In a world of increasing climate change induced crises (such as droughts, floods, hurricanes) across the globe, there is a growing disconnect between big institutions' international water and climate projects and the true needs of people. National governments, in conjunction with International Financial Institutions (IFI's), spend billions on, often, sectoral and monofunctional projects aimed at protecting cities, highly populated river basins and coastal zones against flooding, droughts and other impacts of climate change. These projects generally lack to address and include other societal challenges such as adequate housing and a good living environment for local people.
Over the past years, attention increased to inclusive planning and development processes in international water and climate projects, and new approaches are emerging. The Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia (WaL Asia) program is such new approach, which was initiated by the Dutch Government in 2018 and aimed to be ‘radically integral and inclusive by embracing a completely holistic approach' (see this link for more information on Water as Leverage). In response to the success of this first WaL programme in Asia, various new WaL initiatives are emerging, for instance in Carthagena region (Columbia), in the trilateral Wadden Sea collaboration (Netherlands, Germany, Denmark), and along the Ganges river in India. To support these new initiatives and to develop and enhance the knowledge base of WaL, the Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO) in collaboration with several WaL partners is setting up a so called WaL Academy.
A small research team within the planning department of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, conducting research on WaL over the last years, is involved in the development of the WaL Academy. To support research on ‘Water as Leverage' and the development of the WaL Academy, we are searching for a junior researcher for a period of 8 months. The junior researcher will support the research team with the following tasks:
You will be appointed for a period of 8 months (0.8-1.0 fte) at the Planning Department of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences (University of Groningen). You will work as part of the WaL research team, which consists of dr Margo van den Brink, dr ir Annet Kempenaar, Henk Ovink (the Dutch Water Envoy and honorary lecturer at the Planning Department), prof. Jos Arts, and PhD candidate Rya Chandramidi.
QualificationsWe are searching for an enthusiastic and ambitious candidate with a research interest that preferably has the following qualifications:
We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:
Starting date: 1 April 2023
ApplicationYou may apply for this position until 7 March 11.59pm / before 8 March 2023 Dutch local time by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).
We ask you to submit:
The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https: // www. rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and- strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/
Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https: // www. nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https: // euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code
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