We are living in a society that is more complex than ever before. We are facing more wicked problems: highly complex, stubborn and challenging problems that include multiple actors, interactions with other issues, different perspectives, conflicts over options for change, power relations and uncertainties.
In this webinar, our International Visiting Professor of Systems Thinking for Sustainability, Gerald Midgley, gives an introduction to how systems thinking can help us manage wicked problems. He offers a framework of four systems thinking skills, and explains how different systems methodologies can enhance our practice of these skills. He also offers many examples of addressing wicked problems through systems thinking, drawing on his past projects in the UK and New Zealand.
For further reading after you have watched the seminar, we recommend two books. The first explains the framework of four systems thinking skills, and the second expands on the theory, methodology and practice of systems thinking:
- Cabrera D and Cabrera L (2015). Systems Thinking Made Simple: New Hope for Solving Wicked Problems. Odyssean Press, Ithaca NY.
- Midgley G (2000). Systemic Intervention: Philosophy, Methodology, and Practice. Springer, New York.
This webinar was organized by the Linnaeus University Systems Community and the Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull, and is an activity in KK-funded project 20190256.