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Publications
Griffith University and the Department of the Environment, Sport & Territories, 1997
Tony Hepworth
Charles Sturt University
Australia
This workshop looks at the serious problem of our growing waste. We are clearly able to produce more goods and to encourage more consumption these days, than we are able to dispose of the resultant waste and be judicious about our consumption habits. Perhaps the major problem with the problem of waste, is that we only seem to recognise what we have done after the event, when the effects are making themselves felt. With solid waste the effects are usually obvious - but only if you live near the waste dump. 'Out of sight, out of mind' is a tried and tested truism. With chemical wastes the effects are sometimes not nearly so obvious, and it may take years before people realise that there is a problem, and then more years before they can trace its source to cavalier disposal practices a decade or more ago.
This workshop explores both chemical and solid waste problems, the first through an activity that encourages a global view and the second through a 'Future Problem Solving' activity that takes a specific look at The City - a hypothetical city whose story could be that of any big city in most countries of the world.
'Future Problem Solving' is a strategy that projects into the near future, describes a particular problem and then requires the participants to engage in a specific sequence of steps to decide what should be done about this problem. When the participants arrive at their solutions, they are, in effect, presenting solutions that should be implemented in the here and now so that the future problem they have been dealing with, never actually comes to be.
The activities in this workshop will assist participants to:
There are three main activities.
Participants are introduced to the problems of waste through a creative visualisation activity.
A mini-lecture deals with actual quantities of solid waste and outlines waste management strategies.
This activity presents a description of the waste problem that existed in The City in 1989, and asks the participants to engage in a Future Problem Solving activity to see if they can come up with suggestions that will lead to improvements with respect to The City's waste problem.
Throughout the workshop a balance is struck between the physical problems of waste and the social problems that result.
Overhead Transparency Masters
OHT 1: Future Problem Solving
OHTs may also be made of Resource 1
Resources
Resource 1: Feelings Checklist
Resource 2: A Fantasy Journey
Resource 3: This is Our Home
Resource 4: Waste Management: Background Report
Resource 5: Waste Management: Future Problem Solving
Readings
Reading 1: Introduction to Solid Waste Problems
Reading 2: Future Problem Solving
This activity uses imagination and visualisation to take participants on a fantasy journey. The objectives of the activity are to help participants become aware of and concerned for the quantity and type of waste, both solid and chemical, in our world community; and to accept that the 'foreign planet' is planet Earth and, therefore, that the judgements made about the inhabitants of this planet are judgements made about the inhabitants of Earth.
A. Mini-lecture
Use Reading 1 as the basis of a mini-lecture on the extent of waste in our 'throw-away society'. Three key points should be explained:
B. Discussion
Use small or whole group discussion on the following questions which review the mini-lecture:
In this activity, participants work in small groups (3-5) to explore solutions to solid waste disposal, in The City through a Future Problem Solving activity. The activity is based on a set of Future Problem Solving worksheets which take approximately 90-100 minutes to complete.
A. Introduction
B. Mini-lecture
Use Reading 2 and OHT 1 to explore the 5 steps in Future Problem Solving.
C. The Activity
D. Debriefing
I. Identifying Possible Causes and Effects
2. Describing the Underlying Problem
3. Identifying Possible Solutions to the Underlying Problem
4. Describing the Best Solution
5. Outlining the Stages in Implementing the Best Solution and the Consequences of this Implementation
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Make yourself as comfortable as possible ... relax ... take your mind of any worries or concerns that might be bothering you ... blot out any noises that might be going on outside the room ... and begin to breathe in and out in a steady fashion ... breathe in to the count of 1 .. 2 .. 3 and out to the count of 1 .. 2 .. 3, in 1 .. 2 .. 3 and out 1 .. 2 .. 3, in 1 .. 2 .. 3 ... now make your mind a blank ... fill it with a warm, soft darkness ... and relax ... slowly you become conscious of a gentle movement ... you are in a spacecraft, exploring outer space and other worlds... your craft is gently and quietly moving across the surface of a planet never visited by humans before ... its a living planet and habited ... but while you can see those who live there, they cannot see you ... your spacecraft is 'cloaked' with invisibility.
