The PrC is behind the Wicked Problems Plaza (WPP), a concept created by PrC at RSM and the New World Campus. This facilitated multi-stakeholder dialogue enables a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss a wicked problem – a problem that’s difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory or changing requirements.
In the book, recommendations for facilitating a novel and structured dialogue between stakeholders from different backgrounds and for generating creative and realistic ideas include new approaches to wicked problems to address complexity, at the same time as paying attention to unintended and indirect effects.
- Why focus on wicked problems?
- What principles should be taken into account?
- Where does it happen in the WPP?
- How can it be made to work?
Many of today’s global problems are wicked, meaning they are hard to define, let alone solve. They consist of interrelated issues and affect various groups of people. No single actor is therefore able to solve the problem on their own. The biggest challenges are defined by the UN as the Global Goals for Sustainable Development covering issues such as poverty, climate change and inequality. Such wicked problems need to be channelled through multi-stakeholder processes.
“What is essential to the WPP,” says originator of the WPP process, Rob van Tulder, Professor of International Business-Society Management at RSM, “is that we get the ‘system into the room’ – that is, we involve all relevant stakeholders. It creates a structured way of facilitating collaborative methods for dealing with wicked problems. We provide a safe environment in which participants are taken on a journey from abstract problems to collaborative solutions. It is based on years of experience in research and practice in partnership formation and stakeholder engagement processes.”
The book offers insight into how RSM addresses the Global Goals and provides illustrations from dialogue sessions organised in 2015–2016. It presents the theoretical background, the basic outline of the method, practical tips and suggested reading. Readers will understand the methodology and be given ideas for making use of the WPP methods in their own field of interest.
The book can be downloaded here: Wicked Problems Plaza: Principles and Practices for Effective Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue.
