Masterclass in wicked problems for policy entrepreneurs

Do you want to take on plans and policies that don't happen? Then become a policy entrepreneur at INVI's masterclass! Be taught INVI's Wild Problems Model. And learn how to navigate society's wild problems with an atlas of tools that get to the root of the problems.

As a society, we are facing wicked problems. Problems that are cross-border and intractable and rarely easy to define or solve. These include labor shortages, well-being challenges and climate change, to name but a few.

These are problems we cannot solve with rules, rights and regulation alone. Rather, they require policy entrepreneurs who dare to face the problem, work across organizations, and take a curious approach.

INVI offers the Masterclass in wicked problems for those who want a deeper understanding of the problems and new tools to tackle them (see program below).

New team for the fall

Next class starts fall 2025 - registration is open now! The course runs over 5 modules from October 2, 2025 to January 22, 2026. Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so sign up today to secure your spot.

Yields

  • An in-depth understanding of the wicked problem you're struggling with: What characterizes it and how does it challenge the methods and tools you know?

  • Tools to tackle wild problems such as collective intelligence, modular co-creation, mission-driven portfolio management and systemic change - and the ability to choose the optimal approach to your problem.

  • The skills to create new collaborations, alliances and relationships, so you become the enzyme that takes your problem to a new place with room for new perspectives on solutions.

  • The opportunity to work with a concrete case from your own reality in collaboration with our competent trainers.

  • A strong network of policy entrepreneurs from different sectors working on community development and wicked problems.

Target group

The Masterclass is for those who struggle with society's wicked problems on a daily basis and who need inspiration to get a grip on and tackle them in new ways. You can be a project manager, consultant, program manager or something completely different and come from the civil service in the state, regions or municipalities, a political party, an interest organization, an NGO, the foundation world or a private company.

The most important thing is that you want to tackle wild problems by looking beyond the usual professional and organizational boundaries - and that you're open to joining a masterclass team where you share learning, frustrations and successes.

Educators

Sigge Winther Nielsen (Masterclass manager)

Founder and director of the think tank INVI - Institute for Wicked Problems. He has previously been director of DJØF, host of Deadline, political analyst at Politiken and civil servant in the Ministry of Finance. He holds an MSc in Political Science and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen and has been a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University in New York and the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the author of The Entrepreneurial State and most recently the anthology Wicked Problems.

Nina Smith

Professor of Economics at Aarhus University. She has previously been pro-rector at Aarhus University, economic sage and chairman of Nykredit. She has served on a wide range of commissions and councils, including the Globalization Council, the Social Commission and the Welfare Commission. Most recently, she has been chairman of the Reform Commission.

Claus Meyer

Gastronomic entrepreneur who for more than 30 years has worked to promote the quality of Danish food culture from several fronts. He is the founder of the New Nordic Kitchen, co-founder of restaurant noma, TV chef, cookbook author, and founder of a number of gastronomic companies. He is also an adjunct professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

Sofie Burgos-Thorsen

Chief Analyst at the think tank INVI - Institute for Wild Problems and head of the analysis track at INVI. She holds a degree in sociology from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD in data science and urban planning from Aalborg University and MIT. She has previously worked in the R&D unit at Gehl Architects and as a researcher and teacher at the Techno-Antropological Laboratory. She is also a member of the Open Source committee at Danish Data Science Community.

Kristine Fisker (Masterclass facilitator)

Design advisor at the think tank INVI - Institute for Wild Problems and head of the agency track at INVI. Design and innovation engineer from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Has run a cross-organizational partnership in the green transition of Danish agriculture and researched and advised on design and innovation processes in Danish pharmaceutical companies. Guest lecturer in systemic innovation at DTU and the World Food Program.

Sine Egede Eskesen (tentative)

Development Director at the Bikuben Foundation with overall responsibility for developing the foundation's philanthropic strategies, methods and competencies across the social and art fields. She is also a member of the board of Mind Your Own Business, BIFI A/S, Høbbet A/S, Foreningen Thoravej and INVI - Institut for Vilde Problemer.

  • Thursday, October 2. 9.15-16.00

    When faced with wild problems, you can often lose your breath. There are many factors at play and people have different opinions. That's what makes the problem wild.

    In order to tackle a wild problem, it's crucial that the actors involved have a common language for the problem and understand how wild it is, so you can start at the right place. In this module we focus on problem understanding. We also dive into the atlas of tools and how to handle uncertainty about the causes of wild problems with collective intelligence.

    In the first module, you will be introduced to INVI's Wild Problem Model, developed in collaboration with practitioners and researchers at the University of Copenhagen and based on collective intelligence. The model will help you understand your wild problem in depth, create common ground with your collaborators and choose an appropriate approach. We answer:

    • What characterizes your problem?

    • Why is it difficult to manage?

    • How does the problem challenge the methods and tools you know?

    • How can you use collective intelligence to navigate uncertainty about the causes of the problem?

  • Wednesday, Oct. 22. 9:15 am - 4:00 pm

    "Recognized, tried to solve, unsolved." This is how the Reform Commission describes the challenge of the 43,000 young people who are neither in employment nor in education. These young people often struggle with multiple complex challenges, and despite decades of reform policies and initiatives, no one has managed to help this group. As we'll see in this module of the masterclass, this problem - like many wild problems - is borne out of a lack of clarity about obvious solutions to the problem.

