IIASA research into sustainable use of food and water resources helped develop forward-thinking policies and best-practice management. The evolutionary responses of fish populations to fishing, for example, were examined to ensure sustainable harvesting. A new interactive website based on global cropland maps was developed to improve food security. IIASA also launched a new citizen observatory for land-use and land-cover monitoring.
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Environmental Resources and Development (ERD) group has used the GLOBIOM model to analyze the consequences of climate change for the agricultural sector, with a focus on food availability consequences in developing countries. more
The Transitions to New Technologies (TNT) Program played a key role in the proposal for a large-scale, multi-year research project to analyze the synergies and trade-offs between different natural resource systems: Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (IS-WEL). more
The Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program built on its breakthrough in assessment of flood-risk distributions which accounts for spatial correlation between river basins and therefore avoids underestimation of risk. The program has now incorporated different types of copula dependency measures, such as the Archimedian- and Frank-based copula, and various dependency structures. more
A new method developed by the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program offers an unconventional perspective on the origin of harmful pollution, especially in urban areas in developing countries. The findings show that beyond vehicle emissions or household fuels, any (cost-) effective intervention strategy will need to addresses the socioeconomic complexities of a wide range of other economic sectors, not least agriculture. more
The Evolution and Ecology Program (EEP) assembles evidence and insights on how human exploitation alters the heritable traits of targeted populations and explores options for reducing unwanted alterations. more
Three leading institutes in India have collaborated with the Water (WAT) Program to compile harmonized databases and build a common framework for jointly assessing the impact of climate, land use, soil nutrients, and water management on local livelihoods. more
Fisheries play a key role in food security worldwide, but many aquatic food resources are fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. This reflects the difficulties of addressing the competing demands on the services rendered by aquatic ecosystems, and when accounting for the multiple stressors they face. more
The Transitions to New Technologies (TNT) Program played a key role in the proposal for a large-scale, multi-year research project to analyze the synergies and trade-offs between different natural resource systems: Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (IS-WEL). more
In 2015 the Water (WAT) Program carried out analysis for the project: Integrated Analysis and Modelling of Land Use Efficiency and Security under Rapid Agricultural Transformation in China. Land-cover changes associated with the rapid exodus of the rural population were investigated, along with rural-urban divisions and the reasons behind cropland abandonment. more
The project Linking Climate and Development Policies – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing (CD-LINKS) kicked off in September 2015. CD-LINKS aims to study the links between climate policies and multiple sustainable development objectives. more
The Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program built on its breakthrough in assessment of flood-risk distributions which accounts for spatial correlation between river basins and therefore avoids underestimation of risk. The program has now incorporated different types of copula dependency measures, such as the Archimedian- and Frank-based copula, and various dependency structures. more
Advanced Systems Analysis (ASA) Program researchers model interconnected food, water, and energy systems and advance methods of stochastic optimization. This can help to design management strategies that are robust with respect to inherent uncertainties and risks. more
A new method developed by the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program offers an unconventional perspective on the origin of harmful pollution, especially in urban areas in developing countries. The findings show that beyond vehicle emissions or household fuels, any (cost-) effective intervention strategy will need to addresses the socioeconomic complexities of a wide range of other economic sectors, not least agriculture. more
Collaborative land-use modeling work between IIASA, the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), the World Wildlife Fund Indonesia, and the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia was further developed in 2015 under the Tropical Futures Initiative (TFI). more
Questions of fiscal, social, and ecological resilience have become fundamental to addressing the global issues of risk management, climate change adaptation, and transitions to a sustainable future. However, operationalization of the concept has remained elusive; this is where Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program made substantial progress in 2015. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Earth Observation Systems (EOS) group has continued their work on boreal forests. In 2015, improvements were made to the Terrestrial Ecosystem Full Verified Carbon Budget (FCA), including updating its ecological and economic aspects, and applying it to the ecosystems of Northern Eurasia. more
Under the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Water Financing Program, the Water (WAT) Program produced consistent and comprehensive projections for water futures in Asia, via the Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Agro-Ecological Systems (AES) group worked to advance global and regional gridded crop modeling, investigating the impacts of future climate change and nutrient depletion. The vulnerability of crop production to climate change was a key focus for the group. more
The Evolution and Ecology Program (EEP) assembles evidence and insights on how human exploitation alters the heritable traits of targeted populations and explores options for reducing unwanted alterations. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program has won funding for LandSense, a new citizen observatory and innovation marketplace for land use and land cover monitoring. Providing critical monitoring of change on the ground, the project will also include campaigns involving multiple stakeholders to ensure that citizen observations contribute to EU-wide environmental governance and decision making. more
