Since 2012, ASM has been representing Malaysia as a National Member Organisation (NMO) and its scholarly community on the governing council of the Institute of Advanced System Analysis (IIASA).
IIASA is an international research institute that conducts multidisciplinary/transdisciplinary research to help policymakers find long-term solutions to global and universal challenges facing countries.
IIASA and ASM have collaborated in various research areas, most notably in tackling haze and biomass burning in Malaysia and Asia, zero deforestation palm oil in Malaysia, as well as projecting changing populations and human capital in Malaysia.
In addition, IIASA and ASM has worked together in the development of a sustainable bioeconomy, pursuing tropical future initiatives, and slowly reforming the country’s energy landscape.
Throughout the years, there have been 26 visits by IIASA researchers to Malaysia. Meanwhile, 47 researchers, advisors and diplomats from Malaysia that have visited or attended an event in IIASA.
Additionally, through ASM’s role as an NMO, Malaysia had six participants to IIASA’s annual Young Scientists Summer Programme (YSSP). The YSSP develops the research skills and networks of talented PhD students. During YSSP, participants conducted independent research within IIASA’s research programmes under the guidance of its scientific staff.
IIASA is continuously developing collaborations with Malaysia and has recently been working with four organisations in Malaysia such as the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, MESTECC (then MOSTI) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) via formal and informal connections.
Throughout the years, nine publications have resulted from collaborations between IIASA and researchers from Malaysian institutions. One such example is the Sustainable Bioeconomy Futures: Formulating Bioenergy Development Pathways for Malaysia.
The Sustainable Bioeconomy Futures report has provided policy insights on bioenergy development pathways for Malaysia towards national targets. It also led to the co-development of BeWhere Malaysia – a spatially explicit techno-economic analysis of bioenergy technology and feedstock options.
Another result of the IIASA-Malaysia collaborations is the Report on Haze and Biomass Burning in Malaysia. This report sheds light on said issue from a system standpoint, to identify the portfolio of intervention options to minimise the negative impacts of biomass burning on human health, economic wealth and natural ecosystems. At the same time, it recognises that development is a major driver for biomass burning.
The Report on Haze and Biomass Burning in Malaysia was completed with the cooperation from the Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute, Malaysia; Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan; and Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia.
Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, IIASA Director General and Chief Executive Officer visited ASM on 2 August 2019. ASM was represented by the President Professor Datuk Dr Asma Ismail FASc and CEO Hazami Habib.