A participatory multi-criteria decision analysis framework reveals transition potential towards non-grid wastewater management.

Many public environmental decisions are wicked problems due to high complexity and uncertainty. We test a participatory value-based framework based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to tackle such problems. Our framework addresses two important gaps identified in reviews of MCDA applications to environmental problems: including stakeholders and treating uncertainty. We applied our framework in two complex real-world cases concerning a paradigm shift in the wastewater sector; the transition from centralized wastewater systems to decentralized non-grid systems. Non-grid systems may solve some problems of centralized systems by reducing costs, increasing flexibility, and addressing growing demands on environmental issues, especially in rural areas. But non-grid systems have rarely been implemented in OECD countries, because it is unclear whether a transition is recommendable, and whether stakeholders would accept this shift. This problem allows addressing several fundamental research questions. As theoretical contribution, we found that stakeholder participation in MCDA is necessary, because different preferences of stakeholders can lead to different best-performing options in the assessments. Compared to the typical integrated assessment (IA) approach that excludes stakeholders' preferences, the MCDA process led to clearer outcomes. Results indicate that including the uncertainty of predicted consequences of options with Monte Carlo simulation helped discriminate between options and identify best-performing options. Challenging the uncertainty of elicited stakeholder preferences with sensitivity analyses, we found that best-performing options were especially sensitive to the MCDA aggregation model. Despite the high uncertainty, it was possible to suggest robust consensus options that would perform reasonably well for all stakeholders. As practical contribution, results indicated that a transition from the centralized to decentralized non-grid systems seems feasible. Most stakeholders assigned highest weights to environmental protection objectives in decision-making workshops. These stakeholder preferences implemented in MCDA led to a generally better assessment of innovative non-grid systems, especially when including urine source separation. Stakeholders perceived the MCDA process as beneficial and found results plausible. We conclude that the proposed participatory value-based framework is rigorous, but still feasible in practice. The framework is certainly transferable to any context and is open to testing and refinement in various applications to wicked decision problems.

Precision Medicine and Rough Justice: Wicked Problems.

What exactly is a "wicked problem"? It is a social or economic problem that is so complex and so interconnected with other issues that it is extraordinarily difficult or impossible to resolve. This is because all proposed resolutions generate equally complex, equally wicked problems. In this essay, I argue that precision medicine, especially in the context of the U.S. healthcare system, generates numerous wicked problems related to distributive justice. Further, I argue that there are no easy solutions to these wicked problems. The need for trade-offs is inescapable. Rough justice is the best outcome we can hope for, and that outcome requires a commitment to processes of public reason that are fair and inclusive.

Case-study: A wicked way to address family violence in a regional setting in Western Australia.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Communication tools have long been used to address complex social policy problems, known as wicked problems, in communities around the world. However, the challenge has remained, how do we measure the impact of social change with communication for development (C4D)? Evaluators recommend utilising evaluation tools that take a wider systems-based approach to assist in the evaluation of C4D projects. Health Communication Resources (HCR) Inc., a health promotion charity that supports C4D projects around the world, aimed to trial a tool to assist evaluation of a project addressing gender inequality, an underlying driver of family violence in the community. METHODS: WickedLab's tool for systemic change was utilised to assist the evaluation of the complex adaptive system. The research team mapped the system that existed in Geraldton working towards addressing the wicked problem of gender inequality. RESULTS: Mapping the system highlighted how integral C4D actions were in maintaining and strengthening the system as it works together towards gender equality in the community. CONCLUSION: A systems-based approach can strengthen evaluation and demonstrates the role C4D projects play in addressing wicked problems in a defined location. SO WHAT?: WickedLab's tool for systemic change provides significant potential for the evaluation of other health promotion and communication for development projects.

Environmental Public Health practice: designing and delivering a locally desirable service.

