Peter Jones
The discourse around the global polycrisis has renewed interest in global-scale problematiques while revealing limitations in prevailing approaches to systems modelling and policy foresight. We revisit the world problematique tradition initiated by Özbekhan’s Predicament of Mankind (1970) and reconsider its relevance for systemic design and policy deliberation. The study argues that qualitative, participatory world modelling offers an alternative to simulation-driven approaches that have dominated global futures discourse since the original Limits to Growth models. In particular, the significance of the Bariloche Latin American World Model is reconsidered as an early Global South response to universalised assumptions embedded in global modelling projects.
The study reports on the development of a contemporary Mexican World Model produced through Structured Dialogic Design (SDD), a systems science methodology for collective reasoning and influence mapping. Fifteen faculty researchers from Tecnológico de Monterrey participated in an intensive training and modelling process that adapted the original 49 Critical Continuous Problems of the Özbekhan problematique to contemporary Mexican conditions. Through structured deliberation and influence mapping using the Logosofia software, participants developed a qualitative model of interconnected societal challenges and leverage points for action pathways among these problems. The resulting qualitative model set identifies a distinctly Mexican problematique situated within, yet not reducible to, the global polycrisis. Rather than accepting expert-defined crisis narratives as universally applicable, the model reveals priorities emerging from lived experience, local histories, vulnerabilities, and developmental conditions. The process demonstrates how participatory world modelling can support policy deliberation by making visible relationships among systemic challenges while preserving contextual specificity. The paper contributes to systemic design in at least three ways. We re-establish the problematique as a relevant form of world modelling, demonstrate the continued effectiveness of Dialogic Design for convening such societal-level inquiries, and introduce an ethical orientation towards situated responsibility in addressing systemic crises. Qualitative world-creation models are also valuable as complements to quantitative simulations, and can serve as participatory processes for collective reasoning and wisdom, enabling contextually grounded responses to increasingly interconnected global challenges.
Keywords: Dialogic design, Problematique, Polycrisis, World-creation model, Metasystem mapping