How can we identify root causes of CO stakeholder issues and develop effective solutions?
How can we identify the root causes of problems with stakeholder interactions in our citizen observatory and develop more effective and sustainable solutions?
Why is it relevant?
The interactions between participants serve as the backbone of effective COs, enabling the engagement and collaboration of diverse individuals, groups, and organisations to address pressing socio-environmental challenges. By investigating the root causes behind problems arising in these interactions, you can gain valuable insights into the fundamental systemic barriers that impede fruitful collaboration and engagement. Such comprehension empowers participants to address these core issues directly, rather than merely treating the surface-level symptoms. You can develop strategies and approaches that foster enhanced participant interactions, facilitating the formation of robust partnerships, fostering trust, and establishing an inclusive and empowering environment. This, in turn, unlocks the full potential of participants and paves the way for more impactful and sustainable outcomes.
How can it be done?
Symptoms of participant tensions - such as recurring disputes or lack of follow-through, often mask deeper systemic problems that remain unaddressed. Collective reflexivity enables you and fellow participants to probe these underlying causes by critically examining your own assumptions and by recognising the interdependencies that shape interactions. This can be done through causal loop diagrams and problem-tree analysis, which make visible the feedback and systemic drivers that reproduce tensions. Regular reflection spaces, including reflexive monitoring in action, institutionalise learning cycles that continually question and adapt underlying practices. By embedding systemic thinking into everyday governance, your CO can move beyond treating symptoms to addressing root causes, thereby generating solutions that are both adaptive and sustainable.
A. Collective reflexivity
i) Problem tree methods, Force-field analysis,
ii) Causal loop diagrams, and
iii) 5 WHYS
A. Collective reflexivity
Identifying the root causes of problems in participant interactions requires moving beyond immediate symptoms, such as disagreements in meetings or resistance to decisions, and probing the deeper structures that generate these tensions. Collective reflexivity provides a way for participants to critically examine their assumptions, values, and practices, as well as the institutional and cultural contexts that shape them. Importantly, it draws on systemic thinking, encouraging participants to map interdependencies between actors, institutions, and socio-ecological dynamics that reproduce conflicts or exclusions. By reflecting together, participants are supported to confront uncomfortable questions, recognise underlying power imbalances, and expand their worldviews beyond entrenched positions. This practice helps uncover systemic drivers, such as knowledge hierarchies, historical mistrust, or procedural rigidity, that might otherwise remain hidden.
Reflexivity is not a one-off exercise but a continuous process of learning, questioning, and adaptation embedded throughout the CO. In this sense, it fosters a culture of openness and responsiveness, where failures and tensions are treated as opportunities for collective learning rather than setbacks. Research in sustainability and governance shows that such reflexive processes, grounded in systemic perspectives, are key to developing solutions that are not only more effective in addressing immediate challenges but also more sustainable because they tackle underlying causes and reconfigure relationships between interconnected elements of the system (Voß & Kemp, 2006).
There are many ways to practice collective reflexivity and since it is an ongoing and cyclical process, it is best to try out different methods at different times to see what works best for your CO.
A problem tree analysis uses the visual aid of a tree with its roots to identify the underlying cause of a problem as well as the impacts of that problem. This exercise encourages your CO to go beyond the surface issue and frustration and can help transform the situation.
Steps:
Draw a large tree with trunk, roots, and branches on a board or flipchart.
Place the main problem in the trunk.
Ask participants: What causes this problem? Write each cause on a card and place it among the roots.
Ask: What effects does this problem have? Write each effect and place it on the branches.
Discuss connections: link specific roots to branches.
Reflect collectively: Which root causes are most fundamental? Which effects are most damaging?
Another method for identifying the root cause of an issue is an activity called the 5 WHYS. This activity is simple but yields insightful results. It is specifically designed to trigger deep reflection on one topic so as to move past the initial assumptions that exist and identify the real source of the issue so that solutions can target that root problem.
Steps:
Write the problem clearly at the top of a page or board.
Ask: Why is this happening? Record the first answer.
Ask: Why? of that answer.
Repeat the process up to five times (or until participants agree they’ve reached the root cause).
Review the chain of answers together and highlight the most fundamental cause(s).
Another useful tool is a force-field analysis, which is a common tool for change-management. By collaboratively identifying the driving and restraining forces at play in your initiative/CO strategies for increasing the drivers and reducing the restrainers can be built, helping to create sustainable solutions to ongoing problems.
Steps:
Draw the framework - Take a large sheet or whiteboard. Draw a vertical line down the middle. Write the objective or desired change at the top of the page.
List the driving forces - On the left-hand side, write down all the factors that support or push towards the change. Use short phrases or keywords.
List the restraining forces - On the right-hand side, write down the factors that hold back or resist the change. Encourage participants to include practical barriers, cultural resistance, or resource gaps.
Assess strength of forces - Next to each factor, draw an arrow pointing towards the centre line. The length or thickness of the arrow should reflect the strength of the force (weak, medium, strong).
Compare the balance - Step back and look at both sides. Ask: Which drivers are strongest? Which restrainers are most critical?
Plan strategies
Discuss how to: Increase the influence of key driving forces. Reduce, remove, or adapt the restraining forces.
Note specific actions, responsible actors, and timelines.
Revisit and adapt - Return to the force-field chart at intervals. Update it as conditions change or new forces appear.
Causal-loop diagrams can also be used to foster reflection and root problem identification, leading toward sustainable solutions. This type of diagram specifically helps identify feedback loops in a system illuminating what reinforces organizational behaviours. Once these dynamics are identified, it becomes possible to transform the situation for lasting change.
The Fishbone Diagram helps groups visually map out all possible causes of a problem (not just the obvious ones), so they can identify root causes and plan solutions more effectively.
Source: https://unichrone.com/blog/quality-management/fishbone-root-cause-analysis/
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