Your space craft sinks lower to the surface ... and through its enormous observation window you see signs of what you would call 'urban settlement' ...homes of the inhabitants are built very close together ... many are large and spacious ... these creatures obviously have a high standard of living ... and a high level of technology ... then you begin to fly over a poorer section ... the homes are run down .. in need of repair ... and many seem deserted ... the chemical sensor warns you of poisonous substances in the air and the soil ... you send the sensor to do a time scan ... and the results are strange ... for a long time in its history this section of land was clean and healthy ... then in a very brief period of time these poisons suddenly appeared ... almost as if they had been dumped there ... its disappointing and worrying ... but you move on ... and then you fly over forested mountains and hills ... you see many small streams coming together to form a large, majestic river ... you follow this river and see many farms and rural settlements along its course ... not unlike your home planet Earth ... these creatures are obviously advanced ... as the river gets closer to its mouth factories appear along its banks ... buildings that resemble oil refineries are common ... and again you are impressed by the level of development ... not unlike Earth in the late 20th century ... however, the chemical sensor display warns of the presence of carcinogens ... your computer breaks in to the computer of a large hospital ... the records show high rates of cancer and miscarriages ... more disappointing and more worrying ... the space craft moves on over a densely populated area of this land ... and you keep checking your chemical sensor display ... gradually the pattern of settlement becomes obvious ... the better off dwellings are in the cleaner areas ... the lower class dwellings are in areas that drive the chemical sensor display into a frenzy ... you memo your computer log ... 'On this planet the rich do well and the poor get poisoned' ...
Your craft moves on ... across a sea and over another land area of this planet ... once again you are over a rural area ... and you see farms and villages ... but the farms are neglected ... and five villages are completely empty of life ... 'ghost towns' ... why? ... the chemical sensor display registers high levels of heavy metals in the air and soil ... and there below you is the guilty party ... a large copper smelting plant, pumping out pollution ... you begin a memo to your computer log ... 'These inhabitants appear to want to kill themselves and their planet' ... but you cannot finish it ... you are overwhelmed by the problems you have seen ... you fly further ... over another sea ... and below you is a cargo vessel ... sailing peacefully ... you fly lower ... trying to regain your composure ... the sea is calm and blue ... twin suns are setting on the horizon ... beautiful ... and then your chemical display sensor begins to scream at you ... the ship is transporting carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) ... your computer breaks into the ships records and ... these PCBs are being exported! !! ... from a rich country to a poor country! ... because the rich country does not want them ... and the poor country needs money so it is being paid to take them ... you memo your computer log ... 'Here, they export ill health! and others import it!' ... it is difficult to stay calm ...you send your computer on a search ... and it uncovers a medical report that predicts a wave of chemical illnesses and chemical refugees in the near future ... 'chemical refugees'??? ...
It is clear this is a planet of barbarians and holds nothing for the civilised people of Earth ... the spacecraft gathers speed ... and moves off into outer space ... looking for other, more appealing planets to explore ... this one is a lost cause ... the warm, soft darkness fills your mind again ... relax ... relax ...
When you are ready ... come out of your fantasy journey and back into this classroom ... become conscious of the noises around you ... of the chairs and the desks, of the walls and the floor, and of your companion participants ... the lights are now coming on ...
The descriptions in the Fantasy Journey are no less than examples of reality from our own times and our own planet. The feelings, behaviours and values you referred to in your discussion about the new planet are appropriate descriptors for humans and their treatment of planet Earth.
