First you came up with a list of questions and then you researched the answers. Great! With this information, now you’re almost equipped to create a visual story that will showcase your answer to this question: How should we – locally or nationally – balance the needs of people and nature? 

Almost?! Yes, almost.

You see, good decisions don’t start with a solution. They start with a problem.

Decision-making is really about sifting through a multitude of questions, researching the answers (both of which you’ve done!) and then deciding on the one better question that still needs answering. This is the very specific, root-cause problem that needs to be answered to create a solution.

Think about it this way:

Let’s say you’ve been investigating the decline of the caribou, believing that a better balance between people and nature starts with ensuring a future for this threatened species. If you look at the answers to your questions, you’ll probably see that the caribou are ecologically and culturally important, but also that saving the caribou will be expensive. Your research suggests that we need more parks and more hunting to control predators and quicker action to tackle climate change. But that’s three answers, not one. Three decisions? That’s way too much work and will limit your ability to succeed.

Why not just pick one of those three decisions and get at it? Well, as your research shows, none of those answers will likely work on their own and each decision will be met with resistance (from the resource sector, animal rights groups and taxpayers, respectfully). And you can’t just say your decision is to ‘save the caribou’ because you haven’t articulated how you’re going to do it. In other words, that’s not a real decision – it’s not a real solution.

What to do?

Decide on that very specific, root-cause problem that needs to be answered. That’s your decision. That’s how you solve a problem. And the outcome? Your final product? It’s more likely to have the impact you want; it’s going to help you showcase or even realize your vision for balancing people and nature (and land you an ‘A’ in this class).

Questions to reflect on:

  1. What is the one specific, root problem of one issue that you think needs to be addressed in order to balance the needs of people and nature, locally or nationally? (And don’t forget, you can define this question anyway you want.)
  2. What can you bring to this problem? How can you use your skills and visual storytelling to come up with an answer?
  3. What does success look like to you? Highlighting the problem? Showcasing an answer? Creating a story that sparks people to act on your answer?

Part One

Find Your Better Question:

This activity might sound daunting, but it’s really not. You’ve done the hard work – you’ve brainstormed questions and found answers. Now, it’s about pulling everything together that you’ve learned and deciding on the one most important question you want to help answer through the lens of this class.

Here’s how you can uncover your better question:

  1. State the issue you’re trying to address.
  2. Identify an indicator, something that tells you there IS a problem.
  3. Now ask why this is happening?
  4. For the reason you just gave, ask why this is happening?
  5. Again, for the reason you just gave, ask why this is happening?
  6. Do this one or two more times.

By the time you get the fourth or fifth why, you might see something that resembles a root cause.

Before you begin:

  1. There can be many root causes. Try to identify one at a time.
  2. Root causes don’t have to be universal. They can AND often are very specific to a community.
  3. It’s tempting to offer multiple explanations for something. You might want to say something is happening because of x and y. But for this exercise, choose one explanation – the one you think is most important.
  4. Ask a friend, a teacher or a mentor to do this exercise with you. The best way they can help is to repeat your answers back to you to see if the reasoning is sound.

Example:

Problem: Caribou are at risk of extinction.

Indicator: Caribou numbers are declining.

Why: Many factors, including increased predation.

Why: Predators have easier access to caribou habitat.

Why: We’re building roads into caribou habitat to access timber resources.

Why: Wood-built housing is cheap and fast, and is increasingly seen as a climate-friendly solution.

Why: There are no affordable, climate-friendly alternatives to quickly build homes that don’t require timber sourced from caribou habitat. (ROOT CAUSE!)

In this example, your better question is: ‘How can we quickly build affordable, climate-friendly homes for a growing population that doesn’t hurt – directly or indirectly – the caribou?’

You’ve decided to solve this problem. You’ve decided you will work to create a visual story that will help answer the problem, balancing the needs of people and nature in the process.

Part Two

Reflect on Your Better Question:

After completing the activity above, reflect on what you’ve determined is the better question and ask yourself:

  1. Is this better question a problem I think I can answer? (Does it play to your skills? Is it interesting to you? Will you find solving this problem fun and fulfilling?)
  2. Can visual storytelling help answer this problem? (Will it highlight the problem? Cause people to reflect/find the answer? Showcase an answer? Inspire people to act?)

If the answer to these questions is no, go back to the previous activity and refine the parameters of your issue, which will change your indicator. (Ex: Rather than looking at the state of caribou nationally, change the scale to look at the state of one caribou subspecies, or caribou in one region, or the fate of one herd.) Keep refining until your better question feels right to you.