The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies

About the organization

The IASS was founded in Potsdam, Germany, on 2 February 2009. German politician and environmental policy expert Klaus Töpfer was the Institute's founding director. It currently includes around 120 employees, including Fellows from over 30 countries. The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) conducts research with the goal of understanding, advancing, and guiding processes of societal change towards sustainable development. The researchers collaborate with diverse actors from science, policymaking, and public administration as well as business and civil society to develop a common understanding of sustainability challenges and generate potential solutions. The Institute pursues a research approach that is transformative, transdisciplinary, and co-creative.