The analysis of Networks of Action Situations (NAS) is becoming an increasingly popular and powerful tool for social-ecological systems research. Social-ecological systems are frequently shaped by decisions, behaviours and practices resulting from multiple interdependent action situations (e.g., Pahl-Wostl et al. 2010; McGinnis 2011; Lubell 2013; Kimmich 2013; Villamayor-Tomas et al. 2015). Action situations are events, venues, arenas or spaces in which actions affect collective outcomes (Ostrom 2005). The action situations relevant to sustainability science are highly diverse. They include market transactions, resource extraction, public good provision, deliberative fora, implementation of legislation and many more. Typically, social (e.g., social networks and institutions), economic (e.g., shared resources and transactions) and biophysical (e.g., material and energy flows) ties link action situations and the actors involved in multiple situations.
The NAS approach – building on existing strengths of the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework – enables to analyze multiple sectors and policy outcomes by identifying linkages between multiple action situations. These interactions produce outcomes, which then affect future interactions within the same or related action situations. Action situations are linked if the outcome of one action situation directly influences decision-making in one or more additional action situations. The configuration of individual action situations and the outcome-based linkages between them constitute a ‘network’ of action situations. Thus, the NAS approach allows for the diagnosis of decision-making in individual action situations and of dynamics between them. This complements the structural characteristics of governance systems in trade-off situations, where competing interests interact within and across different action situations. The NAS approach is ideally suited for ‘deep diagnosis’ of collective decision-making in multi-level, multi-actor, multi-interest governance systems facing trade-offs.
I am involved in different activities regarding the Network of Action Situations approach:
- Co-editor of a Special Issue Special Feature (2023) together with Dr. Christian Kimmich, AT, Dr. Melf-Hinrich Ehler, CH, Prof. Christoph Oberlack, CH, Prof. Andreas Thiel, DE, Dr. Sergio Villamayor-Tomas, ES, in Sustainability Science: Networks of action situations in social-ecological systems research
- Co-author of a review article on the Networks of Action Situations approach (2023) together with Dr. Christian Kimmich, AT, Dr. Sergio Villamayor-Tomas, ES, Prof. Christoph Oberlack, CH, Prof. Elizabeth Baldwin, US: Networks of action situations: a systematic review of empirical research. Review. In: Sustainability Science. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01121-2.
- 04/2022 – 06/2022: Co-organizer and moderator Polycentricity Webinar Series on “Network of Action Situations Approaches”
Own publications using the Networks of Action Situations approach
Kellner, Elke (2023): Identifying leverage points for shifting Water-Energy-Food nexus cases towards sustainability through the Networks of Action Situations approach combined with systems thinking. In: Sustainability Science. 1170. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01170-7.
Kimmich, Christian; Ehlers, Melf-Hinrich; Kellner, Elke; Oberlack, Christoph; Thiel, Andreas; Villamayor-Tomas, Sergio (2023): Networks of action situations in social–ecological systems: current approaches and promising futures. In Sustainability Science. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01278-w.
Kimmich, Christian; Villamayor-Tomas, Sergio; Kellner, Elke; Baldwin, B. Elizabeth; Oberlack, Christoph (2023): Networks of action situations: a systematic review of empirical research. Review. In: Sustainability Science. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01121-2.
Kellner, Elke; Brunner, Manuela I. (2021): Reservoir governance in world’s water towers needs to anticipate multi-purpose use. In Earth’s Future 9, e2020EF001643. DOI: 10.1029/2020EF001643.
Kimmich, Christian; Ehlers, Melf-Hinrich; Kellner, Elke; Oberlack, Christoph; Thiel, Andreas; Villamayor-Tomas, Sergio (2020): Networks of action situations in social-ecological systems research. In: Sustainability Science. 90, p. 150. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-020-00814-w.
Colorado, US (Photo: E. Kellner)