Sociology of Innovation Question and Answer

Introduction of Sociology of Innovation Question and Answer

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Oceans and marine biodiversity play an essential part in everyone's life. Over 3 billion people worldwide make a living out of the ocean and marine waters. This project is conducted to understand the importance of oceans and marine biodiversity in people's life. The project's goal is to find ways of avoiding water pollution in the oceans and spreading awareness regarding the negative impact of polluting the water bodies.

Question 1: How do you engage U.N. Sustainability Development Goals?

Answer: Following the sustainable developments set by the U.N. can help protect marine life. The first goal should be preventing pollution into the ocean water. The ocean is polluted in many ways. Plastic is the most common cause of water pollution in the oceans. It is essential to ban plastic products near the oceans and put security systems near the shores. The security systems can look out for people polluting the sea with plastic (Kandziora et al., 2019). Fines should also be implemented for polluting the ocean. The second most common reason for ocean pollution is the waste from factories. Every year the factories near the ocean shores deplete waste oils into the ocean waters. These harmful oils mix with the water and cause the death of thousands of marine animals. Rules should be implemented to restrict the factories from releasing wastes into the ocean. Fishing is also very harmful to aquatic life. Some fishing firms conduct over-fishing activities in the sea, which creates an imbalance in marine life. To implement the U.N. sustainability goals, it is essential to be aware of the negative impacts of water pollution. Meetings should be organized where reasonable sustainability goals set by the U.N. can be identified.

Source: (Diez et al., 2020) 

Question 2: What is your project proposal, and which SDG does it link with?

Answer: The project proposal taken is implementing teams to avoid pollution near the ocean shores. This project proposal is mainly linked with sustainable management and marine life protection acts taken by the U.N. Most of the ocean waters are polluted by the wastes thrown at the ocean shores. Most of these wastes are non-biodegradable and accumulate in the water bodies of the oceans, which disturbs the water pH level, and eventually leads to the death of marine animals (Craig, 2022). This issue needs to be stopped and to stop the case, and specific teams should be formed near the ocean shores that can look for people polluting the water and destroy them. The members of these teams should have proper knowledge about marine life and be well aware of the consequences of water pollution. Camps should be placed at certain distances, which will have people from these teams.

Additionally, regular ocean cleaning programs should be implemented. These programs will help to take wastes out of the ocean before they accumulate and cause harm to marine life. Fines should also be implemented for throwing trash into the sea. Implementing these strategies can help protect marine life and would work well in avoiding pollution.

Question 3: What makes a wicked problem 'wicked'?

Answer: Wicked problems are problems that have many important factors related to them. These factors are very crucial and cause serious consequences later. This makes wicked problems almost impossible to solve. These problems can come during any project, including life-saving marine projects. Understanding these problems is very important before starting any project (Alcamo, 2019). Things that make wicked problems ‘wicked’ are:

• No theory can work perfectly for these problems.
• Wicked problems do not have a definite solution. This means no one can understand if the solution will completely solve the problem (Villaluz and Hechanova, 2018). 
• It is not possible to test the solutions to a wicked problem. They have to be implemented directly in the field.
• Wicked problems always have limited solutions. This means substituting a solution with another better idea is not possible.
• Wicked problems are new and unique.
• It is hard to develop a single satisfying explanation for a wicked problem.
• A single wicked problem can be a starting point to several other issues.
• While implementing solutions to wicked problems, chances of conflicts stay high within a team since some of the team members are not satisfied with the solution (Virto, 2018).
• A person implementing a solution to a wicked problem must take all the responsibility alone if something unwanted happens.
• No one can find a definite number of solutions for a wicked problem.
• Wicked problems cannot be ignored. This means keeping a wicked problem will continuously affect a project.

Source: (Villaluz.and Hechanova, 2018)

Question 4: How is problem-based learning working for your group?

Answer: Problem Based Learning (PBL) has been working successfully for the current project. Problem-based learning is a learning method where teams are formed to find solutions to a particular problem (Rajnoha et al., 2019). The problem-based learning adopted by the group is helping to find practical solutions for protecting ocean life. However, the team has faced particular challenges slowing down the mission's progress. The problems and their respective answers are mentioned below:

1. Educating the People

Implementing sustainability strategies to protect marine life is not an easy task. The local people living around the ocean shores are not ready to cooperate in implementing the changes. They are not aware of the negative impacts of ocean pollution (Sala et al., 2021). For this reason, our team has to spend a considerable amount of time educating the locals about the negative impacts of ocean pollution.

