Special Issue: IIASA and Systems Analysis in Africa

We are excited to announce and share the newly published special issue on IIASA and Systems Analysis in Africa in Elsevier’s Environmental Development Journal. In 2022, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) increased its membership footprint through its newest member, the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Member Organisation (SSARMO), as part of a regional approach to increase participation in IIASA research and capacity building activities marking the first-ever regional membership of this kind.  

SSARMO includes South Africa and 17 African countries who participate in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The special issue highlights the diverse applications of systems analysis across the continent. These include:

• African co-authors from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Nigeria, including from our former MO Committee, Ursula Scharler and Mary Scholes;
• 16 papers in total of which eight papers featured IIASA projects in the region;
• Key themes which include natural resource management, climate resilience, community-based sustainability, urban well-being, and science-policy governance.

Link to editorial https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101207