
Wicked Problem of Plastics and the Discourse Surrounding its Governance
This project seeks to improve how we use and dispose of plastic by looking at how we talk about plastic.
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/@antoinegiret
A GCRF Global Engagement Network

How we perceive plastic has changed drastically in the previous half-century even as its use has become more widespread, from a world-changing opportunity to an environmental catastrophe. It is the very durability of plastic that makes it so useful for preserving food and maintaining hygiene that also makes disposing of it one of the key global challenges recognised for their fiendish complexity as “wicked problems” requiring multiple types of solutions to be developed by multiple academic disciplines and sectors of society.
This project seeks to improve how we use and dispose of plastic by looking at how we talk about plastic. It examines how local and national governments and organisations frame written, visual and verbal communication about plastic and asks how this can be translated into behaviour change and activism that leads to better laws and more effective governance.
The project investigates these discourses to learn how the “plastics story” is told in different countries and how this influences consumers, activists, regulators and other key decision-makers.
This project is funded under the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Networking Scheme: 2019 Global Challenges Research Fund Highlight Notice for International Development.
Project team
Principal Investigators

Professor Nicholas Oguge
Principal Investigator, Network Director

Professor Rosalind Malcolm
Co-principal Investigator, Network Co-director
UK team

Dr Itziar Castello Molina
Co-investigator (leading on communications component)

Dr Noreen O'Meara
Co-investigator (leading on legal component)

Dr Matthew Peacock
Research Fellow
Caribbean team

Professor Anthony Clayton
Project Partner

Dr Andrea Clayton
Project Partner

Dr Kwame Emmanuel
Legal and Communications Expert
Denmark team

Professor Maj Andersen
Representative
Ethiopia team

Professor Belay Simane
Project Partner

Abduljelil Ahmedin Rida
Communications Expert

Yohannes Geleta Sida
Research Assistant
Kenya team
Dr Francis Oremo
Network Manager

Dr James Oranga
Project Partner

Salome Ondigo
Project Assistant

Miriam Bomett
Kenya Association of Manufacturers Representative

Irene Maithya
Research Assistant

Hellen Adhiambo Omondi
Communications Expert
Malawi team

Professor Thoko Kaime
Project Partner

Isabelle Zundel
Communications and Legal Expert

Tisungeni Tikhalenawo Kaime
Co-partner
Rwanda team

Dr Aime Tsinda
National Representative

Dr Marie Rose Turamwishimye
Communications and Legal Expert
Sweden team

Dr Carl Dalhammar
Project Partner

Dr Leonidas Milios
Representative
Tanzania team

Dr Alex Kisingo
Head of Research and Consultancy Department

Sia Jeremia Temu
Research Assistant
Uganda team

Dr Lynn Atuyambe
Project Partner

Harriet Adong
Communications Expert

Felix Walyawula
Legal Expert