The Iceberg

Students work on a sustainability problem. Firstly they map the events and what is visibly happening; the tip of the iceberg. Then they will continue below the surface, looking at:

• Patterns - what are the trends, how often does this event occur?
• Structures - what influences the trends, what are the relationships between the different actors and/or infrastructures involved?
• Mental models - what are the beliefs, values and assumptions that create the structures?

Step 1 

Divide the class into groups of 3 to 5 students and decide with which tools students need to work  (online in a Miro board, offline on a flip-over or whiteboard, etc). Also decide if you give each group their own event/problem or that you will have all groups working on the same one. 

Step 2

Pick an event  that poses a challenge related to a sustainability issue. That event and it's details will be at the top of the iceberg. You can let students look up the details of this event or you can provide them with the most salient details. An elaborate example can be found in the Variations, tips & tricks section below. 

Step 3

Then let students brainstorm with a mind map showing the connections between the event and its possible causes, effects and stakeholders involved

Step 4

After this, let students organise the mindmap in hierarchies of patterns for the second level of the Iceberg and then the structural causes in the third (and deepest) level of the Iceberg

Step 5

Now give each group the chance to present and reflect on the bigger context of issues (“look at the bigger picture") in plenary

Step 6

Finally, come to a conclusion about the root causes and possible solution of this persistent problem.