The Poisoned Urban Settlement
Beginning in 1920 a partially completed channel (called Love Canal) between the upper and lower Niagara rivers in upstate New York came into use as a municipal and chemical waste dump. In 1953 the channel was filled in and homes and schools were built on and around the site. Over time chemicals buried in Love Canal began to surface and residents often complained of strange odours and substances. In 1976 a consultant discovered toxic chemical residues in the air and in the sump pumps of a good percentage of homes bordering the canal. High levels of carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found in the storm sewer system ... in 1978 there was evidence of a high incidence of reproductive problems among women and high levels of chemical contamination in the homes, the soil and air ... Eventually all but 86 of the 900 families living in Love Canal were evacuated.
A River With Factories And Buildings That Resemble Oil Refineries
Along a 150 km stretch of the Mississippi River that winds from Baton Rouge to New Orleans there are 135 chemical plants and 7 oil refineries. Local incomes are primarily dependent on the jobs and incomes offered by these industries. But the region absorbs more toxic substances annually that do most entire states, including such dangerous substances as vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, and suspected embryotoxin. Several towns in this corridor have uncommonly high rates of cancer and miscarriages.
Five Villages Empty Of Life
The Polish government recently declared the village of Bogomice and four other villages 'unfit for human habitation' due to the extremely high levels of heavy metals in the air and soil deposited by emissions from nearby copper smelting plants. The government is encouraging villagers from this region to resettle elsewhere by offering compensation. State of the World 1989, p. 68.
The Export of Chemical Wastes
Thousands of tons of US and European wastes have already been shipped to Africa and the Middle East. It costs from US$250 - $350 per ton to dispose of municipal and industrial wastes in the US, but some African countries will accept it for as little as US$40 per ton. In 1987 and 1988 Italy dumped 3,800 tons of toxic waste in the small Nigerian port of Koko. PCBs, the chemical that put Love Canal on the map, made up at least 150 tons of this dumping.
The Rich Do Well And The Poor Get Poisoned
The poor of the cities of the third world face the environmental problems of underdevelopment along with those of overdevelopment. The shantytowns of the poor are found in areas unwanted by the well off: on floodplains, on steep slopes, around - and sometimes in - garbage dumps, containing unknown quantities of toxic materials, and near hazardous industrial zones - such as at Bhopal. In USA the poorer the neighbourhood and the darker the skin of its residents, the more likely it is to be near a toxic waste dump. More than half of all black and Hispanic Americans live in communities with at least one toxic waste site.
A Wave Of Chemical Illnesses And Chemical Refugees
In 1976 an explosion in a small chemical plant in Seveso, Italy, led to 800 people being evacuated from their homes for more than one year. In 1987 the newspaper Pravda stated the industrial city of Ufa in the Urals had become 'unfit for human habitation'. The population of Ufa is nearly 1 million. The Nigerian government is making plans to evacuate the 5000 residents of the port city of Koko. Already Bogomice and four other villages in Poland have been evacuated. In Bhopal, India, in 1984 the Union Carbide pesticide plant accidentally released a cloud of deadly methyl isocyanate over the town, killing 2,500 and sending more than 200,000 fleeing for their lives. As many as 100,000 people are still suffering from such effects as blurred vision, lung diseases, intestinal bleeding, neurological and psychological disorders. The 150 km stretch along the Mississippi from Baton Rouge to New Orleans has been referred to as 'the national sacrifice zone' and the pollution has been described as "a modern form of barbarism'.
Bibliography
Brown, L. R., et. al., State of the World 1989-1996, S & W Information Guides, Melbourne.
Existing Conditions
The current system for the collection of solid waste in The City is unreliable because of a number of local conditions. Principally, the major impediment to a more reliable routine collection of solid wastes is caused by the extensive salvage operations both at the point of collection, and while the refuse is being transported to the existing dumps. Another major impediment to routine collection is caused by the monsoon season when the torrential rains cause flooding of the streets and severe deterioration of the paved roads so necessary for modern refuse collection trucks.
Another major problem interfering with better collection practices involves inaccessibility to the refuse sources because of the extensive areas where squatters have established themselves and by the many narrow, poorly maintained streets in many of the communities.
A reliable routine collection system can only be established in a community when the access roads to the landfills are properly designed and maintained. In many of the landfills, the roads are so poor that the disposal sites are inaccessible to the collection vehicles during storms.