2. Illegal Businesses in the Ocean

Marine life is the main component of an ocean. The fishery businesses around the sea are only allowed to fish a certain weightage of fish. However, many fishery boats that are not obeying these rules engage in overfishing activities. This is causing a tremendous amount of damage to marine life (Elsbach and Stigliani, 2018). Our team is setting weightage machines near the docks to keep an eye on the proper weight of the fish that the fishery firms are fishing.

3. Extreme Usage of Plastics

The areas where our team have started the operations so far have people who love using plastic products. These plastic products are ultimately getting thrown into the ocean and are causing constant damage to the environment. The people are also stubborn and oppose banning plastic (Franke et al., 2020). Our team is trying to spread awareness regarding the negative impact of plastics on ocean water bodies. People are slowly adapting to these changes. However,, it will take a long time to stop plastic usage.

Source: (Sala et al., 2021)

Question 5: How are you analyzing innovative practice with theories?

Answer: Our team has implemented some theories to successfully conduct the innovative practices. Some of the ideas are:

1. Implementing an Innovation Culture

Coming up with innovative ideas from only a few team members is not very efficient. For this reason, our team is trying to build a creative culture among our teammates (Watt et al., 2021). This is helping us maximize the number of innovative ideas since everyone in the team is coming up with unique ideas that are helping us to save the oceans.

2. Design Thinking

This is a valuable theory that has been helping our team to come up with practical ideas. Design thinking is a process used by teams to come up with practical ideas to solve a particular problem (Raven, Gobler and Hansen, 2020). Our team has been able to develop solutions that are helping in our mission of saving the ocean.

3. Jobs to be Done theory

This theory deals with setting up small goals that can be used as milestones in understanding our progress. The teams are setting small goals that are successfully achieved by our teams and are making our team move toward a bright future (Inyinbor Adejumoke et al., 2018).

Question 6: Where has the theory been present as you explored the wicked problem?

Answer: The wicked problem that has been identified in our mission is the acidification of the ocean waters. The factories near the ocean floors release a lot of industrial waste. These industrial wastes hamper the pH level of the ocean water and result in acidification of the water (Landrigan et al., 2020). This is a serious concern for our team, but with the help of the taken theories, our team has been able to bring in positive changes. Implementing innovative ideas with design thinking helps the team develop solutions that are working well. These solutions enable the team achieve the small goals set according to the jobs to be done theory. Our team is approaching the factories with innovative solutions, and the factories are responding well to our suggestions.

Source: (Rajnoha et al., 2019)

 Reflection

The study has helped me understand the various aspects that harm ocean life. It has been seen that ocean life is affected by many factors. Some of the significant factors found are the dumping of plastic wastes in the ocean water and industrial wastes released into the water by the factories. These serious issues are harming the ocean's marine life. Millions of marine animals die daily due to water pollution (Brucker-Davis et al., 2020). This is hampering the ocean's ecosystem and is eventually causing trouble for humans.

Throughout this study, I have learned the importance of saving ocean waters. I have gone through all the negative impacts of water pollution and studied the consequences thoroughly. I have also understood the importance of forming an organization to save ocean life. I have successfully built a team and launched projects aimed at protecting the oceans. We have chosen some greatly affected ocean shores worldwide and have sent our teams there to save the beaches from pollution. Our first target was to implement the U.N. sustainability goals. We have thoroughly understood the various factors affecting the oceans and have found some sustainability goals that can help save the oceans. Sustainability goals can be very beneficial for us, and we have got positive results so far.

I have spent considerable time studying wicked problems. It has been found that these wicked problems can act as obstacles to our mission. The wicked problem that I have found is the increasing release of industrial wastes into the oceans. I have observed that the increased release of industrial wastes into the ocean water is causing extreme water pollution and significantly disturbing the pH level of moisture. This is increasing the C02 levels in the water. Due to the increasing CO2, many fish and other marine animals are dying.

