Relational Processes and Networks in Environmental Politics

The inherently relational nature of environmental politics has stimulated the growth of network-oriented research. This concluding commentary emphasizes relationality in environmental political processes as central to understanding multilevel, multi-actor socio-ecological polities. We consider the dual role of networks—both as connecting structures and as prisms of cognitive and symbolic interactions that co-constitute identities and value systems—which shape and govern environmental outcomes. Building on the contributions of this issue, we outline a research agenda that advances network-based inquiry by unpacking the interdependent and dynamic processes linking environmental political networks across diverse entities, subdomains, scales, and contexts, while leveraging recent methodological advancements in network research.