In the city of Blueville, a newly elected mayor entered office with ambitious promises. Central to her platform was a strong environmental message, with a particular focus on promoting recycling and reducing the quantity of plastic waste littering the city streets. The challenge was clear: Blueville had no existing recycling program, and the path to implementing one was quite complex.
When the mayor’s initial solution of distributing recycling boxes and setting up collection points failed to reduce street waste after a year, she assembled a diverse team to investigate why. Through the Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) process, the team moved beyond their initial frustration and blame to deeply analyze the issue. They used tools like the Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram to map out causes and engaged directly with stakeholders, from business owners to commuters, to understand the real barriers to recycling. This process revealed that the challenge was far more complex than initially understood, involving issues of knowledge, access, cost, and incentives.
This case offers several key implementation lessons for practitioners of adaptive policy work:
- The importance of constructing a clear problem narrative before jumping to solutions
- The value of diverse perspectives in understanding complex issues
- The power of engaging directly with affected stakeholders
- The effectiveness of visual tools like fishbone diagrams in organizing and communicating ideas
This is part one of a 2-part case study showcasing how adaptive policy implementation works in practice. To learn more, read the case Tackling Problems in Adaptive Policy Work.
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