PhD student: Transforming Governance for Nature-Based Water Solutions

As climate change worsens droughts and water risks, sustainable, adaptive water management is more urgent than ever. Nature-based solutions (NBS), which use natural processes like forests, wetlands, and soils, offer alternatives to traditional grey infrastructure. NBS can help manage water whilst providing co-benefits such as biodiversity enhancement, carbon storage, and improved human well-being. However, despite their potential, implementing NBS remains challenging. Governance issues like fragmented responsibilities, legal uncertainties, and perceptions of risk and professional practice are persistent challenges. Additionally, each local context brings its own social, ecological, and institutional complexities, making it difficult to scale up successful examples. In this context, we seek to understand how NBS can be adopted, adapted, and sustained over time. Answers might lie in examining who is involved in decision-making, how competing interests are negotiated, and what institutional arrangements support or hinder NBS implementation.

This PhD project explores institutional, social, and political factors shaping NBS uptake across Europe. It will contribute to a deeper understanding of how these approaches can be more effectively integrated into climate-resilient water management and how they might transform how we manage and relate to water. By investigating barriers, mapping stakeholder dynamics, and identifying leverage points, the project will help inform more inclusive and effective governance strategies for nature-based adaptation.

We seek a highly motivated PhD candidate to join the EU HORIZON project WATERGRID, an international collaboration demonstrating nature-based solutions for climate-resilient water management, focusing on drought. The project brings together 22 partners from diverse disciplines and sites across Europe, including the UK, Portugal, and Spain. WATERGRID will develop, test, and implement various nature-based solutions while exploring the economic, institutional, and governance conditions that enable their uptake across different environmental and political contexts.

The PhD candidate will work with researchers examining processes that hinder implementation in the project’s case studies and explore leverage points to overcome these. Deliverables include a detailed analysis of actor capacities, networks, and dynamics. The candidate will visit selected project sites where required to conduct field-based collaboration. The work will contribute to academic knowledge and practical governance strategies to strengthen NBS adoption in water-stressed regions of Europe.

In this position, you will focus on the following flexible areas, adaptable to your interests:

1. Investigating institutional, infrastructural, and behavioural barriers to NBS.
2. Mapping stakeholder networks and capacities to understand the dynamics of adoption.
3. Conducting systems analysis to uncover pathways for breaking policy lock-ins.
4. Developing governance strategies to support the uptake of NBS in different environmental and political contexts.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• Performing duties under the EU project, including production of deliverables and organisation of activities (workshops, events).
• Publishing a PhD thesis based on the project work.
• Teaching (10% of time) through contributions to the group’s courses in WUR’s teaching programs.

You have:

• A completed Master’s degree in Public Administration, Political Science, Environmental Policy and Governance, Spatial Planning, Human Geography, or a related discipline.
• Foundational skills in social science research, both conceptual and empirical.
• A proven ability to interact effectively with academic and societal stakeholders.
• Knowledge of qualitative research methods such as interviewing, organising workshops, participant observation and comparative case studies.
• Knowledge or willingness to learn skills related to systems analysis.

You also possess:

• Prior knowledge within the field of sustainable land and water management.
• Strong communicative and writing skills.
• Collaborative and organisational skills.

For this position, your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level.

Prior to the interview you will asked to submit a short writing assignment related to the post.

You will work here
You will become a member of the Public Administration and Policy Group at Wageningen, which is led by Prof. Dave Huitema. The PAP group is an enthusiastic, ambitious and rapidly growing group within the Department of Social Sciences. The PAP group's mission is to study the public governance of sustainability transformations in the interrelated domains of water, climate, food, biodiversity and agriculture under the slogan "Changing governance, Governing change".

In our work, we build on a diverse set of social science concepts and theories and apply a diverse range of methods that we use whenever suitable for the research questions at hand, without being completely wedded to one such perspective or method. We take an active interest in the role of the state in sustainability governance and actively seek to think through innovative governance arrangements. The group is impact-oriented and aims to contribute to scientific progress, to societal debates, and to policy practices. More information on the group can be found here..

The PAP group actively collaborates with neighbouring groups in the Wageningen Centre for Sustainability Governance, which employs more than 100 researchers and is at the forefront of global discussions on sustainability transformations. The WCSG was recently assessed and was found to do "excellent, impact-driven and ample research", and to be "in an eminent position to meet the demand for innovation in governance related to sustainability issues".

You will be co- supervised by Prof. Dave Huitema, Dr Kirsty Holstead, and Dr Nicolas Jager.

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

• Partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• 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 year-end 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 € 2.901,- per month rising to € 3.707,- 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. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.
You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. For 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the "best university" in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

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.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands 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. We can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

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, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 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 the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

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

For more information about this position, please contact Kirsty Holstead, Postdoctoral Researcher by email (kirsty.holstead@wur.nl) or Nicolas Jager, Assistant Professor by email (nicolas.jager@wur.nl)

Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Jouke van Oostenbrugge, Corporate Recruiter, via recruitment.ssg@wur.nl.

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including 30th June 2025. We hope to schedule the first job interviews on 15th of July, 2025

Welcome, safe, and valued
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) highly values diversity and inclusion because we believe that different insights lead to innovative solutions. We create a work environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, and appreciated, regardless of background, identity, or experience. Together, we are building a culture where everyone's unique contribution adds to the success of our organization.