemented with a higher geographical reach and are less costly than traditional approaches.
Research Project
Yoma is a digital platform that aims to support African youth on a “learning to earning journey” with three impact areas: digital skills, social change & environmental impact. The platform plans to leverage a token economy as part of an incentive system for youth action that tackles social and environmental challenges. The project will use IIASA citizen science apps to encourage measurement and monitoring of youth-led environmental impact initiatives.
Research Project
European biodiversity is in decline, with can impact important natural services, such as pollination, water provisioning or climate mitigation. Our best chance to halt and reverse biodiversity loss are the expansion and more effective management of protected areas and our natural resources, as also stated by European. Existing protection efforts have largely been insufficient to halt biodiversity loss. There is increasing recognition that an implementation of the biodiversity policies needs adequate planning in an informed decision making process to identify which areas are best to conserve, improved in management or be restored.
INSPIRE will support Member States in making decisions on how to address some of the objectives of the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, such as the expansion of the Natura 2000 network, to achieve the 30% protection/ 10% strict protection targets, or how to best integrate biodiversity conservation into other sectors under current policy priorities (e.g., Green Deal, CAP, CFP, and other sectoral Directives).
Research Project
Forest restoration has high-level political support: the UN declared 2021-2030 the decade of restoration, and governments have committed to restore 350 million ha of forest by 2030 under the Bonn Challenge. However, there is strong debate about where and how restoration should take place, and what benefits forest restoration could provide for carbon sequestration and storage, biodiversity, and people’s livelihoods.