A little thinking "out loud"...

WIOH: A Systems-Based Identification, Decision, and Implementation Methodology


Written February 28, 2001

Given the complexity of social-ecological issues relevant to planning for sustainability, there is a need for comprehensive, recursive, reflexive methodologies that incorporate decision-making and inquiry. This page very briefly outlines the beginnings of such a methodology.

The essence it to focus on:

  1. considering WHO should be involved
  2. generating a description of what IS
  3. generating a vision of what OUGHT to be
  4. considering HOW to get from one to the other

Key considerations for connecting among a-b-c-d and reflecting on the exercise are:

  1. what key ISSUES are of concern?
  2. what are the preferred CHOICES?
  3. what are the underlying ASSUMPTIONS being used?
  4. WIOH is also relevant for each of a-b-c-d-e-f-g

 

WHO

  • Who should participate? Who should decide who should participate?
  • Think about: power, politics, values, ethics, cultural perspectives...
    and the problems involved in thinking that we can speak for others...

IS

  • What currently exists?
  • Description of current situation. What are the important components, processes, driving influences, underlying structures, feedbacks, propensities...
  • Consider different types of factors: social, cultural, historical, ethical, political, legal/regulatory, institutional, economic, ecological, hydrological, geophysical...

OUGHT

  • Vision
  • Description as variant of what is...

ISSUES

  • key concerns, barriers, opportunities, tradeoffs, etc...

CHOICES

  • among different futures, actions, participants, etc...

HOW

    does the WHO get from the IS to the OUGHT?

ASSUMPTIONS

  • What are the assumptions and unacknolwedged influences underlying each of these different questions? Who can unearth them? How?
  • For example, considering who:
    • What values are being taken as most important? Whose culture/perspective to they reflect? Are others being considered or included? Should they be?
    • What process was deemed valid for beginning the process? What type of decision-making was used for initial decisions? What criteria and philosophy is it based on? What are its drawbacks?
    • Who does/does not have power in the situation/process? How is this being addressed?

WIOH

  • complexity emerges through recognizing that each of the essential elements is applicable to each of the essential elements, which in turn are applicable to...

The foundation for the methodology briefly described here is the work of James Kay at the University of Waterloo, in particular, his description of an ecosystem approach. See, especially an heuristic and associated papers. I have also a variation on this heuristic, which offers more detail than provided here.