Managing complex societal challenges

Transformational power for your strategic leadership

An exclusive masterclass for leaders who work with complex societal challenges that have no simple solutions. You will gain access to a learning space with sparring, dialogue, and concrete tools for creating direction and change across sectors.

Leadership when there are no easy answers

As a society, we face complex challenges where traditional management tools fall short. These are cross-cutting and intractable problems which, according to the Reform Commission, are‘recognized, attempted to be solved, unsolved’. Examples include youth dissatisfaction, climate change, labor shortages, and health inequality. 

For you as a leader, complex societal challenges often mean responsibility without clear answers. You are caught between political expectations, professional considerations, and an organization that must function on a daily basis. At the same time, you are expected to provide direction in problems for which no one person is solely responsible. This can be demanding and lonely.

This masterclass provides you with a confidential space where you can work on your own challenges together with other leaders. The masterclass is based on INVI's tools for understanding and navigating wicked and Komponents' in-depth experience with leadership in politically controlled organizations. Through sparring, dialogue, and perspectives from experienced speakers who have themselves faced complexity, you will strengthen your ability to stand confidently in your leadership and create action—even when there are no simple solutions.

The masterclass is specially orchestrated and will only be held once with this group of speakers.

Target group

The masterclass is for leaders responsible for complex tasks and societal challenges that cannot be solved within a single organization or field of expertise.

The course is relevant for you if you are:

• Director or Deputy Director
• Center Manager, Area Manager, or Department Manager
• Chief of Staff or Strategic Manager

and who work in:

• municipalities, state or regions
• foundations and civil society organizations
• larger private organizations with social responsibilities

The masterclass brings together leaders from across sectors and gives you the opportunity to work with like-minded people, exchange experiences, and gain new perspectives on how to jointly manage complex societal challenges.

Yields

There are no ready-made answers when it comes to managing complex societal challenges. These challenges require knowledge to be developed collaboratively and translated into action in the real world you face as a leader. We have created the perfect framework for this. The masterclass offers you the following concrete benefits:

  • Enhanced ability to take leadership in collaborations, alliances, and partnerships across organizations, enabling you to position your organization and maintain a strategic overview when working with major societal challenges.

  • Concrete tools and courses of action from INVI's Model and Atlas for navigating wicked , allowing you to test and adjust courses of action that suit your specific challenge.

  • A confidential space that generates knowledge through interaction between leaders, where you work on your organization's own challenges and develop concrete action plans supported by dialogue with others.

  • Greater confidence in acting in the political arena, where political ambitions must be translated into organizational action without oversimplifying reality.

  • A language and conceptual framework that matches your reality, enabling you to distinguish between problems that can be solved and problems that need to be managed.

Don't take our word for it. Hear it from our former participants instead:

“Some people may need to start by overcoming the same thing as me. I thought the concept of wicked had been a bit ‘popped’. The course goes much deeper and deals with it seriously. I have gained a much more nuanced understanding of the concept and what it means. In other words, a deep professional understanding. The professional framework for wicked – it makes a lot of sense.” Anne Velling, Municipal Director, Mariagerfjord Municipality.

“I wish all my managers could attend this course. As a manager in today’s world, where tectonic plates are shifting, you have a duty to be curious about wicked – Jens Otto Størup, CEO, DGI

Educators

A strong team of instructors is looking forward to guiding you through the masterclass program. In the coming period, more experts will be announced as instructors for the masterclass.

Sigge Winther Nielsen (Masterclass manager)

Founder and director of the think tank INVI – Institute for wicked . Sigge is a former director of Djøf, host of Deadline, political analyst at Politiken, and civil servant in the Ministry of Finance. With his combination of professional experience, a master's degree in political science, and a PhD in political science, Sigge contributes a unique interdisciplinary field of theoretical and practical experience in complex problem solving. He is also the author of Entreprenørstaten (The Entrepreneurial State) and, most recently, the anthology The Puzzle State.

