EVENT: Using Social Network Analysis in Urban Social-Ecological Studies

EVENT: Using Social Network Analysis in Urban Social-Ecological Studies

10-12 October at ACC

Hosted by the African Centre for Cities and the Environmental and Geographical Science Dept at University of Cape Town, centre researcher Henrik Ernstson will 10-12 October hold the PhD course “Social Network Analysis in Urban Social-Ecological Studies”. is

During 10-12 October the PhD course “Social Network Analysis in Urban Social-Ecological Studies” is hosted by the African Centre for Cities and the Environmental and Geographical Science Dept at University of Cape Town. The course gathers 20 students from 12 different cities in the world and is a collaboration with Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC). The course is given by Dr Henrik Ernstson from SRC that will join ACC next year for his two-year postdoctoral research project.

The course gives the participants the basics in social network theory and how to generate empirical social network data and start analyzing urban case studies, especially case studies in relation to urban natural resource management. However, students from other fields of research such as sociology and geography are also participating and can benefit from the course. For any questions, please contact Dr Henrik Ernstson (henrik[AT]ecology[DOT]su[DOT]se).

Rationale for the course

Ecologists and other natural scientists interested in issues of urban resource management are increasingly discovering the need to study the social aspects of the urban environment. Social aspects range from the obvious questions, such as how do human actions ‘affect’ the environment, to more complex and subtle questions pertaining to issues of class, power, discourse, conflicts, and consensus; and how these aspects shape the way we govern our natural resources. More and more often, defining what aspects of the environment need protecting or managing, and defining how those interventions can or can not occur, rely largely on the knowledge, expertise and the willingness/possibilities for collaboration and coordinated actions of various individuals and groups, ranging from the ones who are interacting with the environment in a day-to-day manner to those higher up in political and administrative hierarchies. That is, broadly speaking, the stakeholders.

Into this discussion enters the issue of social relations among relevant stakeholders, and the role of those relations in influencing the way natural resources are governed. Just as understanding of the environment has moved towards a systems’ perspective of interacting parts and emergent wholes, so has the notion of understanding human and social behaviour moved from an atomist model, where individuals are studied in a case-by-variable format, to one of seeing individuals in the context of their relationships with others. People and organizations do not live in social vacuums, and their views and behaviours are influenced and shaped by those with whom they interact. Gaining insight into those relationships, and how the patterning and structure of those relationships influence attitudes, perspectives, and behaviours towards resource management is what this workshop is about.

The central tool of the workshop for gaining these insights is social network analysis (SNA), which can be seen as a set of theoretical statemens paired with a mathematical toolbox (in the form of available software programs) that can be used to analyze social network data generated from field studies and surveys. The output of such analysis can both aid in choosing the ‘right’ stakeholders for collaborative management, or to deepen understanding on social dynamics related to ecological systems.

Example of literature

Bodin Ö., Crona B., and Ernstson H. (2006). Social networks in natural resource management: What is there to learn from a structural perspective? Ecology and Society 11(2):r2.

Borgatti S. P., and Foster P. C. (2003). The Network Paradigm in Organizational Reserach: A Review and Typology. Journal of Management 29(6):991-1013.

Crona B., and Bodin Ö. (2006). WHAT you know is WHO you know? Communication patterns among resource users as a prerequisite for co-management. Ecology and Society 11(2):7.

Ernstson H., Sörlin S., and Elmqvist T. (2008). Social movements and ecosystem services - the role of social network structure in protecting and managing urban green areas in Stockholm. Ecology and Society 13(2):39.

Granovetter M. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology 76(6):1360-1380.

Prell C., Hubacek K., and Reed M. (forthcoming). Stakeholder analysis and social network analysis in natural resource management. Society and Natural Resources

Scott J. (2000). Social Network Analysis. A handbook, 2 edition. Sage Publications, London. (*only introduction chapter*)

Information

Hosts: African Centre for Cities (ACC; http://www.africancentreforcities.net/) and EGS (http://www.egs.uct.ac.za/) at University of Cape Town.

Organizer: Dr Henrik Ernstson at Stockholm Resilience Centre (http://www.stockholmresilience.org/), Stockholm University.

Funding: The ESCAPE Project (Management of Ecosystem Services in the Cape Town City Region), a research and collaborative project between EGS and SRC, along with funding from the Urban Theme at SRC.

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