Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Education: The Potential of Social Network Analysis Based on Twitter Data

Abstract

Education is considered an essential tool for achieving sustainability-related goals. In this regard, education for sustainable development (ESD) and climate change education (CCE) have become prominent concepts. The central characteristics of both concepts influence the non-hierarchical network governance structure that has formed around them: (1) their international origin, (2) the conceptual ambiguity that surrounds them, and (3) the limited implementing power of international organizations who developed these concepts. Hence, networks are essential to ESD and CCE, however, only few studies have used social network analysis (SNA) techniques to analyze their governance structure. The aim of this article is to illustrate how to use SNA, based on Twitter data, as an approach to examine the governance structure that has developed around ESD and CCE. We conduct an illustrative SNA, using Twitter data during three global climate change summits (2015-2017) to examine CCE-specific debates and identify actors exerting the most influence. We find that international organizations and international treaty secretariats are most influential across all years of the analysis and, moreover, are represented most often. These findings show that using SNA based on Twitter data offers promising possibilities to better understand the governance structure and processes around both concepts.

Expectations and Interests of University Students in COVID-19 Times about Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru

“…Goritz et al [90] and Kilian et al [91] describe the great potential of using social networks, such as Twitter, to educate on the SDGs. Despite this, students' average scores from the four countries considered here are low, which shows that social networks are not being used compellingly for this educational dissemination.…”

Effective Teaching and Activities of Excellent Teachers for the Sustainable Development of Higher Design Education

“…In the field of education, we must work towards inclusive and equitable quality in education, provide lifelong learning opportunities for many, and establish effective learning environments [13]. UNESCO is committed to spreading education, which is a basic human right, as well as an important tool for us to attain sustainable development [14,15]. ESD can lead schools toward greater excellence and change peoples' minds so that they would endeavor to create a wonderful society [16].…”

Formación Profesional Dual: evolución de red de actores en Twitter

“…24.2, 2021, pp. 209-230 torno a ciertos eventos, como foros o congresos, a diferencia de otros estudios que desarrollan análisis de redes empleando datos de Twitter en el campo de la educación (Goritz et al, 2019;Schuster et al, 2019). La segmentación temporal de los resultados ha permitido retratar la evolución de dicha red, lo cual posibilita visualizar cambios y actores predominantes en cada momento (Figuras C1, C2 y C3), algo que no podría apreciarse únicamente con una red general (Figura C7).…”

“…En educación también encontramos ejemplos del uso de Twitter para determinar la evolución de una red en torno a un tema (Pereyra et al, 2018). También se ha explorado el debate educativo relacionado con la sostenibilidad identificándose a los actores con mayor influencia (Goritz et al, 2019). El análisis de redes también ha sido empleado para detectar el rol de diferentes grupos de actores en el debate sobre educación inclusiva, analizando cómo interactúan (Schuster et al, 2019).…”