OBJECTIVES: We reviewed environmental public health practice at a local level (roles, responsibilities, interaction with partner agencies) to establish what and how an integrated approach to the service, as found in Cheshire and Merseyside, North West England, should be delivered, if at all, and at what footprint. STUDY DESIGN: Mixed methods approach. METHODS: We triangulated: qualitative interviews with relevant professionals to gain an in-depth understanding of their interest and vision for any health protection input to health risks and outcomes from environmental issues; an electronic questionnaire assessing experience, interest, vision and comfort zones of a wider range of professionals involved in environmental health issues; a half-day workshop to review study findings and agree ways forward. RESULTS: Stakeholders value their local health protection team's input, but environmental public-health knowledge and skills also exist in local authority teams. Regional health protection teams can provide environmental public-health expertise to local partners and agencies. They harness national input and evidence with local frontline professionals practice, enabling locally grounded approaches, integrating science into local contexts, to answer difficult, often incorrigible, problems. CONCLUSIONS: Specialist leadership by experienced Consultants in Health Protection is of value to local authority public health and environmental teams and should be based on a footprint that is appropriate to enhance local relationships without compromising available expert knowledge and skills.

Proposal of guidelines to assist managers to face pressing challenges confronting Latin American universities: a complexity theory perspective.

The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing problems in Latin America and posed unprecedented challenges for Latin American universities (LAU). These challenges can be characterised as complex problems that cannot be understood through reductionist approaches. This paper aims (i) to provide a complex system perspective of the challenges confronting LAUs and (ii) to propose guidelines for managers of LAUs to address them in practice. A multidisciplinary group was formed and conducted an iterative process of research, brainstorming and debate of potential solutions to the following problems considered particularly important by their universities: mental health issues in the university environment, student learning gaps, brain drain, and anti-science movements. Complexity theory and E/HF concepts are integrated to demonstrate that understanding what LAUs are experiencing in a fragmented manner is impossible, and that the interactions between the challenges should be at the centre of the managers' actions plans. Practitioner summary: Managers of LAUs can benefit from the guidelines proposed to understand the pressing challenges confronting universities and develop systemic approaches to address them.

Research and Scholarship During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Wicked Problem.

This study focuses on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on research and scholarship at a research university in the United States. Building on studies in higher education policy, we conceptualized the COVID-19 pandemic as a 'wicked problem' that is complex, nonlinear, unique, and requiring urgent solutions. Wicked problems highlight pre-existing struggles, and therefore, recent challenges in higher education inform the methods and the findings of this study. Qualitative and quantitative survey data from 408 faculty, staff, and students explicate the reasons for reduced research output and adaptations made for increased or sustained productivity, health, and wellness that influenced research activities. The analysis showed that most respondents experienced reduced productivity mostly due to increased work responsibilities, limited access to research fields, and inadequate resources. Despite self-reported reduced productivity, participants from the University we studied experienced increases in funding during the pandemic. Thus, the findings also reported on the adaptations for sustained or increased productivity. These included new research pursuits, participation in conference and learning opportunities across geographic regions, and purchase of computer equipment/accessories for home offices. A small percentage of respondents mentioned improved health and well-being; however, many linked reduced research activities to health and well-being issues such as anxiety and fear about the pandemic and being overwhelmed due to work and home-life expectations. Knowledge of the challenges and opportunities presented within the first year of the pandemic can provide a basis for solutions to wicked problems higher education may face in the future.

Teaching the Modeling of Human-Environment Systems: Acknowledging Complexity with an Agent-Based Model.

Agent-based modeling is a promising tool for familiarizing students with complex systems as well as programming skills. Human-environment systems, for instance, entail complex interdependencies that need to be considered when modeling these systems. This complexity is often neglected in teaching modeling approaches. For a heterogeneous group of master's students at a German university, we pre-built an agent-based model. In class, this was used to teach modeling impacts of land use policies and markets on ecosystem services. As part of the course, the students had to perform small research projects with the model in groups of two. This study aims to evaluate how well students could deal with the complexity involved in the model based on their group work outcomes. Chosen indicators were, e.g., the appropriateness of their research goals, the suitability of the methods applied, and how well they acknowledged the limitations. Our study results revealed that teaching complex systems does not need to be done with too simplistic models. Most students, even with little background in modeling and programming, were able to deal with the complex model setup, conduct small research projects, and have a thoughtful discussion on the limitations involved. With adequate theoretical input during lectures, we recommend using models that do not hide the complexity of the systems but foster a realistic simplification of the interactions. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10956-022-10022-z.

