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Multisolving

A man in a blue shirt carrying a basket full of green peppers.
A woman and her children are planting a tree in a field.
A group of people talking to each other in an office.
A homeless man with an american flag holding a sign.

We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. As such, the challenges we face in improving population health and well-being are fundamentally intertwined and cannot be addressed in isolation. Solving our most pressing problems requires understanding how one part of the equation affects all of the others.

Multisolving is a way of understanding and approaching this complex reality so that we can prioritize the most impactful solutions. In the simplest terms, multisolving is the practice of identifying and advocating for policies and investments that can solve multiple problems, often across sectors.



A man in a blue shirt carrying a basket full of green peppers.
A woman and her children are planting a tree in a field.
A group of people talking to each other in an office.
A homeless man with an american flag holding a sign.

Creating Consensus
with Multisolving

Collaboration and cross-sector alignment are critical for solving today’s complex problems. The challenge is that different stakeholders often have different priorities.

Here lies one of the greatest strengths of the multisolving approach. Multisolving encourages stewards to present solutions in the terms that will be most meaningful to the various stakeholders whose support and collaboration may be needed.

Avoiding the Trap of “Long-Term
vs. Short-Term” Thinking

A man in a wheelchair.
Two people looking at a cell phone in a greenhouse.
Three muslim women hugging each other in a living room.
A man standing in front of a white board.
A woman and her children are planting a tree in a field.
Creating system change often requires investments that have a long- term focus. This can sometimes create resistance, especially if people perceive that long- term investments come at the expense of short- term priorities.

After all, it is natural to assume that if a community invests in a long- term initiative, that money is no longer available for things the community may need or want today.

Multisolving helps us see how this need not be true. Consider again the public transportation example from above. Some of the benefits are immediate, and some have a longer time horizon. Understanding this reality helps to remove the perception that investing in tomorrow means sacrificing today.

By examining investments through the lens of multisolving, we can help build even greater support for solutions that will have the greatest impact on health and well-being for generations.

A man in a wheelchair.
Two people looking at a cell phone in a greenhouse.
Three muslim women hugging each other in a living room.
A man standing in front of a white board.
A woman and her children are planting a tree in a field.

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