This Lunchtime Talk will be broadcast live on Watershed's YouTube channel

In this talk, Dr. Timothy J. Senior will introduce the Wicked Problems agency supersum, an experiment in wickedness, clumsiness, and messiness. Through supersum’s projects on rural innovation, dementia care, and community resilience to COVID-19, this talk will explore the real-world implications of running a Wicked Problems agency.

It’s easy to say we live in a complex world. Many problems are, in fact, just merely complicated. Enough time, effort, money, and the application of best practice will probably do the job. Some problems – particularly societal problems – are very different in nature. They are hard to define, have no definitive solution, and no stopping rule. These are Wicked Problems.

What do Wicked Problems demand? They demand Clumsy Solutions, defined as those creatively combining the four building blocks of social life – individualism, hierarchy, egalitarianism and fatalism – to respond in an effective and legitimate way. And what do Clumsy Solutions require? They require Messy Institutions able to cut across conventional disciplines, mindsets, and organisational structures.

Join us on Fri 26th June, 13:00-14:00 for the talk and to take part in the discussion afterwards.

Watch live on YouTube