Wicked problems

Water is a wicked problem

Like trying to sculpt fog in the dark with a chainsaw, water is a wicked problem. This term, wicked problem, is intentionally phrased as such because these challenges have unique attributes that make it worth pausing for reflection before we dive headfirst into tackling it. Wicked problems, as defined in (Freeman 2000), reduced in (“Wicked-Problems-Flower.png (51005100)” n.d.), and modified for my own wicked problem below, include 8 characteristics that make them a wicked hard problem to tackle.

mindmap
  Wicked Problem
    Every problem is unique
      E.G.: Water is not the same as a biological outbreak
    Every problem is connected to others
      E.G.: FEWS
    There is no clear problem definition
    Are multi-causal, multi-scler, and interconnected.
    Include multiple, invested stakeholders with different values, goals, and objectives.
    Straddel oranizational and dicsiplinary boundaries
    Solutions to an aspect have implications/ramifications across the system
    Solutions are not right or wrong, but good and bad
    Can be difficult to measure or evaluate effects of implemented solutions
    Problems are never completely solved
      They are wicked problems, not wicked puzzles

While many of these are unclear and vague, a lot of this work can not start without first creating an accounting of it. Most of this comes from the ideas of mass balance as laid out in hydrology, and in my attempts at measuring flow via PIV.

References

Freeman, David M. 2000. “Wicked Water Problems: Sociology and Local Water Organizations in Addressing Water Resources Policy.” Journal of the American Water Resources Association 36 (3): 483–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2000.tb04280.x.

“Wicked-Problems-Flower.png (51005100).” n.d. https://transitiondesignseminarcmu.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Wicked-problems-flower.png. Accessed February 12, 2024.