Solving present day problems is difficult enough - but problems that don't even exist yet? Very tricky.
Four pupils from Greenpark School have shown, however, that with preparation and intelligence, tricky can be done. Mahnoor Qadri, Ethan Valois, Galadriel Cass and Megan Cherry won the Y division of the recent Future Problem Solving New Zealand National Finals in Auckland.
They secured the winner's trophy by tackling some of the future land transportation problems of Beijing. They knew the theme of the scenario, but had no idea about the details.
"All they knew prior to the contest was that the scenario would relate to land transportation," says coach Lynne Mossop.
"They researched a lot about future land transportation and decided it would be faster, more comfortable and entertaining." Galadriel says at the competition,the quartet had to read the scenario and identify 10 problems.