Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

114The HDL Studio ModelFrameworkfor StrategicImprovement—Ecology of theproblem—Architecture ofsolutionsIdentify systemicflawsHighlight systemicopportunities &Define stewardshippathwayduring the final review and they tend to be best articulated asa set of themes that identify trouble spots and point to opportunities.While it is important to root the strategic frameworkin specific examples of problems the Studio observed in theexisting system, the emphasis should be put primarily on thearchitecture of solutions as a pathway to improvement. Froma practical point of view this often means that the Studioexplains the framework by collecting their thoughts into ahandful of thematic areas (3-7). Qualitative in nature, thesethemes form the bedrock upon which an architecture of solutionscan be built.Questions to ask of each opportunity:—Who can make this happen?—What scale does the work start at?—What scale is the potential impact at?—What is the scale and nature of investmentneeded to get started, and to achievesuccess?—How long will it take for the impact to berealized?1—The Gatekeeper concept comes out ofresearch that DEMOS Helsinki conductedfor Sitra. See http://www.demos.fi/files/FFRC2009_Neuvonen_REVISED.pdfOpportunitiesThe opportunities are individual building blocks thattogether form an architecture of solutions. These solutionorientedactions should be coordinated to operate on thesame timeline and at multiple scales with the goal of creatinga well-balanced portfolio amongst the ten ideas that makestrategic opportunities actionable today. The studio’s successat crafting this portfolio is directly related to their experience.Studios comprised of less experienced individuals tend tolack a realistic understanding of plausible causality betweenhunches and their potential impacts. Experienced studiomembers, however, are better able to evaluate the causality ofhunches and their anticipated impact and can therefore makebetter decisions about which to choose and which to jettison.To give some structure to the process it can be helpfulto think of the hunches along two axes: scale of the propositionand the timeline of its impact. For our purposes, thescale of the proposition refers to the extent to which it can berealized unilaterally. For instance, in the HDL SustainabilityStudio one of the hunches was a suggestion that key ‘gatekeepers’1 be given zero-energy summer cottages as a way ofcapitalising on their status as influential individuals to sparkwidespread interest and attention towards more sustainablelifestyle choices. The hurdles in this proposition have to dowith securing funding and building relationships with theright gatekeepers, but in the speculative realm of the Studiowe can put these considerations aside for a moment. If themoney and a few willing partners can be found it is prettyeasy to execute because it involves relatively few groups ofpeople. By contrast, another one of the Studio’s hunches wasto bridge the gap between national and local decision makingby creating a low carbon ‘war cabinet of mayors and ministers.’Securing the political consensus needed to create such