Are you interested in diving into the much needed paradigm shift in Dutch water governance? Are you keen on delving into existing co-governance arrangements related to private and collective water storage aimed at dealing with the problems of increased agricultural drought in the Netherlands? Do you enjoy interdisciplinary research and working with public and private stakeholders? Do you want your PhD to have impact beyond the scientific community?

If so, then we invite you to apply at the Water Resources Management Group of Wageningen University and Research.

The PhD project is embedded in the NWO financed interdisciplinary “Upscaling private and collective water storage in the Netherlands (UPWAS)” project which aims to co-develop interdisciplinary insights and tools that support farmers, Waterboards, Provincial Governments and other public and private stakeholders in the process of upscaling private and collective water storage for more robust agricultural systems. In this project we will do this based on three on-the-ground case studies in which farmers, State agencies and other stakeholders collaborate and work together towards increasing local and regional water storage as a means to prepare for the future

This PhD candidate will collaborate closely with other researchers (3 PhD’s and a postdoc already working on the project) and the project partners (farmers organizations, Waterboards, Provincial Governments, consultancy firms). An important element of the project is the co-creation and sharing of interdisciplinary (different academic disciplines) and transdisciplinary (academic and practice based) knowledge.

Your duties

• Collect and analyze qualitative and/or quantitative data on co-governance arrangements in the project case study sites in the Netherlands. Such data will relate to the actors and factors that shape existing or emergent co-governance arrangements such as: normative, legal, policy and institutional frameworks at different scales, co-learning processes, farmer’s decision making, collective action, multi-stakeholder collaboration and the creation of shared ownership;
• Co-develop processes of co-learning, the creation of shared ownership and knowledge sharing with the project partners and stakeholders in the field;
• Write a PhD thesis consisting of 4 scientific papers;
• Work with other PhD, postdocs, and colleagues of the project consortium (existing of academic, private and public parties) and contribute to project reporting and the integration of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary insights from hydrological, agricultural, legal, governance and other disciplines;
• Attend regional and national meetings;
• Contribute to the teaching activities of the Water Resources Management Group at Wageningen University.

The ideal candidate must have the following qualities:

• MSc degree in environmental governance, public administration and policy, human geography, land and water management or related fields (must be obtained before starting this PhD project);
• Experience with research/practice in environmental/water governance and a demonstrable interest and affinity with questions related to co-governance arrangements;
• Demonstrable interest in qualitative data collection (experience with participatory methodologies is an advantage);
• Strong interest in interdisciplinary research, combining social science concepts related to environmental governance to insights from climate and environmental sciences;
• Good oral and written skills in English and Dutch (or basic knowledge of Dutch with willingness to learn in the first year, as research and communication with stakeholders will be in Dutch);
• Strong collaboration and communication skills to work in a larger multi-disciplinary team, including academics from other disciplines, policymakers, private sector and civil society stakeholders;
• Good analytical, writing and presentation skills, as evidenced by e.g. MSc thesis, reports, published peer-reviewed papers, etc.

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.

The gross salary for the first year is € 2.770,- per month rising to € 3.539,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. The appointment will initially be for 1 year. After a satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, the contract will be extended for a duration of 3 years.

There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “ Best University ” in the Netherlands for the 18th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.
Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling. For instance under the "30% rule", certain categories of international staff can receive tax exemption on approximately 30% of their gross salary.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 students and over 150.000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!

Water Resources Management Group
In the Netherlands, climate change is leading to drier and warmer springs and summers with accentuated dry spells as well as more intense rainfall events. To make agricultural systems more robust to these fluctuations, farmers and water managers at different scales have to transition from a paradigm based on quickly discharging water through drainage, to a more flexible system that can better deal with droughts through increased water storage strategies at field, farm and landscape level. Storing more water locally is seen as a promising strategy to cope with dry spells and intense rainfall events.

Farmers, waterboards and provincial governments are working on upscaling these measures and in doing so are developing emergent and often very local ad-hoc co-governance strategies. However many of these strategies are local pilot projects that have not been up-scaled despite the fact that they hold great potential. This PhD project aims to study these pilot projects as a means to better understand how they come about, what potential they hold, but also what are the most important social, legal and institutional challenges that such initiatives encounter.

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.