IIASA | International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

News

12 August 2026

Planning for the Future Through a Population Lens

IIASA researcher suggests a fundamentally different way for governments to plan for the future: using population as a common framework to connect health, education, food, jobs, housing, social protection, and climate risk. The approach integrates demographic data with sectoral planning to help governments make more coordinated, evidence-based decisions and improve population wellbeing.

06 August 2026

IIASA Director General: "This Could Be the Coolest Summer of the Century"

As Austria experienced record-breaking temperatures on 4 August 2026, with more than 50 weather stations reporting all-time highs, IIASA Director General Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber joined Austrian public radio Ö1's Mittagsjournal to discuss what these extremes mean for the future, as well as why society must prepare for a much hotter climate.

Person looking at tablet with green dashboard on screen

30 July 2026

The trillion-dollar question behind corporate net-zero pledges

Corporate climate spending now steers trillions of dollars in transition finance worldwide. Does it drive genuine climate action? Research shows that accounting flexibility alone can make a company's reported emissions vary by roughly a factor of two – enough to appear either as a climate leader or a laggard. A new Perspective in Nature Sustainability proposes developing industry-specific net-zero blueprints to close that gap.

Demographic concept highlighting the challenges of an ageing global population. AI generated

When demographic decline becomes a democratic question

In a new Expert Voices article published in Science, IIASA Population and Just Societies Program Director, Anne Goujon examines the concept of “dejuvenation” – the declining demographic, economic, cultural, and political weight of younger generations – and asks how aging societies can ensure that young people and future generations have a meaningful voice in shaping the decisions that will affect them most.

Annual Report 2025: Advancing Systems Analysis Program Highlights

As global challenges become increasingly interconnected, the Advancing Systems Analysis Program continued to develop innovative approaches for understanding complexity and supporting better decisions. In 2025, the program’s research revealed new insights into urban sustainability, resilience in an era of polycrisis, public health, and sustainable development.

Das Fluss-Ypsilon bei Bakewell, Derbyshire, England

Nature Based Smart Water Grids for Integrated Water and Drought   (WATERGRID)

As climate pressures intensify, the need for smarter and more resilient water management has never been greater. The WATERGRID project tackles this challenge by advancing innovative, scalable solutions that integrate natural processes with cutting-edge technology. The following text outlines how the project will enhance drought resilience, improve water quality, and support sustainable water use across Europe.

African children greeting bypassers from a balcony

When Uganda’s refugee policy meets children’s everyday lives

What does integration mean for a refugee child? Manya Oriel Kagan reflects on the research behind her new book, Schooling Experiences of Refugee Children in Uganda: Rethinking Integration Policies. Drawing on months of research in schools and communities in Kampala, Uganda, she explores how children's everyday experiences reveal both the possibilities and the limits of one of the world's most progressive refugee policies.

Researchers Highlight the Need for Ambitious Climate Policy as Austria Faces a Record-Breaking Heatwave

In an interview with Austria's ORF, IIASA researcher Daniel Huppmann explained how the country's current heat extremes align with decades of climate science and what they mean for Austria's future.

Events

24 August 2026 University of Aberdeen Business School, United Kingdom

IIASA at the 2nd Gender Equality, Diversity and Sustainability in Higher Education Conference

02 September 2026 Segovia,Spain

Climate Change and Insurance Workshop 2026 (CCI26)

22 September 2026 Royal Belgian institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

The Final Event of NaturaConnect: Pathways to a Trans-European Nature Network

Vision and Members

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an independent international research institute with National and Regional Member Organisations in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

Learn more about IIASA

Vision

The IIASA vision for 2021 to 2030 is to be the primary destination for integrated systems solutions and policy insights to current, emerging and novel global sustainability challenges, threats, and opportunities.

Members

Each IIASA member is represented by a National or Regional Member Organization that governs and funds the institute and acts as a bridge to link the country’s research and policy communities to IIASA.