Page - 8 - in options, Volume summer 2018

science into policyiiasa research www.iiasa.ac.at8 options ◼ summer 2018 F ood, energy, water, and land are interconnected aspects that together form a nexus within the complex system in which the various sectors of a country’s economy operates. Because these aspects are so closely linked, policies that affect one sector in a region can have consequences for others, which means that the integrated management of the nexus is critical to secure sustainable development and the efficient and viable use of resources. Ukraine, the second largest country in Europe in terms of land area, has been described as the region’s breadbasket thanks to its rich, fertile soil. A lack of integrated policies in the country, has however led to uncontrolled agricultural intensification and imbalanced land utilization, which has in turn been the cause of increased soil, water, and air pollution. Furthermore, it has created a dualization of the agricultural sector between small household farms–which play a central role in national food security– and large market-oriented agricultural enterprises producing industrial crops that are in high demand on international markets. The introduction of new technologies and policies, or climate change, weather variability, and natural disasters, may also significantly affect systemic instabilities. IIASA and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), along with a network of other institutes and policymakers, have been working together on a project devoted to finding robust solutions to these problems since 2012. This work has informed national policy in the country and has led to real improvements in sustainable management. The results of the project are now being used in the preparation of strategically important documents, such as the country’s sustainable agriculture and rural development strategy, national demographic strategy, and sustainable energy sector development strategies. The team’s conclusions and recommendations on the need for proper financial support for family and small-scale agricultural businesses, for example, were implemented in the Ukrainian Common Cross-cutting Strategy of Agriculture Development for the period until 2020. The results of research investigating sustainable energy sector development and reform towards renewable energy use, also emphasized that robust emissions taxation and trading can act as important mechanisms for creating economic and social stimulus for the improvement of energy efficiency and the implementation of a low-carbon economy in the country. Towards the end of 2017, a new phase of the project focusing on the robust management of the food-water-energy- environment-social nexus for sustainable development was launched. “During this phase, which will run until 2021, researchers will further develop and implement novel systems analysis approaches addressing problems of common interest for Ukraine and the world, providing solutions for robust and sustainable nexus management,” says Yuri Ermoliev, principal investigator on the project. To do this, the project concentrates on novel linkage methods enabling consistent multi-sectorial modeling and integrated decision support. Global models, including IIASA models such as GLOBIOM, GAINS, and MESSAGE, are used in combination with non-Bayesian robust downscaling procedures and national models to produce scenarios and recommendations in support of robust integrated policies. AH Informing robust integrated policies for a sustainable future A collaborative project between IIASA and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has informed national policy and led to real improvements in sustainable management of the food-energy-water-environment nexus. Further info www.iiasa.ac.at/impacts/integratedmodeling Zagorodny AG, Ermoliev YM, & Bogdanov VL (Eds.) (2014). Integrated Management, Security and Robustness. NASU [pure.iiasa.ac.at/11132] Yuri Ermoliev ermoliev@iiasa.ac.at Tatiana Ermolieva ermol@iiasa.ac.at