Qualitative modelling of social determinants of health using group model building: the case of debt, poverty, and health.

BACKGROUND: Social determinants of health (SDoH) are known to have a large impact on health outcomes, but their effects are difficult to make visible. They are part of complex systems of variables largely indirect effects on multiple levels, constituting so-called wicked problems. This study describes a participatory approach using group model building (GMB) with stakeholders, in order to develop a qualitative causal model of the health effects of SDoH, taking poverty and debt in the Dutch city of Utrecht as a case study. METHODS: With GMB we utilised the perspective of stakeholders who are directly involved in policy and practice regarding poverty, debt, and/or health. This was done using system dynamic modelling, in three interactive sessions lasting three hours each. In these sessions, they constructed a model, resulting in a system of variables with causal relationships and feedback loops. Subsequently, the results of these GMB sessions were compared to scientific literature and reviewed by a panel of researchers with extensive experience in relevant scientific fields. RESULTS: The resulting model contains 71 causal relationships between 39 variables, 29 of which are present in feedback loops. The variables of participation in society, stress, shame, social contacts and use of services/provisions appear to hold prominent roles in the model's mechanisms. Most of the relationships in the model are supported by scientific literature. The researchers reviewing the model in the scientific meeting agreed that the vast majority of relationships would concur with scientific knowledge, but that the model constructed by the stakeholders consists mostly of individual-level factors, while important conditions usually relate to systemic variables. CONCLUSIONS: Building a model with GMB helps grasp the complex situation of a wicked problem, for which it is unlikely that its interrelationships result in a fully intuitive understanding with linear mechanisms. Using this approach, effects of SDoH can be made visible and the body of evidence expanded. Importantly, it elicits stakeholders' perspectives on a complex reality and offers a non-arbitrary way of formulating the model structure. This qualitative model is also well suited to serve as conceptual input for a quantitative model, which can be used to test and estimate the relationships.

"How you keep going": Voluntary sector practitioners' story-lines as emotion work.

The voluntary sector acts as the last line of defense for some of the most marginalized people in societies around the world, yet its capacities are significantly reduced by chronic resource shortages and dynamic political obstacles. Existing research has scarcely examined what it is like for voluntary sector practitioners working amidst these conditions. In this paper, we explore how penal voluntary sector practitioners across England and Scotland marshaled their personal and professional resources to "keep going" amidst significant challenges. Our analysis combines symbolic interactionism with the concept of story-lines. We illuminate the narratives that practitioners mobilized to understand and motivate their efforts amidst the significant barriers, chronic limitations, and difficult emotions brought forth by their work. We position practitioners' story-lines as a form of emotion work that mitigated their experiences of anger, frustration, overwhelm, sadness, and disappointment, enabling them to move forward and continue to support criminalized individuals. Our analysis details three story-lines-resignation, strategy, and refuge-and examines their consequences for practitioners and their capacities to intervene in wicked social problems.

Understanding urban sustainability from Mode 2 Science and transdisciplinary education: how Master Thesis Ateliers of the Ghent Stadsacademie tackle wicked issues.

The wicked sustainability problems that we are increasingly facing not only require new ways of knowledge production, but also challenge our traditional educational system. More and more importance is attached to educational practices and experiments focusing on transdisciplinary problem framing, a pluralistic search for solutions and active collaboration with various stakeholders throughout society. The aim of this article is to investigate how an inter- and transdisciplinary setting in which students develop master theses can contribute to learning about a specific urban problem and what challenges this transdisciplinary education entails. Starting from relevant theoretical and analytical frameworks, such as Mode 2 Science (Nowotny et al. 2005) and the three-phase model of Lang et al. (2012), we first outline the philosophy and approach of the general setting: the Stadsacademie, a collective learning platform or 'collaboratory' to explore and investigate wicked problems perceived in the city of Ghent (Belgium). To provide more in-depth and refined insights, we focus on an exemplary activity of the Stadsacademie: the Master Thesis Ateliers 'Diversity in Social Housing'. A Master Thesis Atelier (MTA) is a collaborative trajectory of one academic year in which 4 to 8 master students and their supervisors from different disciplinary backgrounds concentrate on one specific urban problem and collaborate with non-academic actors aiming to explore and to impact upon that issue. We conclude this article with overall reflections and suggestions for transdisciplinary approaches within educational practices to tackle wicked sustainability issues.

