We offer a challenging PhD position in a transdisciplinary research project on sustainable land use strategies. As a PhD candidate, you study how values regarding land use change have changed over time, and the visions of local residents towards sustainable land use. You then conduct experiments and surveys among consumers. With these data, you help identify measures and designing interventions that can stimulate a change towards more sustainable behaviour.
You are involved in a new Horizon Europe project called PLUS Change (Planning Land Use Strategies: Meeting biodiversity, climate and social objectives in a Changing world). PLUS Change pulls together expertise from across the social sciences, humanities, arts, environmental economics, and land system science. It identifies, analyses, and enhances sustainable land use strategies that address complexities. PLUS Change also pinpoints the tangible policy, governance and behaviour interventions to achieve them. The project brings together scientists and land use decision makers in 11 countries. VU's Institute for Environmental Studies contributes to this project through land use change modelling, analysis of behavioural change, and exploring the linkages between land use and behaviour. In this project, you collaborate with another PhD researcher, whose focus is on mapping Land Use Change in Europe.
Your duties
- you do research towards writing a PhD thesis
- you contribute to project tasks, such as organizing workshops and data collection