IIASA and Russia: Gaidar Forum 2019

Russian Demographic Datasheet 2019

The Russian Demographic Datasheet 2019, a collaboration between POP at IIASA, RANEPA and the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) will be launched at the Gaidar Forum 2019. For the second time, key demographic indicators and main population trends for all subjects of the Russian Federation, including population projection for 2050 are comprehensively presented in one data sheet. Special attention is given to the importance of alternative indicators of population aging for the current and future population changes across Russia. 

This year, the data sheet is accompanied by an extended brochure, that shows key demographic indicators and main population trends for all Subjects of the Russian Federation, their rankings within Russia, and comparisons with those countries that have the closest value of each indicator. It features the Human Life Indicator (HLI), a new and simple measure for human wellbeing across countries, that takes inequality into account and could replace the commonly used but error-prone Human Development Index (HDI). The HLI was only recently introduced by Ghislandi, Sanderson and Scherbov in Population and Development Review.

For many years IIASA researchers Scherbov and Warren Sanderson have developed new measures of age and aging in demographic research. They suggest to broaden research methods to account for significant increases in life expectancy, as the focus on chronological age of people alone provides a limited picture of the process, one that is often not appropriate for either scientific study or policy analysis. Their groundbreaking results have been published in Nature and Science and other high level journals. Scherbov is also PI of the Reassessing Aging from a Population Perspective (Re-Aging) project at IIASA that, among other things, ascertains the extent to which advanced societies are actually aging in multiple dimensions, including health, cognitive abilities, and longevity.

Collaborations between IIASA and the Russian Federation

Russia is a founding member of IIASA with forty-five years of continuous intensive cooperation resulting in a range of academic and science to policy achievements. Through this strategic partnership IIASA has helped Russia to find solutions to complex global challenges; develop its research base for systems analysis, and establish new multilateral scientific relationships.

Since 2008, IIASA has intensified its collaborations with the Russian Federation (Russia), leading to new joint research projects, increased interactions with Russian policymakers, significant scientific exchange through people, and a highly productive publication record.

Current projects include exploring the challenges and opportunities of Eurasian economic integration, how to minimize wildfires, population aging in Russia, and advancing the methods of systems analysis. Interactions now take place regularly between IIASA and representatives from Russian Ministries and the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.

Knowledge transfer between IIASA and Russia is facilitated through multiple exchanges with Russian scientists who spend periods working in IIASA’s international and interdisciplinary research environment. The scientific output from these numerous formal and informal activities is highly productive, with almost 800 joint publications since 2008.

IIASA and Yegor Gaidar

Professor Yegor Gaidar, former Russian Prime Minister, considered by many to be the intellectual leader of Russia's economic reform in the early 1990s, made extended visits to IIASA when the institute was analyzing the issues of economic reform in the Soviet Union.