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ystems analysis is an immensely powerful way to bring scientific insights into policy, but it is not easy to define. Any brief phrase aiming to encapsulate the discipline is liable to be incomplete. So instead of a definition, here is a description, with deliberately fuzzy edges: Systems analysis is a set of approaches for solving complex problems. It is, of course, about systems. A system is any set of interacting components, such as species in an ecosystem or traders in a market. Even apparently simple systems with just a few components can do surprising things, as feedback loops lead to unpredictable behavior. Many tools can be used to get to grips with the behavior of systems. They include formal ways to define and discuss problems, and an array of mathematical modeling techniques. In applied systems analysis, the aim is not just to understand a system, but to suggest how to change it. At IIASA, systems tools are used to support decision making, bringing the insights of systems science into policy, to address the complex problems of the real world such as pollution, deprivation, and climate change. HOLISTIC DETECTION Systems analysis gains much of its power from recognizing that systems are not isolated. For example, the climate, the economy, and the biosphere all affect one another, forming a global system of systems. With such a holistic view, systems analysis can tackle problems that are rooted in several different systems. That enables it to identify: • Trade-offs, for example between wealth and biodiversity • Unintended consequences, such as biofuels causing carbon emissions through indirect land-use change • Co-benefits, where one action improves two outcomes, such as electric vehicles mitigating both climate change and pollution • Synergies, where two or more actions achieve something that no single action could accomplish This broad and flexible perspective also helps to reveal solutions. Instead of trying to solve a problem by tinkering with one narrow system, you can take a step back and include other areas – creating a system big enough to include the solution. Treating climate change as a physical problem alone may not suggest a practical policy, but if you include economics and social sciences, you bring in the incentives and institutions that can make a difference. The concept of systems analysis is difficult to pin down, but in fact, the flexible, shapeshifting nature of this discipline turns out to be its superpower. 16 Options www.iiasa.ac.atWinter 2021