Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

Supporting KSAs for this area

Knowledge Of	Ability To	Attributes
Societal tensions including conflicting interests and the positive climate action trends in society	Practice critical self-reflection and analysis on personal social location and bias. Apply systems thinking Build linkages between scholarship and practice Collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders	Critical thinking Investigative nature ‘Holistic understanding’: Able to see the bigger picture and not look at the challenges from a single, narrow angle.

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Competencies

1. React/Follow

2. Act/Apply

3. Anticipate/Initiate/Enable

4. Lead/Strategize

Competency Title

Use critical thinking skills

Apply problem-solving techniques

Apply systems thinking

Competency Statement

Use critical thinking skills related to own role, work assignments, and areas of responsibility

Apply problem-solving techniques to address challenges within own scope of work and areas of influence

Apply systems thinking broadly to areas of work and responsibility, including those that apply to the broader team or organization

Performance Criteria

Use iterative and human-centric processes of inquiry and problem solving and real-world experimentation
Seek out relevant details and interconnections
Use scenarios to support assessment
Communicate relevant issues, opportunities for improvement
Think proactively to predict and evaluate possible consequences
Navigate ambiguity and uncertainty
Deal with incomplete and/or overly complicated information
Engage in reflexive practices.

Address multiple planning horizons and co-benefits
Apply an iterative, adaptive, integrative, outcomes-based approach
Collaborate with identified partners, groups, and communities to achieve defined program objectives
Identify relevant issues, opportunities for improvement
Describe possible futures and seed change Formulates problem statements
Uses data appropriately, systematically, objectively

Able to think in models and patterns, to recognize patterns and relationships in systems, to reflect on them and to consider them in decision making and acting.
Understanding of the complexity and inter-relationships between issues, such as the interdependence between human health and health of the environment
Encourage critical thinking of systems, and consequences in long/short term contexts
Able to collectively analyse and understand complex systems across different domains (society, environment, economy, etc.) and across different scales (local to global),
Considering cascading effects, inertia, feedback loops and other systemic features related to sustainability issues and sustainability problem-solving frameworks.
Utilizes conceptual discussions of people and social systems: values, preferences, needs, perceptions, (collective) actions, decisions, power, tactics, politics, and institutions

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