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The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) conducts research with the goal of understanding, advancing, and guiding processes of societal change towards sustainable development. Our 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.
The IASS was officially founded in 2009 as a joint initiative of the German Federal Government, the Federal State of Brandenburg and the research organisations of the German Science Alliance. Potsdam was chosen as the location for the institute due to its excellent research landscape, with world-class institutions such as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, as well as its close proximity to politics, media, and non-governmental organisations in Berlin.