Problems in applying Soft OR methods to climate actions: lessons from two cases of governmental use

Abstract

The field of Soft Operational Research (Soft OR) has emerged from the attempt to address contextually rich, multi-actor ‘wicked’ problems that are not amenable to traditional ‘hard’ operational research techniques, which often rely on mathematical modelling. This study assesses the use of Soft OR techniques in climate change policymaking. Since climate change problems are classical wicked problems, many assume that Soft OR would be in high demand in developing climate change policy. And the review of the use of these techniques conducted here does find that in the cases where Soft OR methods have been used by academics and other non-governmental actors, they have consistently provided useful results for policymaking. It is puzzling therefore that there is little evidence of governments using Soft OR application in this area. We study two cases of explicit (in Bristol UK) and implicit use (Rhode Island, US) of such techniques by governments to explain why this is so. We argue that notwithstanding the challenges the two cases reveal in their application, Soft OR nevertheless has much to offer policymakers in the arena of climate change policymaking and deserve more attention and use.

Solving the Problem of Reducing the Audiences’ Favor toward an Educational Institution by Using a Combination of Hard and Soft Operations Research Approaches

“…Based on the literature, PSMs facilitate transparent and participatory ways of formulating and modeling problems [99]. It has been demonstrated in the review of these techniques that when applied by academics and other actors, soft OR methods have consistently produced beneficial policy results [35]. Over the last 20 years, some have acknowledged the importance of problem structuring and PSMs for Decision Analysis (DA), moving beyond the idea that DA begins with a well-structured problem.…”

“…Integrating quantitative indicators with qualitative context descriptions is an apparent demand from many decision-makers since it links theoretical and practical approaches to problem-solving [34]. Practitioners do not have to follow a single procedure but can adapt it to circumstances or combine it with other methods to meet their objectives [35]. Researchers examined the effectiveness of PSMs in practice over the last thirty years, emphasizing renewed scholarly and practitioners' interest in integrating soft and hard OR techniques for addressing complex problems and enhancing decision-making [36].…”