Astrid Segert, Irene Zierke

• The situation of the German agricultural economy is currently somewhat problematic and requires transitions to sustainable development. The authors consider the network of different stakeholders in rural areas an important social resource for the transition to sustainable agriculture as the change in European and national agricultural policies requires active target groups at regional level. On the empirical basis of two case examples in East German rural areas, they studied the establishment of rural networks and their social development conditions. The study demonstrates how such regional networks must be organised and what socio-cultural contexts are shaping them. The institutionalisation of guiding principles for collaborative cooperation and the incorporation of regional networks in a framework of social environments are of significance for their formation and their ability to flexibly adapt to changing environmental conditions