Human population matters for sustainable development in two important ways.

First, it is an agent of change, bringing about many of the  environmental, economic, and social changes that continually challenge the sustainability of our current development paths.

Second, the human population and its living conditions are the ultimate objects of development, with long-term human survival, health and well-being serving as criteria for judging whether or not development is sustainable.

Since the early days of IIASA, the World Population Program (POP) has conducted research into both the determinants and consequences of population trends at the global, regional, national and sub-national levels.

While POP has a firm foundation in formal demography, its research has greatly benefited from the interdisciplinary setting at IIASA, which  been a constant stimulus to look beyond demographic boundaries at "the whole picture" relating to human population. 

Interdisciplinary working allows researchers not only to look at the effect of a number of alternative future population trends but also how changes in society, economy, and the natural environment influence the health and mortality, migratory patterns, and reproductive behavior of human society.

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Last edited: 27 March 2013