Our team has adopted a problem-based learning framework for our operations to counter the wicked problems. The problem-based learning method has helped us to find practical solutions. These solutions are constructive for our mission. However, while implementing the problem-based learning framework, our team has faced many difficulties. Some of the significant challenges were educating the people living by the ocean shores, illegal business operations in the oceans and extreme usage of plastic products. Our team has suffered a lot due to these problems, but we have been able to find practical solutions for overcoming these problems.

In the end, I have implemented some theories that are helping us to execute innovative ideas. Our team has adopted these theories, and before launching any mission, all the pictures are checked through these theories. However, throughout this entire process, I have gone through many difficulties. Saving the ocean life is a vast topic, and I have come across many difficulties finding solutions to the problems. The wicked problems are the hardest to overcome, and it takes a lot of effort.

Conclusion

The whole project is done to spread awareness of the importance of saving the oceans. Six different questions have been answered related to the issue. Various theories and innovative strategies have been used to find solutions to the problems harming the oceans. Many crucial aspects of ocean pollution have been critically evaluated throughout this study, and the importance of the sea in human life has also been shown.

References

Alcamo, J., 2019. Water quality and its interlinkages with the Sustainable Development Goals. Current opinion in environmental sustainability, 36, pp.126-140.

Craig, R.K., 2022, April. The Clean Water Act and the Ocean: An Unfulfilled Promise. In Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Law (Symposium.

Diez, S.M., Patil, P.G., Morton, J., Rodriguez, D.J., Vanzella, A., Robin, D., Maes, T. and Corbin, C., 2019. Marine pollution in the Caribbean: not a minute to waste.

Elsbach, K.D. and Stigliani, I., 2018. Design thinking and organizational culture: A review and framework for future research. Journal of Management, 44(6), pp.2274-2306.

Franke, A., Blenckner, T., Duarte, C.M., Ott, K., Fleming, L.E., Antia, A., Reusch, T.B., Bertram, C., Hein, J., Kronfeld-Goharani, U. and Dierking, J., 2020. Operationalizing Ocean Health: Toward integrated research on ocean health and recovery to achieve ocean sustainability. One Earth, 2(6), pp.557-565.

Inyinbor Adejumoke, A., Adebesin Babatunde, O., Oluyori Abimbola, P., Adelani Akande Tabitha, A., Dada Adewumi, O. and Oreofe Toyin, A., 2018. Water pollution: effects, prevention, and climatic impact. Water Challenges of an Urbanizing World, 33, pp.33-47.

Kandziora, J.H., Van Toulon, N., Sobral, P., Taylor, H.L., Ribbink, A.J., Jambeck, J.R. and Werner, S., 2019. The important role of marine debris networks to prevent and reduce ocean plastic pollution. Marine pollution bulletin, 141, pp.657-662.

Landrigan, P.J., Stegeman, J.J., Fleming, L.E., Allemand, D., Anderson, D.M., Backer, L.C., Brucker-Davis, F., Chevalier, N., Corra, L., Czerucka, D. and Bottein, M.Y.D., 2020. Human health and ocean pollution. Annals of global health, 86(1).

Rajnoha, R., Lesnikova, P., Stefko, R., Schmidtova, J. and Formanek, I., 2019. Transformations in strategic business planning in the context of sustainability and business goals setting. Transformations in Business & Economics, 18(2), pp.44-66.

Raven, J.A., Gobler, C.J. and Hansen, P.J., 2020. Dynamic CO2 and pH levels in coastal, estuarine, and inland waters: Theoretical and observed effects on harmful algal blooms. Harmful Algae, 91, p.101594.

Sala, E., Mayorga, J., Bradley, D., Cabral, R.B., Atwood, T.B., Auber, A., Cheung, W., Costello, C., Ferretti, F., Friedlander, A.M. and Gaines, S.D., 2021. Protecting the global ocean for biodiversity, food and climate. Nature, 592(7854), pp.397-402.

Villaluz, V.C. and Hechanova, M.R.M., 2018. Ownership and leadership in building an innovation culture. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.

Virto, L.R., 2018. A preliminary assessment of the indicators for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Marine Policy, 98, pp.47-57.

Watt, E., Picard, M., Maldonado, B., Abdelwahab, M.A., Mielewski, D.F., Drzal, L.T., Misra, M. and Mohanty, A.K., 2021. Ocean plastics: environmental implications and potential routes for mitigation–a perspective. RSC Advances, 11(35), pp.21447-21462.