Page - 2 - in options, Volume summer 2015

editorial 2 options + summer 2015 options Professor Dr. Pavel Kabat Director General and CEO, IIASA www.iiasa.ac.at About Options Options magazine features recent IIASA research and activities Executive editor Philippa Brooks Managing editor Katherine Leitzell Copy editor Kathryn Platzer Writers Philippa Brooks, Katherine Leitzell, Kathryn Platzer Contributing writers Judith Oliver, Jane Palmer, Kerry Skyring Expert reviewers Ligia Azevedo, Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Ulf  Dieckmann, Brian Fath, Steffen Fritz, Gregor Kiesewetter, Nadejda  Komendantova, Florian Kraxner, Mia Landauer, Wolfgang Lutz, Junko  Mochizuki, Raya Muttarak, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Shonali Pachauri, Narasimha  D. Rao, Keywan Riahi, Joeri  Rogelj, Elena  Rovenskaya, Warren  Sanderson, Sergei  Scherbov, Linda  See, Karl  Sigmund, Stefan Thurner, Wilfried Winiwarter, Ping  Yowargana Copyright © 2015 IIASA ZVR 524808900 Prepared by IIASA Communications–Library–Media Department Head: Iain Stewart Printed by Remaprint, Vienna Options is sent to over 6,500 policymakers, diplomats, and scientists. If you would like to update your subscription preferences or subscribe to Options or other IIASA publications, please visit www.iiasa.ac.at/keepintouch. Sections of Options may be reproduced with acknowledgment to IIASA. Please send a copy of any reproduced material. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions of IIASA or its supporting organizations. About IIASA The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, located near Vienna, Austria, is an international scientific institute that conducts policy-relevant research into problems too large or complex to be solved by a single country or academic discipline. IIASA’s scientists research + energy and climate change; + food and water; and + poverty and equity. IIASA produces + data, models, and research tools; + refereed scientific literature; and + policy-relevant information. IIASA helps + countries make better-informed policy; + develop international research networks; and + support the next generation of scientists. IIASA is funded and supported by scientific institutions and organizations in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Vietnam. IIASA A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria Phone +43 2236 807 0 Fax +43 2236 71313 E-mail info@iiasa.ac.at Web www.iiasa.ac.at twitter.com/iiasavienna facebook.com/iiasa blog.iiasa.ac.at linkedin.com/company/iiasa-vienna youtube.com/iiasalive flickr.com/iiasa I I A S A Incubating interdisciplinary insights In the last few months, my travels as IIASA director have included some unusual connections. In April, I met with leaders of the Catholic Church, the  UN  Secretary-General, and a group of scientific advisors to discuss climate  change at a conference at the Vatican. Earlier in the year, ballet dancer and  economist Gloria Benedikt spoke at the launch of our new project, The  World in 2050, about the connections between economics and the  irrational. Why, as director of a scientific institute, am I meeting and working with artists  and  religious leaders? I argue that the question should be rather, why  don’t  more  scientists do so? When we’re talking about global challenges that affect everyone on the planet, it is in fact vital to draw insights from beyond the traditional walls between disciplines, and from beyond science itself, from other fields of human creativity and thought. IIASA has long been a leader in interdisciplinary research. As you will see from this  issue, bringing together scientists from different fields and backgrounds can lead to unexpected insights and paradigm-changing findings. Such discoveries are by nature unpredictable. We can’t plan them out, and we’ll never know when they will happen. Yet by creating a welcoming environment for researchers to exchange ideas, IIASA has become an incubator for such discoveries. In “Getting to Eureka” (page 14) you will read about a few recent insights, achieved by collaborations by scientists working from multiple disciplinary perspectives. That is what the work of  IIASA and its partners is all about. “The Climate–Poverty Conundrum” (page 20) shows how using systems analysis to  study the interactions between seemingly conflicting goals like dealing with climate  change and reducing poverty not only identifies otherwise imperceptible synergies but also the trade-offs needed between different courses of action to  achieve the best possible outcomes. “Forever Young” (page 12), shows how a new  way of looking at an old problem can completely change the results—and the implications for society. However you read Options, whether the printed version or online, I hope you enjoy  it and gain new insights from it. +