This seminar focuses on sustainability governance issues from a social network perspective. The participants will learn about different forms of governance, such as collaborative, polycentric, or multilevel governance from current literature and research in combination with basic knowledge of Social Network Analysis (SNA). Insights from the literature and a hands-on-tutorial with SNA software will enable them to conduct their own research project in small groups. Students will learn how to formulate a precise research question around sustainability and network governance, select an appropriate theoretical framework, and operationalize it by using the tools of SNA. Basic network measures and visualization tools will enable them to analyze and discuss their own collected network data. The students will be guided through the whole research process. Finally, they will present their work at the end of the seminar and receive feedback from their peers and the lecturer. They will write a term paper based on this project. At the end of the seminar, students will be familiar with central concepts in the network governance and sustainability fields such as air pollution control in cities, regional water supply governance networks or multilevel governance climate change networks. They will also be able to conduct their own research by using these concepts; moreover, they will familiarize themselves with the basics of the SNA method by using the software Visone for analysis and visualization purposes.

Assessment

Term paper, oral presentation and active participation