Exploring wicked problems in practice
First-year sustainability students collaborate across disciplines to address real-world challenges and gain hands-on experience with wicked problems.
Hovedinnhold
Over the past six weeks the first-year students in the master's program in sustainability have been working on two case studies as part of their introductory course SDG310. The purpose of this work was to give the students practical experience in addressing complex sustainability challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration. This year students explored two real-world cases: Store Lungegårdsvannet and Hywind-Tampen.
On Tuesday the October 21st, the students presented their findings and reflections. The first group to take the stage was the group investigating the Hywind Tampen case. They presented the case through an interactive roleplay where they presented the different actors that are involved in this case. Among the students involved were Faheemah Moosajee and Carles Lleida.
What case did you work on and what is it about?
“Our group worked on the Hywind Tampen project, a wind turbine farm built to supply renewable electricity to the Gullfaks and Snorre oil platforms. This project touches on the challenges of the Energy transition, such as the divide in between winners and losers, the tradeoffs and environmental concerns in the development of clean energy projects, greenwashing, and the cost of developing a new industry with the potential of replacing oil and gas”
- Carles Lleida
The Hywind Tampen group presenting how they have worked on the case, why it is a wicked problem and what their recommendations were related to the case.
How was it to work in an interdisciplinary team?
“The experience of working in an interdisciplinary way was exciting and generated a great deal of creativity and energy, encouraging us to explore new ways of working and adopt different methodologies for understanding and presenting information. By feeding off multiple perspectives and finding creative ways to create co-existence spurred on momentum and engagement within the group. The diversity of viewpoints and perspectives enriched our discussions and ultimately deepened the quality and insight of the case itself”
- Faheemah Moosajee
The Hywind Tampen group during their presentation demonstrating the different opinions of the involved actors in this wicked case.
After the Hywind Tampen presentation, it was time for the second group to present what type of sustainability problem they had been working on.
What problem did you work on and why is it a wicked problem?
“We worked on the local issue of Store Lungegårdsvannet in Bergen. It’s been subject to pollution for a long time, and the effects of this past and present pollution are still very apparent. We consider the cleaning of SLV a wicked problem because of several reasons, for example the multitude of polluters - historically, presently and in the future – and the varying framings of problems and solutions by different stakeholders. The clean-up is therefore not a linear, one-and-done action but rather an ongoing process of negotiation and collaboration across fields, stakeholders and time”
- Eva Charlotte Samson
The group working on the Store Lungegårdsvannet case presenting their main findings of the wicked problems.
This group had also been challenged to address bottlenecks and opportunities for the Store Lungegårdsvannet case and decide what is next to come for this problem.
What opportunities or challenges did you see from working on this case?
“I see a lot of opportunities for this case. It became very clear to us that one of the main challenges is communication (both internally in stakeholders and between the different ones). Facilitating this in a better way, could be an opportunity to avoid misunderstandings, enhance knowledge and contribute to the better of the project of Store Lungegårdsvannet. We also saw that there is a lot of willingness but less action, and that there are big opportunities to explore the possibilities and take more action.”
- Helene Risnes Wolff
What did you learn from working in an interdisciplinary group on a case like this? What challenges/opportunities do you see from working interdisciplinary?
“I think the hardest part for us was to focus on a common approach to go about the case, and then for me to keep my own focus in line with the priorities set in our group. It was easy for everyone to get invested in something we found interesting and go on little side quests. And while that helped with the overall understanding of our case, we needed the group meetings to gather all the strands and refocus on the wickedness of SLV. That was definitely a learning process. But with everyone having different perspectives and interests, it was quite easy to delegate tasks, and everyone got to use their strengths to contribute to the project.”
- Eva Charotte Samson
The group working on the Store Lungegårdsvannet case presenting bottlenecks and opportunities for this case.
Through these case studies the students experienced firsthand how interdisciplinary collaboration can offer both challenges and opportunities. The case studies will continue to be a central part of the learning process in the interdisciplinary master program in sustainability.