In a metropolitan area as large as The City it is inefficient for the collection vehicles, which in many cases are rather small, to travel long distances to the disposal sites. There are no transfer stations available to the collection vehicles at this time.
All of the existing solid waste disposal sites are totally unacceptable. All existing landfills are poorly located with respect to groundwater pollution and have been located in areas where it is impossible for the operations personnel to provide the daily earth cover necessary for an acceptable landfill operation. The existing landfills create excessive odours, rodent and insect breeding, smouldering fires, and groundwater pollution. The best description of the existing disposal sites would be to classify them as open dumps rather than sanitary landfills. In a properly operated sanitary landfill, the area would be fenced and the access gate would be serviced by either a series of scales for weighing the incoming tonnage or by a gate house where an estimate could be made of the yards of refuse to be disposed. If this were done, then an appropriate charge could be made to the users of the landfill to recover the capital and operating costs for the landfill site.
The lack of any attempt to provide an earth cover of each day's accumulation of refuse, allows storm water to infiltrate into the refuse resulting in an anaerobic decomposition of the refuse with resulting odour from the gas generated. Lack of cover also allows fires to self-generate. The lack of cover also allows the proliferation of rodents, flies and other vermin which can then migrate into the neighbourhoods adjacent to the fill.
Institutional Problems
The environmental problems associated with solid waste management are caused by long standing institutional weaknesses. A lack of financial resources could be considered the underlying cause. There is also a lack of discipline related to littering also exists among many in the populace.
Under the The City Authority (TCA), the governing board is composed of the 4 cities and 13 municipalities. The concept of the TCA as a strong element of regionwide government is not necessarily supported, however, by all the jurisdictions represented on the TCAgoverning board.
Proposed Guidelines for Solid Waste Management
The proposed plan envisions the establishment of two new landfills, one to serve the northern portion of the city, and the other to serve the southern part of the city. In addition to the two landfills, the proposed plan calls for the construction of 5 transfer stations.
In regard to the construction of transfer stations, the stations should be designed to provide storage of refuse in a pit so that the collection vehicles can be promptly moved in and out of the station. If refuse storage is not provided, there must be an adequate number of transfer vehicles available at all times to accept refuse directly from the collection vehicles.
The new sanitary landfills should be located in areas where there is no useable groundwater under the landfill site. Another major consideration would be provision for adequate buffer areas between the landfill site and other commercial and residential developments. Also, access roads should be adequate for the heavy axle loads associated with heavy collection vehicles and the roads should be wide enough to accommodate the refuse vehicles without leaving the paved surface. Once the new landfill sites are acquired, it would be preferable to erect a fence around the entire property to prevent access by squatters or scavengers.
The following list of conditions are recommended for the operation of a sanitary landfill which will not cause any nuisance to the community:
Water Quality Management
The River is so highly polluted from the discharges of domestic and industrial wastewater that it can be termed as being biologically dead except for their upstream sections in the mountains. Most of the pollutants discharged in the region's river system eventually end up in City Bay.
Existing Environmental Conditions
Major Rivers:
The River flows east to west through The City for 25kms. to the City Bay. The river has three principal tributaries. The watershed area covers about 635 sq.km. but a large portion of the watershed is outside the City.
It has been estimated that 70 percent of the organic pollution in the The River is due to domestic waste and 30 percent to industrial waste discharges. There are about 1000 industries along the river banks and about 11,000 squatter families within its watershed. Over half of the industrial firms along the banks of the The River, have been found to be polluting the water in varying degrees. River pollution is further aggravated by oil spills, from about 300 gasoline stations, several oil depots, and barges, tanks and boats docking in the area.
The River has also been significantly affected by the vast quantities of silt deposited in the river bed, which causes regular flooding due to river bank overflows during intense rains. Siltation is caused by soil scoured from deforested upper watershed areas and by bank erosion.
