Influence, trust, information, risk — they all travel through relationships. Network science shows you the routes.

Most complex interventions fail not because of bad strategy, but because of poor social geometry. The actors were there. The resources were there. But the relationships between them — who actually talked to whom, where trust had eroded, which connections were carrying too much weight, which bridges were about to break — were invisible to the people designing the intervention. Social systems are not stakeholder lists. A list tells you who exists. Network science tells you how they're connected — and why that structure shapes everything that happens next: how information spreads or gets trapped, where influence actually sits versus where it appears to sit, which relationships are holding a fragile equilibrium together, and what happens when they don't. This is the first masterclass in the Instruments for Complexity series.
Each session introduces a different analytical tool for practitioners working in complex environments. This one is about learning to read the social systems you work inside.

What we'll cover

We'll move between concept and practice throughout the session. By the end you'll have worked with real network data — not just heard about it.

We'll cover the core ideas of Social Network Analysis: what network structure reveals that other methods cannot, how to read centrality, density, structural holes, and bridge nodes, and what each of those means in the contexts practitioners actually work in — peacebuilding processes, governance networks, development programmes, multi-stakeholder coalitions.

The emphasis throughout is the practitioner question: so what do I do with this? Network science without interpretation is just a diagram. We'll focus on the analytical eye — knowing what to look for, and what it means when you find it.

We'll use Kumu as our mapping tool. It's accessible, visual, and requires no technical background. If you've never used it, you'll be able to work with it within the first fifteen minutes.

You'll leave with

A working vocabulary for network analysis. Direct experience building and reading a network map. And at least one insight about a social system you work with that you didn't have when you arrived.

Who this is for

Practitioners, consultants, facilitators, and researchers working in complex multi-stakeholder environments — peacebuilding, governance, development, organisational change — who want to move beyond stakeholder mapping into genuine relational analysis.

No technical background required. This is not a data science course. It's an analytical practice for people who work with social systems and need to see them more clearly.

Format: 2 hours — live online Cohort size:
Maximum 18 participants
Investment: €180
Tool used: Kumu (free account sufficient)

About the series

Instruments for Complexity is a masterclass series offered by the School of Systems & Complexity (SSC). Each session introduces a different analytical instrument for practitioners working in complex environments — not as software training, but as a way of seeing. Sessions can be attended individually or as a series.