Engaging Multiple Worldviews With Quantitative Decision Support: A Robust Decision-Making Demonstration Using the Lake Model.

Many of today's most pressing policy challenges are usefully characterized as wicked problems. With contested framings parties to a decision disagree not only on potential solutions, but on the nature of the problem they are trying to solve. The quantitative tools of risk and policy analysis, commonly designed to develop and compare choices within a single decision framing, are poorly designed to bring quantitative information into debates with contested framings. This study aims to build on recent advances in decision making under deep uncertainty (DMDU) to demonstrate methods and tools that may help resolve the tension between quantitative decision support and multiworldview approaches for addressing wicked problems. The study employs robust decision making (RDM), one common DMDU method, and a new version of the lake model, a simple and widely used model of a coupled human and natural system, to conduct a stylized analysis that reflects three different worldviews. The RDM analysis solves the decision challenge independently for each worldview and then compares each set of solutions from the vantage of the other worldviews. The resulting utopia-dystopia matrix informs problem reframing that seeks robust, adaptive strategies independently consistent with each worldview and thus provides a locus for agreement. The study describes how stakeholder engagements might use such analytic tools and their information products to provide overlapping but alternative entry points for groups with fundamentally different worldviews to engage with each other in deliberative processes appropriate for wicked problems.

Symbiosis and the Anthropocene.

Recent human activity has profoundly transformed Earth biomes on a scale and at rates that are unprecedented. Given the central role of symbioses in ecosystem processes, functions, and services throughout the Earth biosphere, the impacts of human-driven change on symbioses are critical to understand. Symbioses are not merely collections of organisms, but co-evolved partners that arise from the synergistic combination and action of different genetic programs. They function with varying degrees of permanence and selection as emergent units with substantial potential for combinatorial and evolutionary innovation in both structure and function. Following an articulation of operational definitions of symbiosis and related concepts and characteristics of the Anthropocene, we outline a basic typology of anthropogenic change (AC) and a conceptual framework for how AC might mechanistically impact symbioses with select case examples to highlight our perspective. We discuss surprising connections between symbiosis and the Anthropocene, suggesting ways in which new symbioses could arise due to AC, how symbioses could be agents of ecosystem change, and how symbioses, broadly defined, of humans and "farmed" organisms may have launched the Anthropocene. We conclude with reflections on the robustness of symbioses to AC and our perspective on the importance of symbioses as ecosystem keystones and the need to tackle anthropogenic challenges as wise and humble stewards embedded within the system.

The wicked problem of waste management: An attention-based analysis of stakeholder behaviours.

Surging amounts of waste are reported globally and especially in lower-income countries, with negative consequences for health and the environment. Increasing concern has been raised for the limited progress achieved in practice by diverse sets of policies and programmes. Waste management is a wicked problem characterised by multilayered interdependencies, complex social dynamics and webs of stakeholders. Interactions among these generate unpredictable outcomes that can be missed by decision makers through their understanding and framing of their context. This article aims to identify possible sources of persistent problems by focussing on what captures, shapes and limits the attention of stakeholders and decision-makers, drawing on the attention-based view from organisation theory. The theory describes the process through which issues and opportunities are noticed and how these are translated into actions, by focussing on the influencers at the individual, organisational and context scale. Views on issues and opportunities for waste management were collected in a series of fieldwork activities from 60 participants representing seven main types of stakeholders in the typical lower-middle income Kenyan city of Kisumu. Through a thematic analysis guided by the attention-based view, we identified patterns and misalignment of views, especially between government, community-based organisations and residents, which may contribute to persistent waste problems in Kisumu. Some point to detrimental waste handling practices, from separation to collection and treatment, as the main cause of issues. For others, these practices are due to a poor control of such practices and enforcement of the law. This study's major theoretical contribution is extending the application of attention theory to multi-stakeholder problems and to non-formalized organisations, namely residents and to the new field of waste management. This novel lens contributes a greater understanding of waste issues and their management in Africa that is relevant to policy and future research. By revealing the "wickedness" of the waste problem, we point to the need for a holistic and systems-based policy approach to limit further unintended consequences.

