Multi-Stakeholder Business Models： Designing Out Wicked Problems

The paper is a part of an ongoing study, labelled as ＂Designing out wicked problems＂ - a design science research （DSR） study with the purpose of developing, implementing, and evaluating a methodology framework for designing multi-stakeholder business models. The objective of the current paper is to evaluate the business model design framework within a DSR framework. The research is conducted as three-year case study at three sites： The Danish police, with a key player in the Danish energy sector, and the municipality of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The research method is action research, with a structure of planning-action-evaluation process conducted with the case owners - as well as design science methodology, where an artifact （the multi-stakeholder business model design concept） is created, evaluated and altered to improve its functionality. The finding of this study is that the maturity of the application domain - the type of problem the concept is trying to solve - as well as of the concept itself, is low. The conclusion is thus that the knowledge contribution of the study is of a unique invention character which will lay the foundation for further evaluation and research.

Marginalization and invasion of architects＇ role on house projects： Institutional intervention inadequacy and super wicked problems

The design and construction of houses normally require an architect＇s input. However, architects are increasingly being marginalized in these projects, and their roles are constantly being invaded by others. Despite repeated institutional interventions toward remedying this phenomenon, signs are not abating. This article examines the complexity of this phenomenon to explain the inadequacy of institutional interventions to address the problem. This article conceptualizes the phenomenon of marginalization and role invasion as a super wicked problem with six key features. First, the problem has a difficult definition. Second, the solution involves a large structural and economic burden. Third, time is of the essence. Fourth, multiple stakeholders attempting to solve the problem are part of the cause. Fifth, institutional interventions addressing the issue are weak or ill-equipped. Sixth, institutional interventions discount the future irrationally. The implications of this conceptualization for institutional intervention and research are discussed.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Wicked Problems: From Single Discipline to Transdisciplinarity

With the increase of social complexity and uncertainty,wicked problems have become the hot and difcult issues in the frontier research of public policy.The concept of wicked problems was proposed in the 1960s.Since then,it has gradually spread to many disciplines,such as environment,urban planning,public policy,etc.A comprehensive understanding of the research progress of the transdisciplinary method is an important way to understand wicked problems.This paper uses Citespace5.5,based on bibliometrics and visual analysis techniques,to analyze 800 academic publications related to wicked problems and visually display the transdisciplinarity knowledge map and information panorama of wicked problems.Through a multi-level descriptive analysis of key literature,research origin,research hotspots and trend of the research on wicked problems,this paper fnds out the law of knowledge growth and internal evolution logic of the research on wicked problems,and concludes that the transdisciplinarity research of wicked problems is forming,which shows the rule from knowledge difusion(single discipline)to knowledge coherence(transdisciplinarity).The discipline of public policy has the potential to change the knowledge constraints of a single discipline and may ofer transdisciplinarity approaches to wicked problems.

Specificity of Food Security Concept as a Wicked Problem

The aim of the article was firstly to analyze a specific character of the food security＇s concept, and secondly to present a large variety of stakeholders＇ positions dealing with the issue and their impact on economic and political dimensions. For this purpose, a review in available studies and documents was made. The results show that a lack of the precise definition for the food security＇s concept creates different understandings, leading to various interpretations and divergent solutions. The reasons could be found in specifics of the food security＇s concept which is qualified as a wicked problem. Wicked problems refer to issues which are highly complex, have innumerable and undefined causes and are difficult to understand and frame. Therefore, caution is required when positions of stakeholders are estimating. Based on literature, it can be stated that the productionist （focusing on intensive food production） and environmental frames are dominant in the debate, resulting in potential conflicts and different claims about action to be taken. As a result, a clear political vision on the food security＇s concept is lacking. In conclusion, a return to the principle what food production is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable can reshape a public debate in order to actively form food security policies at the global and national levels in the future. However, better coping strategies like cooperative strategy should be developed to tame food security as a wicked problem by turning over to stakeholders for new definitions and solutions.

