项目介绍

2024年6月26日

Function

Are you passionate about researching social science dimensions of climate change and water scarcity? Do you want to explore how diverse communities and governance actors perceive and respond to the risks posed by hydroclimatic extremes? Then this PhD opportunity might be for you!

The Wageningen Centre for Sustainability Governance at Wageningen University is looking for a motivated PhD candidate to join our research team. Our focus is on understanding and managing the disruptions caused by extreme weather events, like severe droughts, which lead to water scarcity. This PhD project is part of a larger effort to learn how these extreme events affect different aspects of society, from government policies and services to everyday life.

As climate change intensifies, many parts of the world are facing severe water shortages, with some areas even approaching “Day Zero” scenarios where the water supply is nearly depleted. This issue varies widely depending on historical, political, and community contexts, affecting how different societies manage and respond to water scarcity. Despite the importance of this problem, we still have much to learn about how different communities and governing bodies perceive and tackle these challenges. This project aims to fill that gap by studying water scarcity across three cases with distinct development contexts and systems of governance (e.g. USA, South Africa, Kenya, Colombia, Mexico, Nepal, India). We aim to understand how different regions manage water risks and how provisioning systems and everyday practices are evolving in response.

Our study combines risk governance with social practice theories to explore how communities and institutions respond to water scarcity over time. By examining past, present, and future practices, we aim to uncover the meanings, arrangements, and actions that shape how societies deal with water shortages. This research will provide valuable insights into how different regions handle water scarcity, helping to identify challenges and potential solutions.

As a PhD candidate, you will conduct fieldwork across three sites that are facing the risk of water scarcity and running out of water supplies. Your research activities will include:

• Reviewing scientific literature and policy documents, including a large-scale inventory of cases;
• Advancing conceptual thinking by linking risk governance and social practice theory;
• Travelling for fieldwork to selected case studies;
• Conducting stakeholder mapping, interviews, and surveys on risk perceptions, practices, and responses;
• Examining how water risk governance practices are evolving across selected case studies and conducting comparative social scientific analysis of factors influencing this;
• Working at the science-policy interface, including convening workshops;
• Working in a dedicated team of social and environmental scientists;
• Producing 3-4 academic publications and a PhD thesis.

Function Requirements

You have:

• A strong social science background, including a high interest/aptitude for conducting interdisciplinary sociological and policy analysis of environmental issues and governance practices across the fields of sociology and political science;
• A high interest in social science research, and an ability to interact effectively with both academic and societal stakeholders;
• A willingness to conduct fieldwork in different settings abroad;
• Curiosity and motivation to address important real-world problems through rigorous academic inquiry.

You also possess:

• A Master’s degree in a field relevant to environmental social sciences, including sociology, public administration, human geography, anthropology, urban studies, or other relevant social science disciplines;
• Strong qualitative and quantitative research skills, preferably with experience in conducting and analysing interviews, observations and surveys;
• Fluency in English (a minimum of CEFR C2 level).

Contactinformation

For more information about this position, please contact Dr Johanna Koehler, Assistant Professor of Environmental Risk Governance via email: johanna.koehler@wur.nl and Dr Mary Greene, Assistant Professor, Environmental Policy via email: mary.greene@wur.nl

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, corporate recruiter recruitment.ssg@wur.nl.