The concept of a participatory approach to water management on a reservoir in response to wicked problems.

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the social, economic and environmental aspect is widely accepted although still represents a big challenge for its implementation in global, regional and local scales. This is particularly important in the situation of new investments. In the case of already existing hydro-technical facilities, which were built at the end of the nineties of the last century, water management takes into account only the ecological awareness for their design and social participation is limited to acceptance of the local community. The Msciwojów retention reservoir analysed in the article is an example of an object whose project included ecological solutions aimed at ensuring high water quality, and its construction was approved and supported by the local community. At present, the reservoir does not function in accordance with the adopted assumptions, and water management requires the implementation of system solutions that take into account contradicting expectations of users and stakeholders of the reservoir. The current situation can be categorized as a wicked problem. The article presents a proposal to solve the situation on the basis of a participatory approach involving stakeholders through social learning as a part of the reservoir management system. The system approach was developed based on the principles of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and 10 Steps Planning Processing by Wilhite while using the causal loop diagrams (CLD). The result is an organizational model of the reservoir management structure and framework methodology for building solution scenarios. The key assumption of the proposed approach is the cyclicality of activities as part of the management process taking into account changes in the reservoir system and its settings in the social, economic and environmental aspects.

Gathering Diverse Perspectives to Tackle "Wicked Problems": Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Educational Placement.

Among students receiving behavioral health and special education services, racial/ethnic minority students are consistently overrepresented in settings separate from general classrooms. Once separated, many young people struggle to improve academically and face significant difficulty upon trying to return to a general education setting. Given the complex, ongoing, and multifaceted nature of this challenge, racial/ethnic disproportionality can be identified as a "wicked problem," for which solutions are not easily identified. Here, we describe our community-engaged research efforts, eliciting perspectives from relevant partners in an ongoing dialogue, to better integrate diverse stakeholders' perspectives when attempting to address such disparities. We conducted focus groups and qualitative interviews with members of three stakeholder groups: community-serving organizations, individuals with lived experience of behavioral health conditions, and state-level policymakers, with a shared interest in addressing racial and ethnic disparities. Participant responses illustrated the "wickedness" of this problem and highlighted the need for additional supports for students, families, and school personnel, increased collaboration across relevant systems and agencies, and reduced barriers related to funding. Overall, this methodology bridged differing perspectives to develop, in concert with our partners, a shared language of the problem and a core set of issues to consider when seeking to effect change.

Reflective Consensus Building on Wicked Problems with the Reflect! Platform.

Wicked problems-that is, problems that can be framed in a number of different ways, depending on who is looking at them-pose ethical challenges for professionals that have scarcely been recognized as such. Even though wicked problems are all around us, they are rarely addressed in education. A reason for this failure might be that wicked problems pose almost insurmountable challenges in educational settings. This contribution shows how students can learn to cope with wicked problems in problem-based learning projects that are structured by the Reflect! platform.

The agricultural policy trilemma: On the wicked nature of agricultural policy making.

Agricultural policy has been seen as exceptional, compartmentalized and complex. Consequently, policy making in agriculture has been portrayed as particularly difficult - sometimes as an example of a 'wicked problem'. In this paper I argue that agricultural policy is more than 'just' a complex and wicked problem. It tends to be inbuilt contradictions in the form of trilemmas in agricultural policymaking, which imply that some combinations of core goals are impossible to reach. In this article I develop and illustrate the concept of an agricultural policy trilemma with Norway as a case - a plausibility probe. I argue that the concept of a trilemma may be a useful analytical tool in analysing policy and shifting policy priorities. I describe the development, and workings, of the trilemma from the 1970's to the beginning of the corona crisis in 2020.