The project Linking Climate and Development Policies – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing (CD-LINKS) kicked off in September 2015. CD-LINKS aims to study the links between climate policies and multiple sustainable development objectives. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program has carried out a series of improvements to the quantitative modeling of burned areas in Europe under historical climate, supported by its standalone fire model (SFM). more
The Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program built on its breakthrough in assessment of flood-risk distributions which accounts for spatial correlation between river basins and therefore avoids underestimation of risk. The program has now incorporated different types of copula dependency measures, such as the Archimedian- and Frank-based copula, and various dependency structures. more
A new method developed by the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program offers an unconventional perspective on the origin of harmful pollution, especially in urban areas in developing countries. The findings show that beyond vehicle emissions or household fuels, any (cost-) effective intervention strategy will need to addresses the socioeconomic complexities of a wide range of other economic sectors, not least agriculture. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Earth Observation Systems (EOS) group has continued their work on boreal forests. In 2015, improvements were made to the Terrestrial Ecosystem Full Verified Carbon Budget (FCA), including updating its ecological and economic aspects, and applying it to the ecosystems of Northern Eurasia. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Agro-Ecological Systems (AES) group worked to advance global and regional gridded crop modeling, investigating the impacts of future climate change and nutrient depletion. The vulnerability of crop production to climate change was a key focus for the group. more
One of the goals of the Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative is to establish a knowledge hub for systems analytic approaches to water challenges. To facilitate this, the program has been working closely with the Intersectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) to help develop climate-impact models that fully incorporate water issues. more
The Water (WAT) Program helped develop a new method for calculating land footprints. This combines the IIASA LANDFLOW model—which traces land embodied in trade and consumption—with environmental economic-accounting. Land footprints were also further analyzed by the program in terms of land quality, resource use, and environmental impacts. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Environmental Resources and Development (ERD) group has used the GLOBIOM model to analyze the consequences of climate change for the agricultural sector, with a focus on food availability consequences in developing countries. more
As anthropogenic impacts continue to alter the environments to which the world’s biodiversity has adapted, accounting for the interplay of ecology and evolution becomes ever more critical to accurately predict consequences and to propose effective mitigating actions. more
In collaboration with the Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program the Water (WAT) Program has continued to contribute to methods to enhance flood resilience. To this end, WAT has led development of the Flood Resilience System Framework (FLORES) to integrate disaster risk management and development perspectives. more
The Water (WAT) Program has extended work begun by the Global Water Systems Project, which focuses on human and ecosystem water security and assessing the investments required to enhance the resilience of the global water system over a 100-year time period. more
The Evolution and Ecology Program (EEP) assembles evidence and insights on how human exploitation alters the heritable traits of targeted populations and explores options for reducing unwanted alterations. more
Understanding the structure and dynamics of worldwide vegetation patterns is critical for predicting future climatic change. Research by the Evolution and Ecology Program (EEP) applies mathematical models to elucidate the formation and maintenance of vegetation diversity, structure, and functioning. more
The fourth version of the Global Agro-ecological Zones data portal (GAEZ v4) was released in 2015. This work is the result of a continued collaboration of the Water (WAT) Program with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) to update key input data, extend model components, and complete a number of computer-intensive model simulations. more
Fisheries play a key role in food security worldwide, but many aquatic food resources are fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. This reflects the difficulties of addressing the competing demands on the services rendered by aquatic ecosystems, and when accounting for the multiple stressors they face. more
The Transitions to New Technologies (TNT) Program played a key role in the proposal for a large-scale, multi-year research project to analyze the synergies and trade-offs between different natural resource systems: Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (IS-WEL). more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Methods for Economic Decision-Making under Uncertainty (MEDU) group has advanced analysis of offsets and permits in the context of international carbon markets and investment uncertainty. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program has won funding for LandSense, a new citizen observatory and innovation marketplace for land use and land cover monitoring. Providing critical monitoring of change on the ground, the project will also include campaigns involving multiple stakeholders to ensure that citizen observations contribute to EU-wide environmental governance and decision making. more
The project Linking Climate and Development Policies – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing (CD-LINKS) kicked off in September 2015. CD-LINKS aims to study the links between climate policies and multiple sustainable development objectives. more
Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program researchers are building a deforestation map with the help of players in their new Geo-Wiki game, Picture Pile. An innovative method to allow players to learn about the accuracy of their choices will also improve the quality of the data. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Policy and Science Interface (PSI) group has advanced research into negative emissions technologies—ways of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere—investigating whether they are a viable way of tackling climate change. more
The Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program built on its breakthrough in assessment of flood-risk distributions which accounts for spatial correlation between river basins and therefore avoids underestimation of risk. The program has now incorporated different types of copula dependency measures, such as the Archimedian- and Frank-based copula, and various dependency structures. more
Advanced Systems Analysis (ASA) Program researchers model interconnected food, water, and energy systems and advance methods of stochastic optimization. This can help to design management strategies that are robust with respect to inherent uncertainties and risks. more
A new method developed by the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program offers an unconventional perspective on the origin of harmful pollution, especially in urban areas in developing countries. The findings show that beyond vehicle emissions or household fuels, any (cost-) effective intervention strategy will need to addresses the socioeconomic complexities of a wide range of other economic sectors, not least agriculture. more
Stochastic GLOBIOM has been used to analyze interdependencies and trade-offs between structural and financial measures for hedging systemic risks and food, energy, water, environmental security in land use systems, which can be induced by climate change and weather variability. more
The World in 2050 (TWI2050) is an international collaboration launched by IIASA with international partners that will involve almost all research programs at IIASA with a focus on deriving viable pathways for achieving all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). more
The successful completion of the fast-track analysis under the global Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative, is a major achievement of the Water (WAT) Program. The analysis has yielded the first set of multi-model, quantified scenarios of water demand with a focus on the domestic, industrial, and energy sectors. more
The Water (WAT) Program has developed comparative approaches for improving environmental governance of transboundary water resources along the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin and the Colorado River Basin, along the border between the US and Mexico. more
The project Linking Climate and Development Policies – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing (CD-LINKS) kicked off in September 2015. CD-LINKS aims to study the links between climate policies and multiple sustainable development objectives. more
The Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program built on its breakthrough in assessment of flood-risk distributions which accounts for spatial correlation between river basins and therefore avoids underestimation of risk. The program has now incorporated different types of copula dependency measures, such as the Archimedian- and Frank-based copula, and various dependency structures. more
Collaborative land-use modeling work between IIASA, the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), the World Wildlife Fund Indonesia, and the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia was further developed in 2015 under the Tropical Futures Initiative (TFI). more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Agro-Ecological Systems (AES) group worked to advance global and regional gridded crop modeling, investigating the impacts of future climate change and nutrient depletion. The vulnerability of crop production to climate change was a key focus for the group. more
In collaboration with the Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program the Water (WAT) Program has continued to contribute to methods to enhance flood resilience. To this end, WAT has led development of the Flood Resilience System Framework (FLORES) to integrate disaster risk management and development perspectives. more
The Water (WAT) Program has developed comparative approaches for improving environmental governance of transboundary water resources along the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin and the Colorado River Basin, along the border between the US and Mexico. more
The project Linking Climate and Development Policies – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing (CD-LINKS) kicked off in September 2015. CD-LINKS aims to study the links between climate policies and multiple sustainable development objectives. more
A new method developed by the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program offers an unconventional perspective on the origin of harmful pollution, especially in urban areas in developing countries. The findings show that beyond vehicle emissions or household fuels, any (cost-) effective intervention strategy will need to addresses the socioeconomic complexities of a wide range of other economic sectors, not least agriculture. more
Collaborative land-use modeling work between IIASA, the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), the World Wildlife Fund Indonesia, and the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia was further developed in 2015 under the Tropical Futures Initiative (TFI). more
Shelly Bogra of TERI University, New Delhi, India, explored the agricultural water-energy nexus in the Free State, South Africa, focusing in particular on the impact of rainwater harvesting. more
Arnab Banerjee, of Visva-Bharati University, India, used a South African estuary, Mdloti, to examine the impacts of keystone species on ecosystem function. more
Portia Mokoena of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, explored the possibility of using electrical resistivity imaging to improve groundwater management. more
Mavhungu Muthige, of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, used a “spectral-nudging technique” to improve predictions of rainfall pattern and seasonality. more
Shingirirai Savious Mutanga of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, examined how using sugar cane to produce electricity could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. more
Alois Katiti, of the University of Fort Hare, South Africa, compared models which are used to monitor evapotranspiration, providing essential information for sustainable irrigation practices. more
Erik Nilsson, of Lund University, Sweden, developed a risk modeling tool to estimate the adaptive capacities of communities surrounding Lake Chad in the face of future climate change. more
Maria Rivera, of the University of Maryland, USA, used a comprehensive review to examine whether REDD+ is the best policy instrument for the Virunga Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. more
Mayank Prakash, of the International Institute for Population Sciences, India, investigated water quality and management in the slums of Mumbai to help policymakers develop improved water delivery services. more
Chuchu Chen, of the Tsinghua University, China, modeled ammonia emissions to identify the best agricultural management for reducing air pollution. more
