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In pursuit of research excellence The new strategy, which will be implemented in 2021 along with a re-focusing of the institute’s scientific organizational structure, focuses on four key driving forces for development namely: governance and institutions; technology and innovation; economy and society; and population and behavior. These drivers interact in the domains of production and consumption; biodiversity and ecosystem services; and equitable and resilient societies. A systemic, integrated approach to these driving forces, and how they relate to addressing global challenges, form the cornerstone of the institute’s research priorities and are underpinned by a continued emphasis on methodological advances and innovations in system analysis methods and approaches for sustainability. “Extreme events like the current coronavirus pandemic add a new level of complexity to identifying integrated solutions to global sustainability. The global challenges we face are interlinked and actions in one area will affect others. As such, systems science provides the scientific and policy community with the skills and tools to engage successfully with these challenges,” explains IIASA Director General, Albert van Jaarsveld. Several projects that harness the opportunities arising from emerging digital technologies and their applications, as well as advancements in computing and big data capabilities, machine learning, and the use of artificial intelligence, are already laying the groundwork to realize the objectives of the new strategy. To make climate scenarios and digital technologies more accessible, for instance, IIASA researchers and colleagues from several other institutions have developed a comprehensive interactive online platform to help policymakers and businesses, finance actors, and civil society assess the threat of global warming and ways to limit it. The SENSES platform is the first of its kind to provide the tools to use scenarios, ranging from climate impacts to mitigation and energy options, to a broader public beyond science. Similarly, the Community Water Model - a large-scale, open source hydrological and A bold new research strategy will ensure that IIASA continues to fulfill its mandate of providing independent, systems science-based insights to global and universal challenges over the next decade. A roadmap for the future of systems science at IIASA For almost half a century, IIASA has been using a systems approach to help policymakers pursue win-win policies that jointly achieve multiple goals. The institute’s unique setting, along with its extensive global scientific network has become renowned for facilitating truly independent research that is free from national or political agendas. This disposition allows international research teams to combine their global knowledge to produce integrated systems solutions and policy insights to address current, emerging, and novel global and shared challenges. Building on existing expertise while developing new competencies, the next decade will see IIASA enhancing its capabilities and accountability towards providing policy-relevant, impactful research. Figure: Key societal driving forces and pressures that impact sustainability transformations. EQU IT Y AN D R ES IL IE N C E BIO D IV E R S IT Y A N D EC O SYSTEM SERVICES PR O DU CT IO N A ND CONSUMPTION AD VA N C E D S Y S T E M S M E TH OD S A ND APPROACH E S F O R S U S T A IN A BILITY IN N O V A T IO N TE C H N O LO G Y A N D IN S T IT U T IO N S G O V ER N A N C E A N D AN D SOCIETY ECONOMY AND BEHAVIO R POPULATION © M ihai N eacsu | D ream stim e 2 IIASA Strategy 2021-2030 www.iiasa.ac.at www.iiasa.ac.at IIASA Strategy 2021-2030 3 MISSION Established in 1972, the initial mission of IIASA was to build bridges across the Cold War divide and confront growing global and international problems through scientific cooperation. The institute was tasked with supporting research addressing problems of modern societies arising from scientific and technological development, and to undertake its own studies into both methodological and applied research in the related fields of systems analysis, cybernetics, operations research, and management techniques. Today, while keeping a focus on the increasingly complex problems created by rapid scientific and technological development in an inter-connected world, the institute’s perspective has evolved from a focus on systems analysis to a broader systems science approach to build bridges between countries and stakeholders in the pursuit of sustainable development. IIASA vision 2021–2030To be the primary destination for integrated systems solutions and policy insights to current, emerging, and novel global sustainability challenges, threats, and opportunities. Reducing footprints, enhancing resilience Systems science for transformations to sustainability IIASA Strategy 2021–2030 FURTHER INFORMATION: iiasa.ac.at/strategy www.iiasa.ac.at18 Options Winter 2020