7 wicked problems can't stop Aarhus

The narrative is part of the Find & Enlarge movement. Success stories of courage and willingness to innovate in the public sector.

A case about Aarhus Municipality's work with “Wild Problems” as the overall approach to tackling the problems that we cannot solve alone as a municipality. Wild problems call for wild roads to push the challenges — and it can hardly get wild enough!

The challenge

In total, the City Council has identified seven wild problems that we cannot solve alone, and which may not be solved at all. But we believe we can influence the problems in the right direction if we dare to take new and wild paths in our approach to the problems.

Therefore, we will formulate a focus and problem understanding in order to have a clear political mandate for further work. Subsequently, policy discussions will be launched on which test actions should be initiated and tested in the following seven areas:

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• Sustainable growth
• Mental health of young people
• Health into everything
• Mixed boroughs and integration

• The Democratic Conversation
• Climate (and sustainability)
• Recruitment and Competencies

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We must dare to stay in the exploration and constantly have the mobilization of the outside world in mind. We must strengthen cooperation within Aarhus Municipality and engage in open-minded, close and open cooperation with citizens, business, cultural life, civil society, public institutions and all other stakeholders who can and will help to find new ways, so that together we can influence the wild problems that stand in the way of the realization of the Aarhus goals — Aarhus a good city for all.

Goal/Ambition

We have recognized the existence of wild problems, and have set about finding new ways to make an impression on and push the problems together with other partners who want to be involved. We do this by formulating influences, which addresses the fundamental mechanisms we believe drive the problems, and which may at once appear unthinkable, inedible, and utopian. Therefore, we need to use The Aarhus Compass to take new paths. We cannot settle for everyday innovation and classic change management against known goals.

The aim is therefore to become more aware of the nature of problems, what conditions them, and what we can do to influence and mitigate problems and risk factors.

The goal is to become smarter with others, and find new ways to work with the challenges of formulating scenarios and defining a preferred future. A preferred future on the basis of which, we can define a mission portfolio of projects and the like that can guide us on our way.

What did one do?

When the task is to push for and influence the wild problems, including finding ideas that address the fundamental mechanisms that drive the problems and which may immediately appear unthinkable, inedible and utopian, we need to use the Aarhus compass and take new paths. We cannot settle for everyday innovation and classic change management against known goals.

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Based on the Aarhus Compass, we managed to identify, politically and administratively, a number of wild problems that we in Aarhus would like to do something about — together with others.

Based on a combination of future research, design and storytelling, we have managed to present a common journey in which we explore what lies behind the identified wild problems and how, through a portfolio of projects, we can place ourselves in a new place where we can attack the challenges and problems from.

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We are along the way on the journey, and by formulating working hypotheses about what we believe is behind the problems. We are completely dependent on other partners to succeed, which is why we are in the process of establishing partnerships under the auspices of the wild problems.

Effects & Experiences

So far we have managed to bring together a number of stakeholders who would like to help Aarhus make an impression on the wild problems. Stakeholders, who we believe in different ways, hold several keys and insights that can help us move forward on the mission.

Innovation management is a vitally important dimension that should not be confused with change management in this context. Change and experimentation follow only when we have come closer to what we believe constitutes the problems and how they express themselves today.

The spreading potential

The potential for proliferation is still limited, but we share all our experiences on the site 7-Wild-ProblemsWe hope to bring more people along for the journey.

We also collect and share micro-stories about what it might look like in practice when we take a bearing with the Aarhus compass in hand.

This could be, for example, the work with:

• open dialogue (link to video about open dialogue)
• the cross-cutting well-being team