Know thyself: Leading through the core of you in times of turbulence.

The paper describes how leaders behave and react in unprecedented times when a professional service firm has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Firsthand data were gathered through interviews, observations, and participation based on direct interaction with leaders and employees. The concept of leadership anatomy is used to describe, discuss, and critique leadership behavior. It signifies the different parts of a human body equipped with sensory ability. The study reveals that in times of crisis, leaders tend to draw on the core of who they are through compassion rather than conventional wisdom in decision making and problem solving. The search for what truly matters helps leaders to reinterpret the ethos of the firm and what they stand for as leaders in their sensemaking of chaos. A deeper reflection of their personal values and beliefs gives them the courage to acknowledge their vulnerability and start seeing the value in others.

Implementation of a national policy for improving health and social care: a comparative case study using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

BACKGROUND: Comprehensive policies are becoming common for addressing wicked problems in health and social care. Success of these policies often varies between target organizations. This variation can often be attributed to contextual factors. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the conditions for successful policy implementation and how context influences this process. The aim of this study was to investigate county-level actors' perspectives on the implementation of a comprehensive national policy in three Swedish counties. The policy focused on developing quality of care for elderly based on the use of national quality registries (NQRs) and to improve coordination of care. METHODS: A comparative case study approach was used. Data was collected longitudinally through documents and interviews. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) guided the analysis. RESULTS: All three counties shared the view that the policy addressed important issues. Still, there was variation regarding how it was perceived and managed. Adaptable features-i.e., NQRs and improvement coaches-were perceived as relevant and useful. However, the counties differed in their perceptions of another policy component-i.e., senior management program-as an opportunity or a disturbance. This program, while tackling complex issues of collaboration, fell short in recognizing the counties' pre-existing conditions and needs and also offered few opportunities for adaptations. Performance bonuses and peer pressure were strong incentives for all counties to implement the policy, despite the poor fit of policy content and local context. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive health policies aiming to address wicked problems have better chances of succeeding if the implementation includes assessments of the target organizations' implementation capacity as well as the implicit quid pro quos involved in policy development. Special attention is warranted regarding the use of financial incentives when dealing with wicked problems since the complexity makes it difficult to align incentives with the goals and to assess potential consequences. Other important aspects in the implementation of such policies are the use of collaborative approaches to engage stakeholders with differing perspectives, and the tailoring of policy communication to facilitate shared understanding and commitment.

Blending integrated knowledge translation with global health governance: an approach for advancing action on a wicked problem.

BACKGROUND: The persistence of health inequities is a wicked problem for which there is strong evidence of causal roots in the maldistribution of power, resources and money within and between countries. Though the evidence is clear, the solutions are far from straightforward. Integrated knowledge translation (IKT) ought to be well suited for designing evidence-informed solutions, yet current frameworks are limited in their capacity to navigate complexity. Global health governance (GHG) also ought to be well suited to advance action, but a lack of accountability, inclusion and integration of evidence gives rise to politically driven action. Recognising a persistent struggle for meaningful action, we invite contemplation about how blending IKT with GHG could leverage the strengths of both processes to advance health equity. DISCUSSION: Action on root causes of health inequities implicates disruption of structures and systems that shape how society is organised. This infinitely complex work demands sophisticated examination of drivers and disrupters of inequities and a vast imagination for who (and what) should be engaged. Yet, underlying tendencies toward reductionism seem to drive superficial responses. Where IKT models lack consideration of issues of power and provide little direction for how to support cohesive efforts toward a common goal, recent calls from the field of GHG may provide insight into these issues. Additionally, though GHG is criticised for its lack of attention to using evidence, IKT offers approaches and strategies for collaborative processes of generating and refining knowledge. Contemplating the inclusion of governance in IKT requires re-examining roles, responsibilities, power and voice in processes of connecting knowledge with action. We argue for expanding IKT models to include GHG as a means of considering the complexity of issues and opening new possibilities for evidence-informed action on wicked problems. CONCLUSION: Integrated learning between these two fields, adopting principles of GHG alongside the strategies of IKT, is a promising opportunity to strengthen leadership for health equity action.