Many of the grand challenges of this world are not only complex, they are also “wicked”. Wicked problems do not have single causes, and thus cannot be solved by a single intervention, they require multidisciplinary solutions and systems thinking. Designing interventions without a thorough and deep understanding of the full complexity of the situation has often led to the opposite of what was wished for. What is needed is a well cooperating and well communicating collective of mono and multi-disciplinary experts that work together in analysing a specific wicked challenge including its social context and design solutions for (parts of) that wicked challenge.

In this project, we focus on socio-technical challenges that have a spatio-temporal nature. This time the challenge provider is the Dutch provincial government of Overijssel. The provincial government sits between the national government and municipalities. Provinces are responsible for spatial planning, regional economic policy, and acting as a link between municipalities and the national government. They also play a role in environmental regulations, public transport, and nature conservation.

After having completed the challenge successfully, we aim for learners to be ready to be a valued member of the before mentioned collective of experts. They will be skilled in working with other disciplines in addressing wicked problems. Supporting this, they have become more skilled and confident in the knowledge and skills of their own discipline. They have become more understanding and appreciative of the knowledge and skills of other disciplines. They can, in a collaborative effort, integrate knowledge and skills from different disciplines to analyse the nature of a complex spatio-temporal challenge and propose mitigation strategies.