The Bay:
Most of the pollutants generated in the study area, eventually end up in City Bay. City Bay is therefore the recipient of domestic and industrial waste discharges, agricultural runoffs and oil spills.
One of the major causes of the pollution in the bay is the lack of adequate domestic wastewater sewerage facilities. Only about 15 percent of the population of The City is presently sewered.
I: Identifying Possible Causes and Solutions: 20 minutes
II: Describing the Underlying Problem: 15 minutes
III: Identifying Possible Solutions to the Underlying Problem: 20 minutes
IV: Describing the Best Solution: 15 minutes
V: Outlining the Steps in Implementing the Best Solution and the Consequences of this Implementation: 20 minutes
It is the year 2005, and for the first time in its history the population of The City did not grow ... instead it shrank. Family after family was leaving The City in search of better places to live and work.
The present problem had its beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. As The City grew, it grew faster than it could be serviced. Now in the year 2000 there are many problems in the city, but the overwhelming one is waste.
At the end of the 1980s The City was generating 4,000 tonnes of waste a day and collecting only 3,600 tonnes a day. Over a week the uncollected 400 tonnes a day became 2,800 tonnes. Over a month 12,000 tons were uncollected.
As the 10 years passed from 1990 to 2000, more and more problems emerged. As the piles of garbage increased, some streets became impassible except on foot. The smells that rose from these piles were almost impossible to live with. In the monsoon season the rubbish was washed about the streets and eventually into the stormwater drains where it clogged the drains. When this happened the floods that had plagued The City in the 1980s became far more destructive in the 1990s. In the end, it was only the rats, the fleas and the flies that benefited from the growing mountains of waste.
But it wasn't just the streets of the city that were suffering .... the waters of The River were biologically dead and City Bay was so polluted it was unsafe to eat fish caught there.
The sources of this pollution are both domestic waste and industrial waste. Along the The River there are now over 400 gasoline stations and several oil depots. In the watershed of The River there are now over 16,000 squatter families. In addition deforestation in the watersheds of the rivers has led to increased run off, a siltation of the rivers and consequently a reduced riverflow.
Finally some of the industrial refuse that finds its way into the rivers and bays are the heavy metals of copper, zinc, cadmium, silver and mercury. A number of people had died as a consequence of eating fish that had accumulated those heavy metals in their flesh.
The City was suffering from all this waste. The rivers were dead, the bays were dying, and many of its streets were smelly and ugly. It was as if the city had contacted leprosy. The City needed to be re-vitalised.
Identifying Possible Causes and Effects
Now that you have thoroughly read and discussed the situation, it is time to consider the many problems and difficulties related to it. Begin by brainstorming the many factors that may have caused the situation or that may result from it. Select the TEN that you think are the most important and write them below and on the following pages. Choose your words carefully, using statement (rather than question) form.
Rules for Brainstorming
1. Criticism is ruled out.
2. Free-wheeling is welcomed. The wilder the ideas, the better. Off beat and silly ideas may trigger practical breakthroughs that might not otherwise occur.
3. Combination and improvement are sought. Group members are encouraged to combine and 'hitchhike' ideas.
4. Quantity is wanted. The larger the number of ideas, the greater the chance of reaching the best solution.
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Describing the Underlying Problem
Based on your list in Step I, identify an underlying problem of major importance, using the outline below. Your problem should clearly explain what you want to do, and why it should be done.
How can we
(state what it is you wish to achieve)
because
(state your reasons)
so that
(state the benefits/losses that will follow for the different groups with a stake in the problem.)
Identifying Solutions to the Underlying Problem
Brainstorm as many solutions as you can to your underlying problem. Choose your TEN most promising solutions to list below. Write each solution so that it describes WHO will carry out WHAT action, HOW it will be done and WHY it will solve the problem, e.g. The people (WHO) of Manila must .................... (ACTION) by .................... (HOW) and in that way .................... (WHY it will solve the problem)
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Describing the Best Solutions
Using your 10 solutions in Step III, outline the Best Solution to the underlying problem. Your Best Solution might link three or four or more solutions from the 10 you have listed.
