Seite - 17 - in options, Band summer 2015

17summer 2015 + optionswww.iiasa.ac.at that education is key to reducing disaster fatalities and enhancing adaptive capacity. “The surprise was that in the disaster community, nobody had so far thought that education could possibly be a factor that should be studied,” Lutz says. “Economists tend to somehow assume from the start that income would be decisive.” The team then went on to perform an extensive analysis of natural disaster data for 167 countries over the past four decades, as well as a number of studies carried out in individual countries and regions, to confirm that education is more important than income for reducing the vulnerability of populations to the type of natural disasters—floods, landslides, and storms—that researchers expect to become intense with climate change. The key to this new insight, Lutz believes, lies in thinking beyond conventional narrow disciplinary approaches. Traditionally, economists who dominate disaster analysis have simply focused on income or finance as the decisive forces in such questions, and have hardly worked in cooperation with researchers that take other approaches. “The lesson you learn here is that if you don’t think beyond your discipline, you can actually be blind to the most important factors,” Lutz says. The finding should prove invaluable for policymakers. With billions of dollars pledged for climate funding, it is crucial to consider where the money would have the greatest impact, Lutz says. This research shows it is vitally important to invest some of the funds in empowering people through education so that they might be more adaptable to the changes that could occur with climate change, Lutz says. At IIASA, research is problem-driven and solution-oriented and policy relevance is a key priority. While expertise within scientific disciplines is essential, interdisciplinary research brings a new set of tools to the table. “Such research can reveal other factors that can be more important than those you initially considered as part of your disciplinary portfolio,” Lutz says. By practicing interdisciplinary research IIASA scientists can continue to push the boundaries of scientific investigation. In doing so, they can hopefully take great strides towards addressing some of the world’s critical and complex challenges. JP Further info § Frank AB, Collins MG, Levin SA, Lo AW, Ramo J, Dieckmann U, Kremenyuk V, Kryazhimskiy A, Linnerooth-Bayer J, Ramalingam B, Roy JS, Saari DG, Thurner S, von Winterfeldt D (2014). Dealing with femtorisks in international relations. PNAS  111(49):17356–17362 [doi:10.1073/pnas.1400229111]. § Lutz W, Muttarak R, Striessnig E (2014). Universal  education is key to enhanced climate adaptation. Science 346(6213):1061–1062 [doi:10.1126/science.1257975]. § Kendall NW, Dieckmann U, Heino M, Punt AE, Quinn TP (2014). Evolution of age and length at maturation of Alaskan salmon under size-selective harvest. Evolutionary Applications 7(2):313–322 [doi:10.1111/eva.12123]. Ulf Dieckmann dieckmann@iiasa.ac.at Wolfgang Lutz lutz@iiasa.ac.at © pic4you | iStockphoto.com