2-year postdoctoral position in Green Space Governance - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, CEC (http://www.cec.lu.se) conducts research, education and communication on environmental science and climate research at Lund University.

There is an increased demand for formalised scientific input as a basis for environmental decisions. However, given the fragmentation of environmental evidence and the lack of formal structures to include scientific evidence in spatial governance, decisions are often made without systematically accounting for available evidence. Simultaneously it is argued that citizens’ needs and preferences as well as practitioners’ knowledge are to be included in decisions regarding spatial planning. This urge for a green space governance which is able to incorporate both scientific evidence, citizens’ perceptions and practitioners’ knowledge.

Tasks
This post-doc focuses on processes and methods for how natural scientific evidence, stakeholders’ perceptions and practitioners’ knowledge can be integrated into a future sustainable spatial planning. The focus will mainly be urban even though the relation between urban and rural space also is of interest. The research will combine literature studies, qualitative interviews and surveys with case-study methodology.

The post-doc is expected to contribute to the research group on green space governance at the centre for environment and climate research by being involved in several of ongoing research projects, including i) use of ecological and environmental science in green space management ii) review of tools, procedures, checklists and models used by Swedish municipalities and regional authorities when planning blue and green space iii) the development and research on scenarios for a more sustainable urban space iv) stakeholders perception on the role of green and blue space for more sustainable and healthy life styles v) development of models for improved research-stakeholder interactions in greenspace governance. A more precise post-doc plan will be developed jointly the research group and the successful candidate. The research will have to touch upon one or several of above mentioned topics but can be of more theoretical or empirical character depending on the candidate’s knowledge and interests.

Qualifications

• PhD in environmental science, spatial planning, political science or similar, e.g. social science focussing on the green spatial planning and governance
• excellent knowledge of both written and spoken Swedish and English
• satisfactory experience of qualitative literature studies, qualitative interviews and case study methodology
• good collaboration skills, ability to work independently and capacity finish activities in time.

Merits

• knowledge of spatial planning, environmental governance including participatory governance, acquaintance with ecological science as well as knowledge of social studies of science or related theoretical approaches
• documented experience in working with developing e-solutions to sustainable challenges based on own research or other experiences outside academia

Application
The application shall be written in English and must contain the following parts:

1. A CV, including date of public PhD thesis defense or equivalent, title of thesis, previous appointments, current position and academic distinctions (max. two pages).
2. A full list of publications.
3. A brief outline of current research (max. one page).
4. Names and contact information of at least 3 professional references.
5. A cover letter where you also outline why you find this cross-disciplinary research area interesting, and how you believe you can contribute to the progress in this area of research.

The salary is set according to the regulations at Lund University and is related to the time since PhD exam and the skills and performance in the given research area.