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1531. Tutorial Societal Complexity

Invited abstract in session MC-24: Tutorial: Societal Complexity, stream Tutorials (and Workshops).

Monday, 12:30-14:00
Room: Esther Simpson 3.02

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Dorien DeTombe
Societal Complexity, University of Amsterdam

Abstract

This tutorial Societal Complexity will explain handling complex societal problems in theory and practice based on the Compram methodology. The theoretical background of Methodology of Social Problems will be explained and the practical guide of the Compram Methodology described. The Compram methodology gives guidelines for the government (local or general) and large organizations and companies to handle complex societal problems

Complex societal problems are the problems that are on the frontpage of the daily quality newspapers. Problems like
floods, earthquakes, climate change, pollution, traffic congestion and pandemics. Problems that need a multidisciplinary approach.
The Compram Methodology focuses on methodologies, methods and tools for analyzing, structuring, advising, guiding and evaluating complex societal problems.

Complex societal problems are often policy problems that occur in many fields, like in the agro-industry (water pollution by too much manure, fowl plague), in the transportation sector, in healthcare (Malaria, HIV/Aids, Flu, Covid), in water affairs and in economy (credit crisis). The field focuses on handling local safety problems like large city issues and natural disasters as flood, earthquakes and hurricanes, and global safety problems like climate change and terrorism. Although many of these issues have different causes, they have so much in common that they can be approached in the same way by using the Compram methodology, a methodology based on the cooperation of experts of different fields and actors and the opinion of the people in a democratic way.

Complex societal problems, as such, are unstructured, dynamical, constantly changing and have a large impact on society on macro, meso and micro level. Handling complex societal problems needs a special multi-disciplinary approach. The content knowledge comes from content experts. The process knowledge comes from facilitators. The power is in the hand of actors. The attention of field of “Methodology of Societal Complexity” is on the methods and tools facilitators need for guiding these kinds of problems. The facilitators use methodologies specially created for the field of societal problems combined with methods and insights derived from fields like medicine, law, economics, societal sciences, methodology, mathematics, computer sciences, technology, engineering sciences, socio-cybernetic, chaos theory and operational research combined with content knowledge of the specific problem. Often a combination of methods is needed as is prescribed by the framework methodology for handling complex societal problems.

A complex societal problem should be handled according to the guidelines of the field of Methodology of Societal Complexity. This scientific field advised to have Knowledge Institutes, advocated by the OECD in 2006, that are ready to act as soon as a complex problem arrives. Then based on the Compram methodology (DeTombe, 2015) they can start inviting experts and actors to discuss the problem and to decide, based on their models of the problem, which changes would be the most fruitful and sustainable. With this scientific work they could advice the government in its decision. In this way decisions of the governmental are based on scientific advice and are more sustainable in a democratic may. Handling this way the governments would have saved more lives, sorrow and money.

The Compram methodology is developed by DeTombe (1994-2025). The Compram methodology is a scientific methodology for handling complex societal problems in a democratic, transparent and structured way. Handling means policymaking: analyzing, decision making, guiding and evaluating interventions. The Compram methodology focuses on the whole spectrum of the problem handling process. The OECD advised to handle Global Safety according to the guidelines of the Compram Methodology (2006). The Compram methodology is used in all continents and on many kind of complex societal problems.

Complex societal problems involve many disciplines, many fields, many phenomena, many actors and many people. The Compram methodology consist of six handling steps. In the first step a team of experts guided by a facilitator analyzes the problem and suggest interventions.
In the second step in the Compram methodology the actors are invited to give their view on the problem. In the third step the experts and the actors try to get an agreement. In the fourth step the opinion of the people is asked and in the five step the interventions are implemented and in the sixth step evaluated.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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