    Because with wild problems, good solutions can rarely be calculated at a desk, decided by legislators, dictated by bosses or analyzed by experts. Instead, we need to take a trip to the lab. Exploring, developing and testing new solution hypotheses - together and across the implementation chain. Instead of rolling out a single chrome-plated reform across the country all at once, initiatives need to be pressure-tested continuously. And often this requires customization options - modules or bricks that can be combined in different ways to match the complexity of the problem and local differences. What is developed and rolled out at a school in Vejen may need a different look and feel to suit a school in Vesterbro.

    In the third module of the masterclass, we take a closer look at modular co-creation and how you can combine drive and humility in developing, testing and scaling solutions to wild problems. Together we ask these three questions:

    • How can you co-create and put together modules with relevant partners?

    • How do you make room for continuous iteration and learning in the development and deployment of modular solutions?

    • How can you use modular co-creation to develop solutions that can be adapted to local conditions without sacrificing cross-learning and scalability?

  • Tuesday, Nov. 11th 9:15 am - 4:00 pm

    Where does the problem of climate change start and end, and who 'owns' the problem? Is it business, consumers, the municipalities' Technical and Environmental Administration, the government, the European Parliament, or society at large? And what about gender equality or labor shortages?

    Wild problems often cut across sectors and levels and therefore cannot be tackled by one actor alone or with one solution. If a wicked problem is characterized by large scale, there is a need to bring together a wide range of actors who approach the problem from different angles.

    In the second module, we delve into a new corner of the atlas of tools for wicked problems. We take a closer look at mission-driven portfolio management and how you can manage scale by mobilizing stakeholders around a common mission and working across existing boundaries:

    • What is the mission for your problem?

    • Who do you need to mobilize to achieve the mission?

    • How are the many efforts managed in portfolios?

  • Monday, December 8th. 9:15 am - 4:00 pm


    There are issues that we have known about for many years, but which are locked in because of strong interests and major differences in values between groups in society. In other words, there is pronounced conflict. Conflict is typically used as an engine in politically driven organizations: factions work to outline differences and create awareness and debate by drawing the lines of conflict clearly. Conflict is important for democratic dialog and negotiation of the issue. Differences in interests are often legitimate, for example in negotiations between employer and employee.

    However, in wild problems, conflict can perpetuate and amplify the problem. It can lead to a narrow, contemporary focus on protecting interests and fighting for short-term gains for the benefit of the few. The problem can become so inflamed that it creates paralysis. One example is the climate crisis, where contemporary interests and large investments in fossil fuel infrastructure lead to tensions that make collective action difficult. To break the pattern, a shift in perspective is needed. We need new visions of the future and bold leadership that dares to empower the players who challenge the status quo.


    In the fourth module, we explore systemic change and how you can create the conditions to move your problem to a new place by looking at structures, relationships and mental models. We will explore how radical change is initiated by social movements, levers, system keys, tipping points and a strengthening of the collective imagination in the belief in a better future. Together we investigate:

    • What structures, relationships and mental models are locking the system around your wild problem?

    • What 'system keys' can you use to unlock it?

    • How can we take the long view and strengthen the collective imagination for a better future?

  • Thursday, January 22, 2026 incl. dinner in the evening. 10:00-20:00

    In the fifth and final module, we focus even more on your everyday life. Before the module, you will have prepared a pitch describing how you will integrate your new insights into your own practice or how you are already doing it.

    You will have the opportunity to both present your own work to the rest of the team and learn from the experiences of others. You will receive constructive criticism and renewed inspiration on how to work on your problem.

    In addition to feedback from the team, you can also receive comments from a panel of three experienced policy entrepreneurs from the fund world, government and research community.

    We think it takes 5-10 hours of preparation to create your pitch, which you can hopefully use at home in your own organization after the masterclass.

    The module ends with a social program and dinner together.

Program

The course is built around three elements:

1. training is based on a curriculum developed by INVI that draws on research and practice from both Denmark and abroad.

2. Your own reality, which you are continuously asked to apply theory and methodology to. Finally, you will create a pitch where you apply what you have learned to your reality. You present the pitch on the last module.

3. Concrete examples of how others work with wildlife problems, both from public administration, the private sector and civil society.

Price: DKK 24,900 excluding VAT

The price includes light breakfast and lunch during all modules, a closing dinner, the book 'Wild Problems' by Sigge Winther Nielsen, a compendium and a moleskine notebook.

Discounts

  • Bring a colleague - discount
    If two or three people from the same organization (same EAN / CVR number) participate, each participant receives a DKK 1,000 discount. Contact us for a quote if more than three people from the same workplace want to sign up for the program.

  • PIP member discount
    If you are a member of INVI's Policy Insights Panel, you get a DKK 2,000 discount. Read more about the panel here.

The discounts cannot be combined. If you are eligible for multiple discounts, you will receive the largest one.

Practical information

The course starts on October 2, 2025 and ends on January 22, 2026 (see dates for the individual modules in the program above). The masterclass will be held at INVI's premises: Snaregade 10B, 1208 Kbh K.

For questions and further information, write to masterclass facilitator Kristine Fisker at kristine@invi.nu.