LUCA
Learning under conditions of ambiguity
LUCA is a way of thinking about learning when situations are uncertain, contested, and consequential — where goals shift, evidence is partial, and action changes the system being observed.
It starts from a simple observation: many of the contexts in which learning is most needed are precisely those in which learning is hardest to sustain.
LUCA does not offer a method or a model to be applied. It offers an orientation for working with learning as it unfolds over time, under pressure, and within constraint.
What we mean by ambiguity
In LUCA, ambiguity is not simply a lack of information or an early stage of analysis.
It refers to situations where:
- there are multiple, sometimes conflicting goals or purposes
- different actors see the world in different ways
- causes are intertwined and effects unfold over time
- action changes the situation being learned about
- learning itself shapes what becomes visible next
Under these conditions, learning cannot be fully planned, optimised, or stabilised in advance. Attempts to resolve ambiguity too quickly often damage learning rather than strengthen it.
LUCA takes ambiguity seriously as a structural condition, not a temporary inconvenience to be eliminated.
Learning with LUCA
Rather than defining learning in a single way (see Learning for more), LUCA treats it as something that:
- unfolds over time
- leaves traces that shape future possibilities
- is uneven, contested, and sometimes resisted
- can stall, fragment, or be foreclosed
Learning is not guaranteed; more data does not automatically produce more learning, and insight does not always translate into action.
What matters is both whether learning occurs and how it is organised so that it expands what becomes possible next.
The three elements of LUCA
LUCA works with three interrelated elements that help make learning dynamics visible over time: landscape, cycles, and pathways.
These are not stages, levels, or components of a system. They are lenses that can be brought into focus at different moments, depending on what is needed.
Landscape
The learning landscape refers to the conditions that shape what learning is possible before inquiry even begins.
These conditions include:
- organisational norms and incentives
- accountability and reporting requirements
- political, institutional, and ethical constraints
- time horizons and risk tolerance
The landscape is not static.
It is made up of nested and overlapping temporal and spatial spheres that shape learning differently depending on where one is situated.
Understanding the landscape helps explain why certain questions feel difficult to ask, why some forms of evidence travel while others do not, and why learning can feel easier or harder at different moments.
Pathways
Over time, learning cycles leave traces.
Pathways describe how successive decisions, interpretations, and learning choices accumulate, shaping what becomes possible later.
They help explain:
- why learning now feels constrained by what came before
- why certain options no longer seem available
- why the same questions keep returning
Pathways are not plans or causal chains.
They are constructed analytic artefacts that make patterns of momentum, lock-in, and irreversibility visible.
Cycles
Learning unfolds through cycles: provisional processes through which experience, evidence, interpretation, and action are held together long enough for something to shift.
Cycles can:
- deepen understanding
- stall or fragment
- close prematurely
- continue without producing learning
They operate at different scales — from momentary group interactions to long-term strategic reflection — and are often misaligned across contexts.
Attending to cycles helps reveal where learning is breaking down, where it is being rushed into closure, and where it is being substituted with reporting or performance.
Working with LUCA
LUCA is not intended to be learned as a framework and then applied.
It is most useful when:
- learning feels difficult or unsatisfying
- decisions are being made under pressure
- uncertainty cannot be resolved in advance
- there is a need to act without foreclosing learning too early
LUCA provides a shared orientation that can support reflection, dialogue, and deliberate choice about how learning is approached over time.
For examples of how this orientation is worked with in practice, see Learning About Learning.