30 August 2021 - 02 September 2021
Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Québec, Canada
hybrid format

IIASA at INGSA Conference 2021: Build Back Wiser: Knowledge, Policy and Publics in Dialogue

IIASA Director General Albert van Jaarsveld will participate in a panel discussion at the 4th International Conference on Science Advice to Government. The discussion will focus on how science advice can inform complex risk assessment to deal with complex, new, and interacting threats.

© congresmtl.com

© congresmtl.com

This international conference is organized by the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) and will bring together more than 1,500 political representatives, diplomats, and government science advisors to examine complex interactions between scientists, public policy, and diplomatic relations at local, national, and international levels. It will explore the direct and indirect lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, while looking to the future for the global community as we build back wiser.

Van Jaarsveld will draw on research conducted by the IIASA-ISC Platform: “Bouncing Forward Sustainably: Pathways to a post-Covid World” to contribute to a panel discussion exploring how science advice can inform complex risk assessment to deal with emerging complex and interacting threats.

This event will take place online and in person. Please register for the conference if you wish to attend.



Complex risk assessment is one of the fastest growing areas for which governments seek advice, yet there are no standard approaches. Identifiable megatrends such as climate change, digitalization, and changing demographics are increasingly better understood, but their interaction, their interacting sub-processes and the layers of vulnerability that they create expose risks of a different order. How should science advice respond?



Raw Materials Challenge - Policy Simulation - INGSA21 Satellite event 

IIASA is also co-organizing a policy simulation on energy transition at a satellite event of the INGSA2021 conference on the 8 September 2021 14:00 – 17:00 CEST. This event will provide participants with an opportunity to explore international science diplomacy through an immersive role-play experience and a virtual simulation proposed by the Centre for Systems Solutions (CRS). 

INGSA21 is hosted by Rémi Quirion, Chief Scientist of Québec with the support of Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Mona Nemer, and will take place in a hybrid and virtual format at Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Québec, Canada.


IIASA: INGSA21 Bronze Partner

IIASA participation at INGSA21 is built on a long history of productive collaboration between the two entities: IIASA is a Bronze Partner of the INGSA21 conference. The conference is hosted by Rémi Quirion, Chief Scientist of Québec in collaboration with the Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Mona Nemer. It will take place in a hybrid and virtual format at Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Québec, Canada. It is expected that most delegates will join digitally, and primarily Canadian participants will be able to join the conference in person, due to ongoing travel restrictions.

INGSA21 will examine the direct and indirect lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, while looking to the future for the global community as we build back wiser. It will also be an opportunity to continue discussions on the United Nations sustainable development goals, the role of cities and municipalities in the appropriation and implementation of evidence and research, the importance of open science and access to data, and finally, the relationship of trust between decision-makers, scientists and the general public.


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Last edited: 12 August 2021

INGSA21 Conference

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313