Page - 29 - in options, Volume winter 2015/2016

institute news 29winter 2015/2016 + optionswww.iiasa.ac.at news at iiasa IPCC Chair nomination IIASA Deputy Director General Nebojsa  Nakicenovic was one of six  candidates for the post of Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate  Change (IPCC). Nakicenovic was  nominated by both Austria and Montenegro, and in September Heinz  Fischer, Federal  President of Austria, announced the nomination at the  United  Nations General Assembly. As  Options went to press it was announced that Hoesung  Lee, of the Republic of Korea, had been elected as the new chair. www.iiasa.ac.at/news/Naki-IPCC-15 IIASA is top climate think tank IIASA has been named as one of the top think tanks worldwide for climate‑change economics and policy for the third consecutive year. In June the International Center for Climate Governance announced the results of its 2014 “Climate Think Tank Ranking” of cutting‑edge institutions working in the field. It ranked IIASA third, based on numerous factors including research output, communication activities, and policy impacts. www.iiasa.ac.at/news/ICCG-15 From apps to maps FotoQuest Austria was launched in the Laxenburg park in July this year. The new game‑like app developed for the project, which is aimed at the Austrian public, allows  participants to take geo‑located photographs of landscapes. In this way they  gather information about land use change in the country that can be used for research on climate change and flood risk. The campaign is part of a series of IIASA citizen science initiatives developed by the  Geo‑Wiki team. www.iiasa.ac.at/news/FotoQuest-15 MSA summer school A total of 57 young scientists from 24  countries attended the Moscow Summer  Academy on Economic Growth and  Governance of Natural Resources from 20  July to 1 August. The school, jointly organized by IIASA, the University of Oslo and Lomonosov Moscow State University, provided an intensive and exciting educational program that included lectures  on systems analysis by world‑leading IIASA researchers. www.iiasa.ac.at/events/MSA-15 IIASA and the JRC embark on an  era of greater collaboration I IASA and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) entered into an important agreement in September, pledging to enhance collaboration between the two organizations. This new era kicked off with a jointly organized workshop for EU  scientists and policymakers to explore how best to work together to ensure quality science for good policy. IIASA Director General and CEO Professor Dr. Pavel Kabat and JRC Director General Vladimír Šucha signed the agreement at the opening of the first JRC–IIASA Summer School on Evidence and Policy. Both director generals expressed their great satisfaction at the event, emphasizing the many common interests running between the two institutions. IIASA and JRC research teams already collaborate on questions that underlie policy deliberations, and this agreement will mean that there will be even more opportunity to use their complementary expertise to address critical global issues such as land use, water, air pollution, energy, and climate. “There are many cultural barriers between scientists and policymakers,” said  Kabat. “We  must look to ourselves, as scientists and scientific institutions, to make sure that our work is not only of the highest quality, but also that it is also accessible to those  who need it.” Šucha echoed these sentiments, adding that although science and policy can sometimes seem like two tectonic plates—”huge, rigid, and engaged in a never-ending clash”— we  can build effective bridges. Enhanced collaboration between IIASA and the JRC will provide just the bridges we need, leading to events such as the summer school which creates a “safe space” for scientists and policymakers to come together and learn to understand each other. DB www.iiasa.ac.at/news/JRC-15 IIASA and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre pledged to enhance collaboration this autumn. The successful Summer School on Evidence and Policy was the first event to take place under the agreement.