Wicked ProblemsPlaza

Education guide on WPP E-wasteDeveloped by

Partnerships Resource Centre, EcoCampus and

Catapa

Program of today• 09.00 -09.30 Introduction• 9.30- 10.00 Interest Space• 10.00- 10.45 Equity Space + coffeebreak• 10.45 -11.30 Efficiency space • 11.30-12.00 Questions and closing

Aim of today: • Experience a multi-stakeholder dialogue• Get a sense of the wickedness of the problem• We will NOT find the solution

Wicked?

• Malignant, irritating, annoying

• Hard to define

• Not alone

• Diversity

• a.o. Rittel and Webber, 1973; partnerships literature

Video: Wicked problems

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sQ9_98z9X0

Wicked Problems are

• Symptomatic

• Interrelated

• Continuous

• Without optimal solutions

• Associated with denial

(Rittel and Webber, 1973)

Wicked Problems are

• Unique

• Differently understood

• Without an ultimate test of a solution

• Met with approaches, but not solutions

• Characterized by diverse responsibilities

(Rittel and Webber, 1973)

Simple Complex Wicked

EASY TO SOLVE RESISTS SOLVING RESISTS DEFINING

Clear problem with a clear solution

The problem and solution are not clear

but can be understood with time

Problem and solution not understood and

keep shifting when we try to define them

When the answer/solution is

known

When a problem is (relatively) well defined

When breakthroughthinking is needed

Single loop learning Double loop learning Triple loop learning

technical organizational societal

Source: based on mofox.com; Wadell; Van Tulder

Why are wicked problems so hard to solve?

• Because of…• (1) Incomplete or contradicting information • (2) A large diversity of opinions and possible solutions that

obstructs the achievement of any definite strategy• (3) Stakeholders that are not fully engaged and have unequal or

incongruent desires and stakes• (4) suggested solutions that are too simple, too technical or too

naïve. Those solutions can even worsen the problem. • (5) limited financial sustainability and scalability for the solution.

(PrC, Wicked Problems Plaza: principles and practices of effective multi-stakeholder dialogue (2016))

Examples of Wicked Problemsaddressed in WPP sessions

• Plastic Waste

• Living Wage

• Market for the poor

• Circular economy

• River water contamination

• Boat refugees

• Returning combatants

• Conflict minerals

• Poverty in the Hague

• Obesity

• Food security

• Tax Evasion

• Drink water

• Sustainability in education

• Future (un)employment

Plastic Waste in NepalIs plastic always problematic?

Waste and not cleaning

There are many technical solutions

There are too many NGOs addressing this problem

Creating ownership for waste

The problem is systemic

Idiotic idea: splitting up the Baghmati river

Spin-off: mayor of Kathmandu invited Plastic Soup foundation and other participants to help clean plastic after the earth quake

What is the WPP?

• Multi-stakeholder dialogue

• Journey of four spaces:

head, heart, hands and collaboration

• Getting new insights on the wicked problem and resolutions from many perspectives

The Wicked Problems Plaza

• Interest space: getting stakeholders together the whole system in the room

sharing personal stories, dilemmas andconflicting interests

• Equity space: connecting to the heart,

creating a sense of ownership for a solution

Reaching out to a collective vision

The Wicked Problems Plaza

• Efficiency space:

Brainstorming ‘idiotic ideas’, Brilliant failures

But also thinking about feasibility

• Partnering space:

How could solutions work?

What and who do we need?

Collective vision based negotiation

Wicked problem of today

• Smartphones: weak by design?

• Natural resources in your phone

• Conflict minerals and landgrabbing in Congo

• Long and non-transparent value chain

• The power of the consumer?

• What to do when your phone is broken?

• E-waste -> back to Africa?

4 solutions?

Repairing

Recycling

Leasing

Fairphone Will these solutions really avoid e-waste in the future?

Stakeholders involved

“getting the system in the room”

State: public goods/values

Non-profit

Market: private goods/values

For profit

Communities: social goods/values

Non-profit

Are all stakeholders (re)presented?

Example: river basin management

State: public goods/values

Non-profit

Market: private goods/values

For profit

Communities: social goods/values

Non-profit

Common GoodsCommon Bads

Tragedy of the Commons

WickedProblems are

usually in the middle

State: public goods/values

Market: private goods/values

Communities: social goods/values

1

2

3

4

23

4

2

3

4

Every step closer to 1 is getting closer to a

solution for the wickedproblem.

What to expect today

• Experience a multi-stakeholder dialogue

• Get a sense of the wickedness of the problem

• We will NOT find the solution

• Fair play: we will not ridicule each other

• Anonymity: no naming and shaming

• Listen carefully to others

Interest Space

Equity Space

Efficiency Space

How to proceed?

Reflection and questions