A wide range of policy issues from food safety to counter-terrorism, climate change or migration have come to be interpreted as inter-connected, multi-dimensional problem constellations rather than easily identifiable single issues with a clear territorial locus or readily identifiable causal origin. That is why ‘wicked problems’ are considered very tricky to address. Simultaneously high levels of complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity with far-reaching repercussions for organizational boundaries, attentiveness and problem-solving capacity require considerable coordination efforts, knowledge transfer and strategy-building. The seminar discusses theoretical and conceptual perspectives on wicked problems as well as empirical studies on coordination, knowledge and strategy-building by which governments seek to cope with complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity.