September 6, 2022
Mary Pickering & Stefan Hostetter
A mid-sized white produce truck idles in the streets of Vancouver. Its contents, destined for delivery in grocery stores tomorrow in Calgary, will soon begin to rot, but the highway out of the city has been washed out by a sudden rainstorm. Finlay was tired. He had been on the road since the early hours of the morning and he had planned on a quick turnaround trip. He wonders where he will sleep tonight in this expensive city. It’s not the first time roads have been blocked due to extreme weather, and experts warn this will further increase food prices inland, leaving vulnerable people hungry. Meanwhile, stuck in traffic, the truck engine grumbles, the muffler burps, and exhaust fumes float up to the atmosphere seeding the beginnings of another storm.
A deepening gap between rich and poor. Housing affordability. Indigenous reconciliation. Mass global migration and conflict. Embedded racism. Climate change. Just as there are links between extreme weather, infrastructure failure and food prices in the vignette above, we know our challenges are connected. So why shouldn’t our solutions be connected as well? Over the past few years “multi-solving” has surfaced as a new way of defining problems and creating solutions for people working to address climate change in cities. While there are compelling reasons to focus on one thing at a time, there’s a growing sense that many of the complex problems we face can’t be resolved without acknowledging their common roots and inter-connections. Multi-solving is based on the idea that siloed thinking is part of the problem and won’t achieve the transformative changes we need. Only by working to find solutions that “float more boats” will we access the innovation that is generated by working across diverse sectors, build the necessary constituencies of support to make tough political decisions that last more than one election cycle, and enable full-scale adoption of truly equitable climate solutions in our cities.
This sounds great in theory, but how do we do it? Most of us don’t have the knowledge or skills to work across multiple complex disciplines. We have yet to fully discover the interconnections between climate change and other pressing issues. This work means upholding inclusivity and working with groups whose cultures and norms differ from the typical status quo. It all seems extremely time consuming at a moment when we feel we should be accelerating our efforts. How do we even begin?
Enter the Multi-Solving Challenge Game. The idea of a game was born out of collaboration among The Atmospheric Fund, Low Carbon Cities Canada, and the Centre For Social Innovation, all of whom were interested in new approaches that could make hard-hitting low-carbon action more relevant to more people. Could we learn how to apply the multi-solving idea to some of our key urban emissions reduction strategies – like energy efficiency in buildings, electrification of transportation, and a circular economy? How might we try out the concepts with our peers in an engaging, informative way, encouraging the development of new insights, approaches and stories? How about creating an online collaborative game that could help people experiment with this new program design challenge?
And so we gave it a go.
Over the last six months, we’ve engaged over 100 participants in the two-hour online Multi-Solving Challenge Game and surveyed them about their experience. The Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, an LC3 Centre, offered the game as part of the annual Environmental Gathering last fall, where participants said it helped expand their thinking, provided an innovative way to approach problem-solving and reminded them that sustainability is multi-dimensional. Staff from The Atmospheric Fund and the Centre for Social Innovation mixed it up in one challenge game, bringing each organization’s unique knowledge and skill sets, teaching each other new tricks and making new friends along the way. Diverse parties, from architects, to financiers, to innovators, to regulators came along to give the game a try and most found it fun, engaging, and thought-provoking. Check out our findings about the Multi-Solving Challenge Game compiled by our colleague Paluck Kohli, and review the ten insights on how to adopt a multi-solving approach when designing climate actions for cities.
Low Carbon Cities Canada is fully committed to supporting climate projects designed to deliver a range of valuable community benefits. In fact, the LC3 Network has adopted a co-benefits metric as one of six shared metrics that will guide its granting, investment, and the design of its own internal programs. The metric assesses the extent to which programs being funded are specifically designed to generate multiple benefits. LC3 is excited to be evolving its practice and to be working within the LC3 Network and partners at the Centre for Social Innovation to compare notes and advance learning on this challenging topic. More details on plans and LC3’s Theory of Change coming soon.
And interest in the multi-solving approach as applied to climate action continues to grow. Earlier this year, Dr. Elizabeth Sawin of Climate Interactive launched the Multisolving Institute to advance this new field. Meanwhile, the Centre for Social Innovation continues to host the Multi-Solving Challenge Game and take it to a new level – doing custom training sessions with smaller cities, youth organizations, and non-profits, and seeking new support to deepen the game experience and even use it as a more in-depth, multi-day program design tool.
The electric cargo bike purrs as Finlay rides the greenway. The riding path is lined with community food gardens that supplement the new greenhouse developments that offset the city’s need for food imports. This morning Finlay is working his new job as a last mile delivery agent, bringing locally-grown food to seniors who can’t manage the short walk to the neighbourhood delivery hub. The City of Calgary’s 15-Minute City planning policy has allowed this suburban area to come alive as an mid-rise mixed housing development, with flexible, affordable housing options and easy access to services. Like most of the residents he no longer needs a car, and traffic is minimal. He breathes in the fresh air and speeds up a little, feeling the warm breeze.
If you would like to join an emerging Multi-Solving Community of Practice, or if you would be interested in arranging a Multi-Solving Challenge Game for your organization, please contact Stefan Hostettor (stefan@socialinnovation.ca) to follow up.
Mary Pickering is VP – Special Projects at The Atmospheric Fund and Sr. Advisor to Low Carbon Cities Canada.
Stefan Hostetter is a lifelong environmentalist, storyteller, and community builder. He currently works as the Community Manager of Centre for Social Innovation’s Spadina location and serves as the Co-Chair of the Toronto Climate Action Network.