Staff

Mario Angst

Mario Angst

PhD Student, Cluster: PEGO

Department Environmental Social Sciences

About Me


  • PhD candidate exploring natural resource governance, network and complexity science, sustainable development and its politics.
  • Avid bikepacker and microadventurer. Early-morning yogi. Forever amazed by nature.



I study the collaboration between different organizations in politics, society and the private sector (governance) mainly surrounding water issues. This includes issues such as drinking water, flood prevention or the protection of aquatic biodiversity.

When organisations collaborate around these issues, a complex network emerges. I study the structure of this network and the different roles organizations can play within it. Who brokers between opposing viewpoints? Who coordinates action? Who provides access to specialized knowledge? And - how can we explain who plays which role?

Going beyond this, I am interested in the larger interplay between ecological systems and social networks. I am excited about the possibilities of jointly modeling both ecological system dynamics and social networks in order to explore better ways of managing natural resources.

To study these topics, I apply state-of-the-art network analysis methods and develop innovative concepts. Among other things, I utilize inferential network analysis methods such as exponential random graph, autocorrelation or permutational models, and advance concepts for multi-level networks. I also aim to make alternative data collection methods, such as webscraping or automated content analysis applicable to our research.


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Projects

Social-ecological networks allow for the joint modeling of ecological interdependencies and governance structure.

Wetlands - Social-ecological networks in Swiss wetlands governance
Identification and Integration of Fragmented Games in Swiss Water Politics

Overlapping Subsystems

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Selected publications

Networks of Swiss water governance issues. Studying fit between media attention and organizational activity

This study analyzes Swiss water governance as a network of interrelated issues. It compares how organizations reflect relations between governance issues in their activity with the way issue relations are depicted by the media (issue attention-activity fit). To do so, a media data analysis, supported by machine learning, is combined with a nation-wide survey. Prominent areas of misfit relate to the coordination between water saving measures and drought risks; the exploitation of subterranean resources and drinking water protection; and issues of micropollutants. The study demonstrates that comparing organizational activity with media attention is particularly well suited to recognize newly emerging, currently neglected areas of governance.
Angst, M. (2019) Networks of Swiss water governance issues. Studying fit between media attention and organizational activity, Society and Natural Resources, doi:10.1080/08941920.2018.1535102, Institutional Repository

Bottom-up identification of subsystems in complex governance systems

Theories of policymaking often focus on subsystems within a larger, overarching governance system. However, subsystem identification is complicated by the complexity of governance systems, characterized by multiple, interrelated issues, multi‐level interactions, and a diverse set of organizations. This study suggests an empirical, bottom‐up methodology to identify subsystems. Subsystems are identified based on bundles of similar observed organizational activity. The study further suggests a set of three elementary criteria to classify individual subsystems. In order to prove the value of the methodology, subsystems are identified through cluster analysis, and subsequently classified in a study of Swiss water governance. Results suggest that Swiss water governance can be understood as a network of overlapping subsystems connected by boundary penetrating organizations, with high‐conflict and quiet politics subgroups. The study shows that a principled analysis of subsystems as the interconnected, constituent parts of complex governance systems offers insights into important contextual factors shaping outcomes. Such insights are prerequisite knowledge in order to understand and navigate complex systems for researchers and practitioners alike.
Angst, M. (2018) Bottom-up identification of subsystems in complex governance systems, Policy Studies Journal, doi:10.1111/psj.12301, Institutional Repository

Connectors and coordinators in natural resource governance: insights from Swiss water supply

Fragmentation across scales in natural resource governance can impede coordinated action and decrease innovation capacity. Bridging actors who connect others within governance networks helps to overcome this challenge. We analyze two bridging positions for actors in governance networks. First, periphery connectors integrate otherwise unconnected actors and provide access to new knowledge. Second, central coordinators efficiently connect actors at the center of the network and thus facilitate coordinated action. We propose a way to identify periphery connectors and central coordinators within governance networks and formulate expectations about types of actors that are likely to occupy these positions. An analysis of three actor networks in the water supply sector in Switzerland suggests that periphery coordinator positions are more likely to be occupied by organizations at higher jurisdictional levels. Central coordinator positions are more likely to be occupied by governmental actors as compared to nongovernmental actors. Thus, in addressing challenges of fragmentation, higher level governmental actors continue to play an important role, even when they delegate responsibilities to lower level and private actors.
Angst, M.; Widmer, A.; Fischer, M.; Ingold, K. (2018) Connectors and coordinators in natural resource governance: insights from Swiss water supply, Ecology and Society, 23(2), 1 (15 pp.), doi:10.5751/ES-10030-230201, Institutional Repository

Network dynamics in natural resource governance: a case study of Swiss landscape management

Structural characteristics of social networks have been recognized as important factors of effective natural resource governance. However, network analyses of natural resource governance most often remain static, even though governance is an inherently dynamic process. In this article, we investigate the evolution of a social network of organizational actors involved in the governance of natural resources in a regional nature park project in Switzerland. We ask how the maturation of a governance network affects bonding social capital and centralization in the network. Applying separable temporal exponential random graph modeling (STERGM), we test two hypotheses based on the risk hypothesis by Berardo and Scholz (2010) in a longitudinal setting. Results show that network dynamics clearly follow the expected trend toward generating bonding social capital but do not imply a shift toward less hierarchical and more decentralized structures over time. We investigate how these structural processes may contribute to network effectiveness over time.
Angst, M.; Hirschi, C. (2017) Network dynamics in natural resource governance: a case study of Swiss landscape management, Policy Studies Journal, 45(2), 315-336, doi:10.1111/psj.12145, Institutional Repository

Co-participation in the Swiss water forum network

In polycentric governance systems, actors interact in different venues, such as forums which foster cross-sectoral interaction. This analysis centres on water forums in Switzerland and on actors with multiple forum memberships, creating interactions throughout the entire forum network. Findings show that the central actors in the entire water forum network are predominantly from the public administration sector, even though members from the private sector are most numerous. Despite an emphasis on the bottom-up and self-organizing character of polycentric governance systems in the literature, this analysis shows that public administration actors still play a crucial role as network managers and brokers.
Fischer, M.; Angst, M.; Maag, S. (2018) Co-participation in the Swiss water forum network, International Journal of Water Resources Development, xx, doi:10.1080/07900627.2017.1374929, Institutional Repository

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Files

  • Curriculum vitae

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Address

E-Mail: mario.angst@eawag.ch
Phone: +41 58 765 5391
Fax: +41 58 765 5802
Address: Eawag
Überlandstrasse 133
8600 Dübendorf
Office: FC E20
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Research Group

PEGO - Policy Analysis and Environmental Governance

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Research Focus

  • Natural Resource Governance
  • Policy Networks
  • Sustainable Development

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