Jiayi Fang, of Beijing Normal University, China, demonstrated that although marine disaster reduction measures by the Chinese government have been effective, they will face new challenges under climate change. more
Kamshat Tussupova, of Lund University, Sweden, aimed to help improve water policy efficiency by integrating the views of stakeholders into water supply planning. more
Asif Khan, of Cambridge University, UK, assessed the accuracy of hydro-climatic studies for six sub-basins of the Upper Indus Basin (UIB), showing that precipitation datasets and hydrological models should be carefully selected and tested, particularly for mountain regions. more
Cuiqing Sun, of the China University of Mining & Technology, applied integrated modeling to tackle interconnected environmental and socioeconomic issues, using Shanxi, China, as a case study. more
Jie Zhang, of Tsinghua University, China, investigated ways of improving agricultural management to maintain crop yields while reducing phosphorus pollution. more
Kakoli Borkotoky, of the International Institute for Population Sciences, India, investigated the trends in dietary patterns in India, showing that total calorie intake increases with education, but the consumption of some foods, such as red meat and alcohol, declined with an increase in education. more
Yilong Niu, of the Shanghai Institute of Technology and Climate Change, China, coupled three agricultural models together to give an accurate picture of greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation. more
Pietro Landi of the Evolution and Ecology Program is studying the effect of the adaptive behavior of single individuals in ecosystems and societies on biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of fisheries. more
Adam French, of the Advanced Systems Analysis and Risk, Policy and Vulnerability programs, is examining the potential for watersheds in the water-stressed Global South to switch to Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), an integrated, multi-sectoral form of water governance. more
Fulvio Di Fulvio, of the Ecosystems Services and Management Program, aims to map global forest resources and calculate the costs of supplying wood biomass for both material and energy uses. more
Wenfeng Liu, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, used a biophysical crop model to identify hotspots of global nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution. more
Carl Salk, of the Ecosystem Services and Management Program, assessed the accuracy of volunteers responses used for land-cover identification, finding that the majority vote does not always give the correct classification. Citizen science games that include an element of training may improve the situation. more
Zarrar Khan, of the Comillas Pontifical University, Spain; TUDelft, the Netherlands; and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, created an integrated water and energy model, demonstrating that the water-energy nexus is crucial to resource management strategies. more
Peter Bednarik, of the Evolution and Ecology and Risk, Policy and Vulnerability programs, designed a computer game based on the forestry sector which can be used to investigate the conditions under which a “tragedy of the commons” would be avoided. more
Christina Kaiser is working in the Evolution and Ecology Program using a computer model that she developed and tested herself which simulates decomposing litter or soil at microbial-relevant scales to understand mechanisms emerging from complex microbial interactions at the microscale. more
Gergely Boza, of the Evolution and Ecology Program, is working on two projects; the first examining the strategies plants use to influence microorganisms inhabiting their root systems and the second focusing on evolution and stability of human cooperative behavior. more
Franziska Gaupp, of the University of Oxford, UK, used the copula methodology to model drought events and subsequent yield losses in regions that produce large proportions of the world’s food. more
Luciano Mendes, of the Ecosystem Services & Management and Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution programs, has embarked on two projects linked to reducing agricultural pollution and optimizing resource use on farms. more
Julio Enrique Herrera Estrada, of Princeton University, USA, used different models and climate scenarios to investigate the impacts of droughts and heatwaves on water resources, energy production, and food security, as well as the interactions between them. more
Oludunsin Tunrayo Arodudu, of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research and University of Potsdam, Germany, used human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) and life cycle assessment (LCA) frameworks to quantify the sustainability of agriculture-based bioenergy. more
Jens de Bruijn, of Utrecht University, the Netherlands, developed a water balance for 26 major crops around the world, giving a detailed picture of how and where groundwater is being used unsustainably. more
Tamara Fetzel of the Institute of Social Ecology, Austria, assessed grazing intensity worldwide and examined whether it can be sustainably increased to meet future food demands. more
Luzma Fabiola Nava Jiménez, of the Water Program, is examining the water governance regime in river basins which cross the USA/Mexico border. The results show that in order to improve water resources sustainability and management both countries need to agree to adapt the water resource regimes. more
The Water (WAT) Program has developed comparative approaches for improving environmental governance of transboundary water resources along the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin and the Colorado River Basin, along the border between the US and Mexico. more
Luzma Fabiola Nava Jiménez, of the Water Program, is examining the water governance regime in river basins which cross the USA/Mexico border. The results show that in order to improve water resources sustainability and management both countries need to agree to adapt the water resource regimes. more
Yolanda Lopez Maldonado of the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität Germany, used material flow analysis to help improve water security in Yucatan, Mexico. more
The Water (WAT) Program has developed comparative approaches for improving environmental governance of transboundary water resources along the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin and the Colorado River Basin, along the border between the US and Mexico. more
Pietro Landi of the Evolution and Ecology Program is studying the effect of the adaptive behavior of single individuals in ecosystems and societies on biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of fisheries. more
Erasmus zu Ermgassen, of the University of Cambridge, UK, used a recursive dynamic model to test different scenarios for the transition to sustainable agriculture in Mato Grosso. more
