by Nina Kolleck, Gerhard de Haan & Robert Fischbach
ABSTRACT
This article suggests the role of social networks for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as an element of path creation. While past choices and past behavior influence the present, ESD helps to create new opportunities by promoting processes of learning related to sustainable development. To better understand how path creation takes place, the article emphasizes that a further elaboration of Social Network Analysis (SNA) is essential for Futures Studies and suggests an alternative methodological approach which bridges the gap between intervention and scientific analysis. On this note, a case study research design is introduced which addresses networks in five communities that have been distinguished by the United Nations Decade of ESD (2005-2014) in Germany.