Understanding Scale in Wicked Problems …
65
to be blurred and optimistic assumptions about availability of cheap abundant
energy and material are inherent, but often not explicitly considered. This frame
seems to hinder a realistic view of the future or even a meaningful consideration
(Levrini et al. 2019).
• Systems engineering is characterised by tight system boundaries, a good grasp of
efficiency and an understanding of relevant environmental impact of the product.
The core service of the product and its generic outline are usually not questioned, but assessed through a life-cycle perspective. An understanding of scale
and of time is included, often presented through a definition of aims that deviate
clearly from today’s state. Discussed ideas for solutions tend to be pragmatic,
cost effective and working. Groups consider aspects from other disciplines for the
solutions.
• Sustainable engineering science starts from a deeper scepticism with respect to
any technical solution and seeks to minimise the product itself. Problems are
transferred from the technical to a societal level and aspects of sufficiency become
a relevant part of the discussion. Scale and feedbacks as well as global aspects
must be part of the considerations.
This classification is based on the reports as well as on discussions with the
project teams during the course. This taxonomy is understood as essentially digital,
but allowing for some variation in the classes.
Figure 1 shows as a generic trend, that a deeper understanding of and involvement
with sustainability (y-axis) can lead to stronger effects (x-axis). On the other hand,
some of the projects undertaken with deep insight resulted in negligible change to the
systems performance. These were cases where the product itself was quite optimal
or the service near impossible to achieve with a substantially altered product. The
large cluster near the origin mirrors groups that had problems grasping the idea of
the course itself or problems in applying a meaningful method for their work.
An interesting and not expected outcome is the low performance of the projects
that received a Bundespreis Ecodesign award. The assessment of these contributions is a result of in depth discussion with both courses, where students provided
relevant perspectives and interpretations. These discussions offered some possible
explanations for the rather low performance, where neglect of scale is one of the
more relevant aspects, as many proposals did not consider the scale of the problem
addressed, or for the resources needed to roll out the solution at scale.
The data in Fig. 1 stems from 4 years of teaching both courses. Most students select
these courses because of the subject and the project-approach. These students like
challenging projects and started working interdisciplinary with only minor nudging,
and grasp scale when methods to assess it are provided. Both courses include open
discussion of approaches taken and time for peer-review. All teachers are clear on
the intent to consider scale of problems and solutions as a relevant part—this is
communicated as a learning outcome and thus as part of the grading (Biggs and
Tang 2011). As a major outcome, there are no significant differences between students
depending on their disciplines, i.e. between engineering and social science.
65
to be blurred and optimistic assumptions about availability of cheap abundant
energy and material are inherent, but often not explicitly considered. This frame
seems to hinder a realistic view of the future or even a meaningful consideration
(Levrini et al. 2019).
• Systems engineering is characterised by tight system boundaries, a good grasp of
efficiency and an understanding of relevant environmental impact of the product.
The core service of the product and its generic outline are usually not questioned, but assessed through a life-cycle perspective. An understanding of scale
and of time is included, often presented through a definition of aims that deviate
clearly from today’s state. Discussed ideas for solutions tend to be pragmatic,
cost effective and working. Groups consider aspects from other disciplines for the
solutions.
• Sustainable engineering science starts from a deeper scepticism with respect to
any technical solution and seeks to minimise the product itself. Problems are
transferred from the technical to a societal level and aspects of sufficiency become
a relevant part of the discussion. Scale and feedbacks as well as global aspects
must be part of the considerations.
This classification is based on the reports as well as on discussions with the
project teams during the course. This taxonomy is understood as essentially digital,
but allowing for some variation in the classes.
Figure 1 shows as a generic trend, that a deeper understanding of and involvement
with sustainability (y-axis) can lead to stronger effects (x-axis). On the other hand,
some of the projects undertaken with deep insight resulted in negligible change to the
systems performance. These were cases where the product itself was quite optimal
or the service near impossible to achieve with a substantially altered product. The
large cluster near the origin mirrors groups that had problems grasping the idea of
the course itself or problems in applying a meaningful method for their work.
An interesting and not expected outcome is the low performance of the projects
that received a Bundespreis Ecodesign award. The assessment of these contributions is a result of in depth discussion with both courses, where students provided
relevant perspectives and interpretations. These discussions offered some possible
explanations for the rather low performance, where neglect of scale is one of the
more relevant aspects, as many proposals did not consider the scale of the problem
addressed, or for the resources needed to roll out the solution at scale.
The data in Fig. 1 stems from 4 years of teaching both courses. Most students select
these courses because of the subject and the project-approach. These students like
challenging projects and started working interdisciplinary with only minor nudging,
and grasp scale when methods to assess it are provided. Both courses include open
discussion of approaches taken and time for peer-review. All teachers are clear on
the intent to consider scale of problems and solutions as a relevant part—this is
communicated as a learning outcome and thus as part of the grading (Biggs and
Tang 2011). As a major outcome, there are no significant differences between students
depending on their disciplines, i.e. between engineering and social science.