Page - 28 - in options, Volume winter 2016/2017

institute news 28 options + winter 2016/2017 www.iiasa.ac.at news at iiasa Can business help drive sustainability? The role of the private sector in driving a sustainable future cannot be underestimated, according to experts who met as part of the Alpbach Laxenburg Group (ALG) retreat in 2016. The ALG, a  reflection group of world leaders across all sectors of global society, including government, business, science, civil society, and the arts, held their annual retreat in August in the small town of Alpbach and presented their conclusions as part of a public plenary session of the European Forum Alpbach. Bringing together leaders and young innovators from around the world, the group discussed how the business community is vital for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, but that sustainability in business practices can also prove profitable. “Sustainability is more than a bullet point on the corporate social responsibility agenda. It is a motor of growth and development. Companies need to include this responsibility into their business objectives. Otherwise we cannot speak of sustainable entrepreneurship,” says Franz Fischler, president of the European Forum Alpbach. “What’s unusual [about a meeting like this] is that it links you with people whom you may not meet every day, so  it’s an occasion of diversity connecting on a topic. Plus, there is something which tends to come out of this sort of event and in this sort of frame and environment, which is innovation,” said  Pascal Lamy, former director general of the World Trade Organization and honorary president at the Notre Europe—Jacques  Delors Institute, in  an interview on the IIASA blog. PB www.iiasa.ac.at/news/ALG‑16 Postdoc placements to further international systems analysis Postdoctoral fellowships allow early career researchers to come to IIASA to make the transition from PhD students to flourishing, independent researchers. Many IIASA national member organizations (NMOs) have already partnered with institute to fund postdoctoral scholars from their countries, and  building on the success of these schemes IIASA is now working to make the fellowships more widely available. These postdoctoral placements bring benefits not only to the individual scholars of a country; they also contribute to developing systems analysis expertise among the home nation’s researchers. Fellows  get the chance to work in a rich, interdisciplinary environment, gaining hands‑on experience of solving real‑world problems. Each  postdoc spends up to two years at IIASA, developing their skills in systems analysis as well as forging international research relationships—many of which will prove to be invaluable  throughout their career. “Being a postdoc at IIASA will challenge you and show you new directions,” says postdoc alumnus Nicklas Forsell. “If you get the opportunity to come to the institute, don’t hesitate for a second, it  will take you on an inspiring ride!” Currently there are five NMO postdoctoral schemes at IIASA, in  partnership with Brazil, Finland, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and Sweden. As testament to the success of these programs, numbers of applications have been rising each year: in 2015 there  were 276  applicants for 15 fellowships. IIASA is now working closely with other countries to extend these opportunities to talented young  researchers across the globe. DB www.iiasa.ac.at/postdocs