Every wicked problem in society has a “wicked solution.” In this presentation, we describe a system of design outcomes that can be mapped to a grid with two dimensions - top-down or bottom-up and widespread or localized. This approach, called critical mapping, allows us to analyze systemic societal problems, scope out existing solutions, and find opportunities for sustainable design intervention. When we plot the existing solutions onto a wicked solution grid, we can strategically determine “leverage points” or places to intervene to shift the system towards equity and justice. When we applied critical mapping to address the wicked problem of food insecurity, inequity, and injustice, we found 73 sustainable food design outcomes (dos) that make up the wicked solution to food insecurity, inequity, and injustice. In this presentation, we will share some of them and discuss the leverage points that social innovators (e.g., policymakers, citizens, etc.) can use to strategize the appropriation of existing sustainable food dos or the development of new ones.

Audrey G. Bennett is the Director of the Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability (DESIS) Lab at Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design and an inaugural University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Jennifer A. Vokoun is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Walsh University, Ohio, USA.

The talk will be followed by an online Q&A session with the audience.

This webinar is free to attend and will take place via Zoom. Please register to secure your space. You will need a Zoom account to watch this event live, which is free and quick to create.

Recorded event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ZUBt2vPbY

If you have any questions about this event, please email foodpolicy@city.ac.uk.