项目介绍

2026年9月20日

Description of the doctoral project:

Governance and organisational alignment related to the operation and maintenance (O&M) of urban drainage infrastructures

Are you ready to take the next step in your academic journey? As a doctoral student with us, you will work closely with leading researchers in a strong, international research environment. You will be offered secure employment, high-quality supervision, and room to grow, both as a researcher and as a person.

The Landscape Governance and Management research group at the Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) seeks a driven and committed PhD student with a focus on how governance structures, decision flows, departmental roles and administrative silos affect operation and maintenance performance of urban drainage infrastructures, including multifunctional blue-green infrastructures.

Take the opportunity to join one of the leading urban landscape governance and management research groups in Europe with an international, creative and dynamic environment and close cooperation with the industry and universities worldwide.

Thematically, this doctoral study focuses on stormwater governance and management. Stormwater transports a wide range of pollutants from urban environments to receiving waters, posing major challenges for the protection of surface waters and coastal ecosystems. Urban drainage infrastructures, such as gully pots and stormwater ponds, play a critical role by retaining sediments and associated contaminants. However, their performance depends on effective operation and maintenance which in practice is often reactive or based on fixed schedules, despite large spatial and temporal variability in sediment accumulation and vegetation development. This PhD project is part of a larger interdisciplinary research initiative aiming to enable a transition towards more data-driven and environmentally responsible maintenance of urban drainage infrastructures. The overall goal is to reduce pollutant loads to coastal and marine environments while supporting sustainable urban water management.

The PhD research will focus on identifying strategies for coherent long-term organisational set-ups and assess how stakeholder discourses, rules and resources shape the feasibility of different operation and maintenance schemes defined within the overall project. This includes assessment of governance feasibility of the various operation and maintenance schemes, and identification of alignment strategies, drawing on legal and policy frameworks and economic frameworks identified by partners in the overall project. The programmatic alignment theory, long-term strategic management, and elements of Nature-based Thinking (the organisational, ecological and social interdependencies) will be applied as basis for the analysis. Based on this, organisational aspects of long-term urban drainage infrastructure maintenance will be described, as well as governance challenges and barriers for achieving healthy coastal environments will be identified.

Within this project, the PhD student will be involved in collaboration with stakeholders in both the water and wastewater industry and the green sector. The PhD student will communicate results both with the industry and international researchers.

About the position:

As a PhD student, you will perform both empirical and theoretical work. You will learn how to collect and analyse data within your research area as well as communicate your results at national and international conferences and in scientific journals. Most of your working time will be devoted to your own research studies, including both research and coursework. In addition, you will also carry out departmental duties, such as teaching and/or assisting in other research projects. You will have two or three supervisors who support you in your work.

Requirements:

To meet the general entry requirements, you must have:

• been awarded a second cycle (Master’s) qualification;
• satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle, or
• acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad (Higher Education Ordinance 1993:100, Chapter 7, Section 39).

The special entry requirements for the subject landscape architecture are the equivalent of at least 90 higher education credits in courses relevant to landscape architecture. At least 30 credits must be at second-cycle level. For applicants who do not fulfil these criteria, eligibility is verified on a case-by-case basis taking into account the research task.

You must also meet the equivalent English language requirements as those necessary for the Swedish upper-secondary qualification Engelska B/6.

Your profile:

Required qualifications:

• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in natural resources engineering, civil engineering, landscape architecture/management, organisational/governance theory or a related field
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and spoken
• Ability to work independently and take initiative
• Ability to engage with new research areas

Desirable qualifications:

• Good communication skills in Swedish or another Scandinavian language, both written and spoken
• A valid car driver’s licence recognized in Sweden