Understanding communicational behavior among rangelands’ stakeholders: application of social network analysis |
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| Authors: | Gholamhossein Hosseininia Parisa Rafiaani Khachak Mehdi Nooripoor Steven Van Passel |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Entrepreneurship in Technology, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran;2. Department of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran;3. Department of Rural Development Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran;4. Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | Understanding communicational behavior of rangelands’ stakeholders is fundamental for effective development of rangeland management plans. This study aimed to understand differences between stakeholders’ relations among various actors involved in rangeland management using social network analysis (SNA). A survey was conducted on 334 stakeholders (89 extension agents, 110 researchers and 135 executive agents) in the Tehran province, Iran. Results showed that all the three groups of stakeholders are interested in making contact mainly within their own group. Furthermore, while the executive agents have shared the strongest technical and friendship relations with the two other groups, the extension agents established the strongest administrative interactions. The researchers, however, made a poor link especially with the extension agents. The study concluded that SNA could be an efficient tool to assess communicational behavior in rangeland management. |
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| Keywords: | social networks network analysis communicational behavior multi-stakeholder analysis sustainable rangeland management |
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