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Stages
Outlining the Stages in Implementing the Best Solution and the Consequences of this Implementation
Outline the stages in putting this solution into practice. Do not use any more than 5 stages. Also identify at least one consequence, good or bad, that would follow each stage.
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The fantasy journey was an introduction to the problems of chemical waste, but the 'throwaway age' we live in brings with it waste problems of another nature. The garbage, or solid waste, that is collected from outside the front doors of our homes, offices and factories once or twice a week is evidence of how much we throw away.
In the USA approximately 2000 new products are created each year, which makes a significant contribution to the solid waste produced. The annual throwaway list in the US includes 52,000,000,000 cans; 30,000,000,000 bottles and jars; 4,000,000 tonnes of plastic; 8,000,000 TV sets; 7,000,000 cars and 30,000,000 tonnes of paper.
The rapid increase in the use of materials as nations have industrialised and modernised, has been accompanied with a correspondingly rapid increase in the output of garbage. Apart from a growing quantity of waste there is also concern for its 'quality'. Modern consumer products contain toxic substances that create problems of disposal. Old car batteries contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium. Household cleaners, solvents and paints, and the pesticides and weedicides that we use on our suburban gardens, may contain hazardous chemicals.
Over the last 20 years many nations have come to realise that the traditional reliance on landfill as a method of disposal is not always appropriate. Solid wastes that go directly to landfills can create their own set of problems. In the first place landfills take up space that in most cities of the world is very valuable. Secondly all landfills eventually 'leak', releasing into the soils and groundwater a toxic mix of rainwater and decomposing waste.
The UN Environment Program has the following preferences for waste management:
1. Source reduction - i.e., avoiding waste generation in the first place
2. Direct reuse of products
3. Recycling
4. Incineration, with recovery of energy from the heat generated
5. Landfill
In addition to these five, some waste management authorities have a program of Landfill Gas Utilisation in operation. Landfill gas is usually 60% methane and if this is extracted from the landfill it can be marketed.
When faced with management problems, local and national governments tend to deal with the problem by going from landfilling to incinerating. Mass burn incinerators can be very expensive to establish and are four to five times more expensive per tonne ($70 - $80) than landfill per tonne ($15 - $16). The construction of an incinerator can lead to a backlash from local residents and because of maintenance shutdowns and the fact that some waste cannot be burned, usually only reduce total waste by about 50% by volume.
Incinerators are expensive in terms of energy. Though they may produce heat energy from burning, the amount recovered is considerably less than that needed to produce the items they burn. Recycling paper, some plastics and aluminium saves approximately twice as much energy as incineration. Incineration has other problems - ash from incinerators that goes to landfills may contain toxic chemicals that can leach into the groundwater; nitrogen, sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide, acid gasses, dioxins, carcinogens and heavy metals can be pumped into the air to the detriment of the people.
The first step in cutting waste is reduction. By using less material in the first place waste is reduced. However, such a strategy does not always suit the 'consumer'. Many consumers want to buy, use, discard and to be impressed by packaging and its convenience. In 1988 packaging constituted 21% of domestic waste in the Netherlands while it was up to nearly 30% in what was then West Germany. Consumers frequently prefer 'new' to 'repaired' - though in many instances it must be admitted that we are advised to buy a cheap, new one rather than have an expensive repair done.
Another major step in cutting waste is recycling. We are told that even without changes to products or industrial practices, half of the contents of the average garbage bin can be easily recycled. In Sydney, Australia, for example, enough glass to make 2,000,000 bottles, enough metal to build another Harbour Bridge and enough paper to save 1,000,000 trees from destruction, are discarded and buried in landfill sites every year.
Yet with all this potential, recycling ventures are not especially successful. The government, the community and industry have all been apathetic at times and while there has been much rhetoric, there has not been the required attitude change.
