In an Era of Wicked Problems, Canadians Want and Deserve Wicked Solutions

 “If it doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker, people don’t want to hear about it.” Such is the conventional wisdom of politics,  punditry and corporate communicators. However, Canadians see the interrelated and complex nature of today’s crises more clearly than we get credit for. In fact, a recent Abacus poll conducted on behalf of Generate Canada found that 78% of Canadians across all regions and political stripes believe that the well-being of their community, local environment, and economy are inextricably linked. The vast majority also agreed that these interrelated values are under significant threat by complex, hard-to-solve challenges.

Canadians are right. We live in an era of “wicked problems” – multi-faceted human challenges that have no simple answers. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution are among the most existential examples. They are economic and social crises as much as environmental ones. We need only look at the gripping health and economic costs of more frequent, more devastating wildfires. The economic uncertainty and resulting mental health crisis impacting farmers are caused in large part by climate change. Plastic pollution amounts to $300 billion to $600 billion (USD) in health, social, and environmental costs.

The Era of Wicked Problems: Complex Crises We Can’t Ignore

The short-term, over-simplified, and siloed thinking that got us into this polycrisis won’t get us out of it. We need more collaborative and integrated approaches to creating solutions that stand up to the complexity of today’s challenges. Call them: “wicked solutions.” 

If wicked problems, perpetuated by our broken systems, trap us into believing this is just the way the world works, wicked solutions cut through that illusion. They are innovative interventions (technologies, business practices, policies, and financial tools, often working together) that have the potential to fundamentally shift how our systems work to achieve better outcomes. They change incentives and create new ones, reroute capital and reimagine business models, remove barriers and spur action. 

Think: credible, verifiable carbon markets for the agri-food sector that reward farmers, drive benefits up the value chain, and sequester greenhouse gas emissions. Or massive innovations in plastics reuse, recycling, and replacements that keep necessary plastics in our economy while eliminating those that harm humans and other animals. Or the evolution of a clean and thriving EV minerals sector that supports a net-zero transition, leverages our energy-industry know-how, creates long-lasting jobs, and benefits local Indigenous communities. 

Wicked solutions address complex problems on multiple fronts and help create alignment across sectors and industries. They deliver results in the near term while maintaining the longer view. Importantly, they connect the dots between our inextricable social, economic, and environmental needs. This is what Canadians are looking for. Three-quarters believe it is possible to solve complex issues in ways that create benefits for people, nature, and the economy at the same time. 

The Crisis of Hope: Overcoming Cynicism with Collaborative Solutions

Unfortunately, instead of focusing on what it will take to advance and work through these kinds of solutions, our public conversations tend to bounce between false dichotomies (building affordable housing vs conserving valuable green space) and silver bullets (“electric vehicles will solve everything!”).  

Canadians are having none of it. Abacus’ research shows a chasm between the importance Canadians place on solving complex issues (e.g. advancing sustainable agriculture, eliminating plastic pollution) and their faith in Canadian efforts. Only 23% think we can make progress on these goals in Canada over the next five years. Fewer than half believe it’s possible in their lifetime. 

At a moment that demands new levels of human ingenuity and determination, Canadians are besieged by cynicism and doubt. From an erosion of faith in our public institutions to the rise of disinformation-fueled “solutions denialism,” our crisis of hope may be the wickedest problem of all. 

Reigniting Optimism Through Wicked Solutions

Reigniting optimism in our collective future means shifting our attention to wicked solutions. They are complex, messy, and filled with tensions, but they are the only way we can make substantial and lasting progress. Innovating, testing, and scaling them requires a “radically middle” space. A pre-competitive, non-partisan environment where problem-solvers come together across multiple sectors and whole value chains, not to hold hands and sing kumbaya, but to lean into their different perspectives and do the hard work of finding ways forward.  We know it is possible because we are seeing it happen through initiatives like the Canadian Alliance for Net-zero Agri-food (CANZA), the Energy Futures Lab, and the Canada Plastics Pact. 

Wicked solution conversations don’t net out pithy tweets or catchy soundbites. Rather, they result in thoughtful, sophisticated, holistic approaches to meeting human needs in an increasingly complex world. This is the kind of problem-solving Canadians expect and deserve. We need courageous leaders across all sectors of society to deliver it.