Associate Clarion Associates Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Planning is difficult - not least because it addresses many of the largest and most persistent problems facing communities and the world. The media, elected officials, community members, and even other planners sometimes offer an overly simple solution – a "silver bullet" – to address a complex problem.
This presentation looks at real headlines and common narratives about affordable housing, homelessness, technology, public outreach, and climate change before identifying the variety of factors that contribute to each challenge. Participants get a clearer understanding of the complexity of these issues, the factors that planners can affect, and a framework for discussing complex problems that recognizes the need to apply a variety of solutions.
NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Foundational. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.
Learning Objectives:
Recognize the complexity and difficultly of many of the problems planners address and the importance of multi-faceted approaches to solutions.
Understand the variety of factors – including those not in a planner’s control – that contribute to some of the most difficult challenges.
Communicate better about complex problems and the need for a multi-faceted approach to solutions.
