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The emergence of COVID-19 in December 2019 produced new geographic spaces characterized by physical and social distancing with concomitant surprises. In Ghana, management of the first and second waves of the pandemic garnered mixed reactions from the populace. Against these perspectives, this commentary explored the critical role of health promotion and wise reasoning tenets in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana, specifically through the following eight principles: intellectual humility; acknowledging uncertainty and change; perspective-taking of different viewpoints; integration of diverse perspectives; intersectorality; sustainability; empowerment and public health engagement; and equity. Our analyses demonstrate that wise reasoning and health promotion from Ghana’s political authorities are critical to ensure citizens’ compliance with the several measures that require a change of behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergent conceptual framework of wicked problems has garnered much attention in academic discourse, including geography. By refining and drawing insights from tenets of the wicked problem concept, this article posits a "wicked concept" usefully defined through five propositions: Wicked concepts are difficult to define and have no universal meaning; there is an unending quest for a universal definition of wicked concepts; definitions and conceptualizations of wicked concepts are neither true nor false; all wicked concepts' components are fundamentally unique; and wicked concepts are multidimensional. Although not exhaustive, our list of propositions aims to generate intellectual discourse on the usefulness of the wicked concept as a conceptual framework with which to analyze concepts marked with such ambiguities. Using the concept of wisdom as a reference point, we argue that academic knowledge production—particularly as it relates to wisdom—would benefit significantly from being reconceptualized as wicked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]