In this position, you will join the
NATURESCAPES project, funded by Horizon Europe and led by
Professor Harriet Bulkeley at Utrecht University, and work with colleagues at the Utrecht School of Economics (U.S.E.) and in the Copernicus Institute, alongside our partners in universities, NGOs and consultancies (e.g., TNC, WWF), as well as with local stakeholders and communities in case study cities worldwide.
Wat ga je doen? NATURESCAPES aims to address the pressing challenge of realising the transformative potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) for climate change, biodiversity loss and social justice. Despite progress in the field, our knowledge of the synergies and trade-offs from implementing NBS at scale across diverse and interconnected landscapes is limited. Also, challenges persist in designing effective and just governance arrangements, (co-)finance, and forms of citizen engagement because the value that NBS brings to diverse social actors is increasingly contested - bringing benefits to some and new forms of inequity and exclusion to others.
Advancing the transformative potential of NBS requires that we address these underlying challenges, ensuring that governance and finance arrangements are (1) effective and (2) just. NATURESCAPES will advance our understanding of how NBS across interconnected urban, rural and coastal landscapes generate benefits for diverse communities, particularly in areas of socio-economic disadvantage, inequity and risk. We will analyse the synergies/trade-offs emerging for climate, biodiversity and communities in 30 ‘naturescapes’ across Europe, LAC and the USA, including 12 in-depth case-studies focusing on the dynamics of implementation, and creating new insights and tools. In 7 of these cases we will co-design interventions with local collaborators that test transformative theories and practices of change and identify how these can be replicated.
As postdoctoral researcher, you will lead two main pieces of work within the NATURESCAPES project. Firstly, you will, using a business model perspective, build up a sound understanding regarding how actors that are currently missing and/or marginalized in NBS – ranging from insurance firms to vulnerable citizen groups – can capture and create value from NBS. This work will require several deliverables ranging from a database of actors, the development of strategic ‘value bundles’ for NBS and developing a game to engage specific actors. Secondly, you will lead the analytical work and deliverables on how co-finance and co-governance arrangements can support the transformative potential of NBS, through a cross-case analysis of the case studies that are carried out in the NATURESCAPES project. This will lead to an increased understanding of how to finance, govern and implement NBS in diverse socio-political contexts worldwide so that they lead to just and effective outcomes. For both strands of work, academic papers will be developed during the project alongside other project deliverables.
Working as a postdoctoral researcher in the interdisciplinary Utrecht University team across Economics and Copernicus, you will help to build our understanding of transformative change, focusing on questions of power, agency and systematic/structural change in relation to business models, governance and financing of nature-based solutions across landscapes. Working with other colleagues across our partner institutions, you will help to identify the key dynamics that support transformative change and develop guidance for future practice. You will also support our collaborative and transdisciplinary research process and activities aimed at engaging and communicating with policy-makers and decision-makers at local, regional, national and international levels.
This position also includes the option option to engage in education related to the research topic (e.g., teaching a sustainability-related course and/or thesis supervision) offered in the Utrecht School of Economics education programme during the course of the appointment.