4.2 Multi-actor systems and implications for decision making: 

In this section we will explain some very practical implications of complexity theory for governance and the decision making progress :

• Why governance of complex systems is a ‘multi-actor game’.
• Why the devil is the detail when it comes to the operationalization of pubic values such as affordability or accessability.
• Why we have to accept that governance is often a matter of ‘muddling through’.
• Why we have to bring more issues on the table.

Questions for pondering

Think about an infrastructural problem or challenge (energy transition, water allocation, congestion). Start making the problem situation explicit by identifying what actors (people, groups, and organizations) are involved and how each of them perceives the problem.  How would you organize the decision making and governance process? Do you recognize how difficult this is? After the web lectures, do you understand that often a muddling through approach is unavoidable?

Download: 360p | 720p | 1080p | subtitles | transcript | slides