Communication Process Analysis in Virtual Communities on Sustainable Development

Abstract

Collaboration on sustainable development involves stakeholders and experts from multiple organizations, who often work together in temporary or permanent communities of practice. The potential for joint work has greatly increased with the advent of networking technologies like the Internet. However, successful online collaboration requires a systematic analysis of the often very complex, dynamic and interdependent communication processes, while taking into account many organizational constraints. We present the extended Social Context Model that can be used to analyze and improve communication process support. We then apply the model to a case: the worldwide Friends of the Earth network of environmental organizations.