Wicked problems in sustainable development for chemistry education

Mapped principles 

The project is mapped to the following framework principles:

P2. Ability to handle wicked problems for a sustainable societal development

Definitions of the principles

Contact

Markus Kärkäs associate professor

karkas@kth.se

Profile

Project number 

This project is implemented at the School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH) within the Future Education programme (project no. 2609-CBH) 

Project context 

Society’s major challenges in sustainable development, climate, energy, material supply, and health are increasingly characterised by so-called wicked problems, namely complex problems without clear solutions, where scientific, technical, social, and ethical dimensions interact. In chemistry-based education, there is great potential to integrate such problems to strengthen students’ systems thinking, problem-solving ability, and ability to work across disciplines. 

Working with wicked problems in education prepares students for the types of challenges they will encounter in research, industry, and society. Unlike traditional calculation or laboratory problems, these problems do not have clear answers and require students to: 

• integrate chemical knowledge with societal and sustainability-related perspectives 
• practise critical thinking and decision-making 
• develop collaboration and communication skills 
• reflect on ethical and sustainability-related consequences. 

Purpose (outcome) 

The direct purpose of the project is to more clearly connect subject knowledge to global sustainability goals and the needs of working life within the Master of Science in Engineering programme in Chemical Engineering (CTKEM), thereby preparing future chemists to handle complex sustainability challenges. 

The intended outcomes are: 

• Students’ motivation and ability to apply chemistry in socially relevant contexts increase by working with complex, real-world problems; 
• Students are better equipped to handle wicked problems where scientific, technical, social, and ethical dimensions interact, through strengthened systems thinking, problem-solving ability, and ability to work across disciplines. 

In a broader sense, the project also aims to create a template for how other engineering programmes can be developed so that students are trained and assessed in handling wicked problems. CTKEM can therefore be seen as a pilot for this purpose. 

Project results (output) 

The concrete outputs of the project are pedagogical and content-related further development of CTKEM, with a focus on how understanding and handling wicked problems can be integrated and followed up throughout the programme. This includes: 

• changes to the programme syllabus and course syllabuses 
• detailed development of courses and learning activities 
• final report. 

Note: implementation of the changes will take place after the project ends, during autumn term 2027 and spring term 2028.

Time plan 

Start date: 2026-04-01
End date: 2027-04-01 

Project documentation 

If you have a KTH ID, you can read the documents when logged in:

• Poster: The project’s first poster (in Swedish) will be available at the ”Storträffen” meetup autumn 2026
• Project directive (Swedish): Projektdirektiv_FrU26_2609-CBH_OmP inom Kemi.pdf