Reply To: Exercise 2: 5 Unsolved Problems
Initiative Class
Week #2 Assignment
1. People feel discouraged and overwhelmed by the trash in the street
Solution: Grow hubs of Merida pride centered at schools, churches, businesses, service organizations that each take on a given area over which to be stewards
2. People who live here feel hopeless to change the trash situation in Merida.
Solution: Create an event that is city wide to focus on all of us taking pride in our city and cleaning it up
3. Foreigners feel afraid to try to do anything because they are visitors here
Solution: Partner with local people to have an event that engages many communities and includes local ideas and strategies.
4. People who throw trash on the ground don’t appear to feel badly about throwing trash in the street.
Solution: Start a school program or project that utilizes the enthusiasm of young people to participate and to grow pride in their ability to care for their surroundings
5. People feel angry about nothing being done to clean up Merida and to keep it clean
Solution: Partner with local leaders to establish a community message and norm of clean and happy streets.
Reflections
1. How hard was it to identify problems?
I found it a bit tricky to identify the five different problems around the topic, but I think the five I came up with have a little different focus because of who the problem is being felt by. I began with an idea of A problem, trash in the street. Having to come up with 5 problems made me think in a fuller way of what the problem is and why it is a problem.
2. Was it easy or hard to see them from the perspective of the people they affect?
This was not easy for me when I started because my norm is to think of the problem as one of “trash”. It was a good exercise to look for WHO is this a problem for and WHY is it a problem for them. One of my identified problems is that there are those for whom this is NOT a problem, which may be a bit of a cheat, but to me seems valid. One part of the problem is that there are a large number of people who don’t have any thought about dropping their garbage on the street.
3. Did it get easier with practice?
Clearly, once I started thinking about WHY I think this is a problem and to WHOM, my thoughts changed from just being something I don’t like. What I didn’t address for lack of knowing exactly how to address it is how the trash is a problem for the health of the environment. Lots of what is left on the streets ultimately ends up in the ocean, is attractive to rodents, is potentially dangerous to the health of birds, but that seems a broader and more complicated issue. I felt like maintaining a simpler focus would help me determine actions.
4. Do you think your problems and solutions have much chance to become a viable project?
I do! Thinking of it in this way helped me look at who would have an interest in such a project and what would motivate them to do so. I have ideas for people who I think would be interested.