Charles Leadbeater

Internationally recognized author, advisor, and thinker in the field of systemic innovation and public renewal. Charles has served as a special advisor to Tony Blair and is a key voice in the development of systemic innovation in the public sector. He has advised governments, cities, and foundations around the world and has served on advisory boards for MindLab, among others. Today, he is co-lead of the System Innovation Initiative, which explores how power, relationships, resources, and purpose can be rethought to create lasting system change—and contributes to the masterclass with an international perspective on wicked and action in complex systems.

Sine Egede

Development Director at the Bikuben Foundation and one of the most experienced figures in strategic development, co-creation, and social innovation. Sine teaches how to work with long-term development processes where solutions cannot be squeezed into traditional project formats. Sine has an eye for how foundations, art, and social areas can function as laboratories for new approaches to wicked —and how to drive change without linear management.

Pernille Blachmann Hansen

Senior Vice President in NIRAS' environmental sector and experienced leader in green transition, system development, and sustainability. Pernille teaches how to handle wicked in the tension between technical knowledge, regulation, stakeholder management, and daily practice. She also provides insight into how large organizations can work strategically with innovation, partnerships, and investments when the goal is long-term change rather than stable operations.

Pernille Halberg Salamon

Director of Components, Local Government Development Center. Pernille is a former municipal director in Hørsholm Municipality and has over 17 years of experience in key management positions in municipal administration. Pernille has in-depth knowledge of municipalities' needs in terms of consulting, training, and skills development and contributes to the master class with her experience in how strategic ambitions are translated into practice in everyday municipal life, which is characterized by political, organizational, and economic conditions.

Henrik Plougmann Olsen

Managing Director at HOFOR. Henrik joined HOFOR from Metroselskabet, where he was also Managing Director. Green transition, adaptation to climate change, and public transportation are the main themes of his work. Henrik therefore often navigates the field between the public and private sectors—and for that reason, he has a keen eye for the pitfalls and opportunities that exist between the state and the market.

Scope and scope

The course is spread over four months with three modules. The second module includes overnight accommodation.

You will receive four intensive, specially designed course days combining theory, practice, and experience sharing—with time in between to digest, test the methods, and cultivate your new network for the future.

Course structure and content

  • April 15, 2026, 9:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

    Location: INVI – Institute for wicked , Snaregade 10b, Copenhagen 

    We start by defining and understanding the wicked that you and your organization face. What characterizes these challenges, why are they so stubborn, and what does that mean for you as a leader? 

    We present INVI's Model for wicked , which gives you a compass to navigate through the wilderness of complexity and identify how you can frame the problems in order to begin addressing them.  

  • May 5 at 10:00 a.m. - May 6, 2026 at 2:30 p.m.

    Location: Hotel Hesselet, Nyborg (boarding school with overnight accommodation)

    We take an in-depth look at how you can use your compass to navigate complex societal challenges through alliances and partnerships. You will be introduced to an atlas of tools that enable you to match specific types of wicked with concrete tools. 

    The focus is on how you position yourself as a leader, mobilize resources, engage your surroundings, and organize learning and feedback loops—both internally and externally.

  • May 19, 2026, 9:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

    Location: KL – Local Government Denmark, Weidekampsgade 10, Copenhagen 

    We focus on your personal leadership and ability to drive change in complex environments. How do you bring stakeholders together around a common strategic effort? We look at specific examples of how leaders have created change in complex situations. 

    You will learn how to work effectively across sectors and in the "gaps" within your own organization. We will conclude by focusing on your wicked and how you can spearhead real change in the culture and structure of your organization. 

Price: DKK 29,000 incl. VAT

The price includes four intensive days of training in pleasant surroundings with accommodation between days two and three, the book wicked : A Toolbox for Politicians, Practitioners, and Policy Entrepreneurs,a compendium of course materials, meals, and access to a unique network of top leaders.

Closing remark

Are you ready to broaden your leadership horizons and better tackle the most complex challenges of our time? Then sign up for this masterclass and become part of a new generation of top leaders who are creating real and lasting change.

Contact us

For questions and further information, write to masterclass facilitator Kristine Fisker at kristine@invi.nu.

Sign up here