A large part of the problem is that since the industrial revolution we have accepted that waste is a by-product of progress, and that we have a right to have our wastes removed at minimal cost and inconvenience. Unless we have a change of heart, waste will continue to be a growing problem and the notion of a sustainable society that will preserve the environment for future generations will remain nothing more than a load of rubbish.
Bibliography
Koren, H. (1991) Handbook of Environmental Health and Safety: Principles and Practices, 2nd. Edition, Lewis Publishers, Michigan.
Recycling: The Costs and Benefits of a 'Cradle to the Grave' Approach, in Environment'90: International Environmental Solutions Conference , May 2 - 4, 1990, CSU - Riverina: Wagga Wagga.
Sydney Solid Waste Management Strategy, Waste Management Authority of NSW: Chatswood, 1990.
Young, J.E. (1991) Reducing Waste, Saving Materials, in L. R. Brown et. al., State of the World 1991, Allen and Unwin, North Sydney.
Problem solving is a strategy that is dealt with extensively in the literature on Social Studies, Maths, Science, Art and other subject areas. The basic steps of the strategy are well known, but vary somewhat from writer to writer. The model that is presented here is a modified and simplified version of a Future Problem Solving Strategy that is dealt with fully in: Anne Crabbe (1985) The Coach's Guide to Future Problem Solvers Program, St Andrew's College, Leuringberg, N.C. 28352, USA.
There are five steps in this particular strategy, once the problem has been stated. Each step has a recommended time for its completion.
The problem is set in the near future. It is established by examining the causes and effects that are interacting to create a current problem, and then extrapolating these to approximately 10 years hence. The problem is then either 'out of hand' or getting that way, and the participants are asked to set in train a series of steps that will rectify the problem, and that should have been set in train 10 or so years back, in the present time.
I Identifying Possible Causes and Effects (20 minutes)
This is a freewheeling session in which teams explore what the causes of the problem are, or might be, and what the effects are, or might be. It is, in a sense, a 'familiarisation tour' of the problem. All ten spaces should be completed as this ensures that the possible causes and effects have been well thought through.
II Describing the Underlying Problem (15 minutes)
This is a less freewheeling and more disciplined section. The teams need to synthesise the ideas dealt with in I above to arrive at what they consider the nub of the problem. The first two parts to this section are self-explanatory but the final part ( so that... ) needs to address the pros and cons of their goals, e.g.,
III Identifying Possible Solutions to the Underlying Problem (20 minutes)
This is once again a freewheeling session in which the teams generate solutions to their chosen underlying problem. The test here is whether or not they stay on the task and that all their possible solutions are consistent with the problem they have specified. Once again there are 10 spaces to ensure the problem is thought through and that teams do not stop at the first three or four solutions. The purpose of steps I and III is to force the teams to generate as many ideas as possible in the hope that one or more of these ideas may trigger a realistic solution to a genuine problem. It is important in this step that the teams specify WHO, WHAT, HOW and WHY. It is important to note, for example, that all the WHOs are not 'the government'. Clearly any complex problem requires contributions from a variety of individuals and agencies, and a listing of the WHOs involved should preclude one or two agencies being named to do all the work.
IV Describing the Best Solution (20 minutes)
Once again the teams are required to synthesise their ideas and to express their best solution as succinctly as possible. Their consistency of thinking is tested here and the best solution must clearly address the underlying problem summarised in II.
V Outlining the Stages in Implementing the Best Solution and the Consequences of this Implementation (20 minutes)
In this step the teams need to agree on the sequence of steps needed to bring about a full implementation of this solution. This sequence is dealt with by the column headed STAGES. Here the teams need to show what they would do first, second ... and fifth, so that their solution would stand the best chance of being accepted. At the same time as this sequence is being worked on, the teams need to consider the consequences that might flow from the actions involved in each of the STAGES. If, for example, the first stage of the implementation was: Large fines for anybody caught littering then the consequences might be so negative that the rest of the stages could not be brought into operation.
On the other hand, if a different first stage was implemented, then positive consequences might occur and the rest of the stages would stand a better chance of success.
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