Long-term and Cross-sectoral Management of Interconnected Events： The Case of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

In a world-shocking nuclear disaster occurred at Fukushima in 2011, multi-faceted consequences have manifested in not only direct and indirect but also tangible and intangible way in social, political, and economic domains. At present six year later, original risk issues, such as health, environmental, and financial risks, were complexly connected to each other, and have transformed to the wicked or complicated problems. This paper addresses the following four problems that we are faced with： prolonged evacuation and return to hometown, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings issues, nuclear regulatory issues, and nuclear energy policy and business. The authors discuss the reasons why above-noted situations arise from nuclear disaster in terms of endogenous factors embedded in socio-technical nuclear system in Japan and some common causes across the wicked problems. The wicked problems are also closely connected with each other, and become super-wicked problem. Among others, Japan＇s energy transition policy aiming at low carbon society tends to deviate politically and now at crossroad. Finally, the authors describe some perspectives and challenges required to govern interconnected events, as lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Tackling the Wicked Problem of Measuring What Matters:Framing the Questions

Purpose:Making policy makers,researcher,education leaders,and assessment developers aware that what matters in education assessment is a wicked problem that cannot be easily solved following traditional approaches.Design/Approach/Methods:Starting from the questions that what matters in education assessment,this article presented such questions as a wicked problem because there is no consensus,not right or wrong answer,and certain solutions may lead to side effects on students and society.Therefore,a new approach of ecology should be involved,and different education outcomes or intended qualities of learners are presented in complex relationships.Findings:Deciding what matters in education assessment is a wicked question.It is not a tame or technology problem and can be resolved by any conventional approaches.What is pivotal now is to decipher what matters in education and then what should be measured and ultimately how to measure.The ecology and collaborate approach deliberated in this article could expedite such a process.Originality/Value:This article advocates paradigm change in understanding and resolving one of the most urgent problems in education.It provides an ecology explanation of the relationships that exist among the different education outcomes and students’qualities.By guiding through the dissecting of the problem step by step,this article has demonstrated a unique angle of understanding the wicked problem.

The 'lifecycle' of human beinqs: a call to explore vector-borne diseases from an ecosystem perspective

Background:Dengue virus,an Aedes mosquito-borne flavivirus,is associated with close to 400 million reported infections per annum worldwide.Reduction of dengue virus transmission depends entirely on limiting Aedes breeding or preventing adult female contact with humans.Currently,the World Health Organization promotes the strategic approach of integrated vector management in order to optimise resources for mosquito control.Main text:Neglected tropical disease researchers focus on geographical zones where the incidence of clinical cases,and prevalence of vectors,are high.In combatting those infectious diseases such as dengue that affect mainly low-income populations in developing regions,a mosquito-centric approach is frequently adopted.This prioritises environmental factors that facilitate or impede the lifecycle progression of the vector.Climatic variables(such as rainfall and wind speed)that impact the vector's lifecycle either causally or by happenstance also affect the human host's lifecycle',but in very different ways.The socioeconomic impacts of the same variables that influence vector control impact host vulnerability but at different points in the human lifecycle to those of the vector.Here,we argue that the vulnerability of the vector and that of the host interact in complex and unpredictable ways that are characteristic of(complex and intransigent)'wicked problems'.Moreover,they are treated by public health programs in ways that may ignore this complexity.This opinion draws on recent evidence showing that the best climate predictors of the scale of dengue outbreaks in Bangladesh cannot be explained through a simple vector-tohost causal model.Conclusions:In mapping causal pathways for vector-borne diseases this article makes a case to elevate the lifecycle of the human host to a level closer in equivalence to that of the veaor.Here,we suggest value may be gained from transferring Rittel and Webber's concept of a wicked(social)problem to dengue,malaria and other mosquito-transmitted public health concerns.This would take a'problem definition,rather than a,solution-finding,approach,particularly when considering problems in which climate impacts simultaneously on human and vector vulnerability.

Evolution of Planning Rationality and Its Implications for Urban Planning in Public Health Crises

Rationality is the cornerstone of planning.In recent years,increasing frequency of public health crises and the powerlessness of planning in dealing with such crises have prompted us to rethink the role of planning rationality.This paper argues that both reason as a term specific in philosophy and rationality in decision science are finite,diverse,and complex,and should be understood and applied moderately.Those features also apply to planning rationality,which is based on both philosophical reasoning and decision rationality.In addition,frequent public health crises have greatly undermined the ideal thinking of optimization in a complex city and highlighted the importance of knowledge and methods,and communications and collaborations between professional and non-professional areas.Therefore,it is necessary to put the discussion of planning rationality in terms of its concept,categories,and evolution in the domain of public reason.This can be achieved through joint actions including communication and collaboration.