PhD: New collaborative partnerships between citizen collectives and governments

Are you passionate about the emergence of citizen collectives and the question how local governments can collaborate with these collectives? Do you want to find out how citizen collectives and local governments can develop co-creative partnerships based on equal footing respecting reciprocity, trust and responsiveness? Then this PhD position may be of interest to you.

Project and job description
The team Governance and Pluralism (G&P) from the Erasmus School for Social and Behavioral Sciences (ESSB) is looking for a PhD researcher in the field of Governance, State and Society. The 4-year PhD project is part of the larger research consortium ECCO, Empowering Citizen Collectives. In total, 11 PhD researchers will be recruited of which this PhD project is one and will be embedded in the whole consortium project. Below the description of the PhD project “New Partnerships between citizen collectives and governments” will be given.

Challenges: Collaborative relationships between governments and citizen collectives (CCs) are often fraught with challenges, primarily due to mutual distrust and the difficulty governments face in adopting interactive and responsive approaches to these emerging initiatives. As a result, the potential to truly co-create public value is frequently unrealized. A key principle is that public value co-creation should occur on an equal footing, that it should be a balanced and reciprocal collaborative process. Establishing such effective co-creative partnerships requires the development of high-quality relationships between CCs and local government agencies. This involves mutual learning, where both parties gain insights into each other's approaches, capacities, and roles. In this context, the involvement of academia, particularly in their role as civic universities, can be highly relevant. Academia can contribute to co-creating knowledge and developing reflective approaches and tools for these partnerships. Co-creative partnerships are underpinned by core values such as reciprocity, responsiveness (the capacity to react constructively to inputs), inclusiveness (ensuring openness, accessibility, and opportunities for involvement), and a sense of joint ownership (where all parties feel a shared responsibility in both the challenge and the solution-seeking process). The challenge is to live up to those mutually recognized core values that will lead to positive experiences in new or ongoing partnerships with satisfying results and outputs.

Project and job description: The PhD-researcher will focus on understanding the core values and approaches that define the relationships between CCs, governmental agencies, and academic institutions, specifically in Rotterdam and Arnhem (but also other municipalities are possible). This study will examine the relational dynamics between the identified actor groups at different stages of the collectives’ life cycles, while respecting the distinct roles of all stakeholders involved. The researcher will employ a comparative case study approach with participatory action research components, drawing on Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). We start from empirical understanding in real life settings of the CCs, by following a community-based research approach, which goes beyond traditional academic approaches. Additionally, we use SSM, a methodology inspired by system thinking and designed to address complex problems, particularly in scenarios where there is no clear or well-defined solution. SSM emphasizes understanding problems from multiple stakeholders' perspectives, facilitating the exploration of different viewpoints and fostering a shared understanding of both challenges and potential solutions in forming effective partnerships. One specific output of the project is the development of an interactive game which can be used to facilitate the co-creation of public value by fostering effective collaboration between CCs and local governments, and simulate real-world scenarios, allowing players to experiment with various strategies and approaches to develop successful co-creative partnerships

The PhD researcher designs and implements the research independently, under guidance of the promotor(s)/supervisors (prof.dr. Jurian Edelenbos, Dr. Ingmar van Meerkerk & Dr. Wouter Spekkink). This entails the set-up of the research, the selection of methods and theories, data collection and analysis. Given the nature of the question, the researcher is expected to cover multiple CCs in multiple city neighborhoods in Rotterdam. The longitudinal approach covering multiple stages (co-)designing, monitoring and analyzing partnerships.

You will get the chance to attend courses at the Erasmus Graduate School for Social Sciences and the Humanities. You are embedded in lively PhD Networks both at the faculty level (ESSB) and the team level (Governance & Pluralism) which helps you to find your way in academia.

For this PhD research, we are looking for a talented researcher with an affinity for transdisciplinary research carried out in close collaboration with citizen collectives. Ideally, you have some or all the following characteristics:

• A Master’s degree in a relevant discipline, including (but not limited to) Public Administration, Political Science or Urban Studies;
• Experience with qualitative research, especially community-based research/public engagement in research, ethnographic, and participatory action-oriented research;
• Driven to pursue a PhD degree and career in academia;
• Ability to independently shape and structure research projects;
• Ability to express complex issues in a clear fashion, verbally and in written form;
• Motivation to contribute to open and responsible science;
• Excellent proficiency in Dutch as the research will take place in the Dutch context; mastering of the English language is also a must;

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 1 September 2026 and you will be based at Campus Woudestein in Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB). The objective is that all PhDs in the ECCO consortium project will start at the same time to create a cohort of PhD's. This position is for 0.8 fte - 1 fte. The salary starts at € 3.059 gross per month Scale PhD on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of 1 year. Upon proven suitability an extension of the contract of 3 year is offered.

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

• Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!
• Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.
• Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.
• Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).
• Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB)
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) combines various disciplines such as public administration, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology. In addition, the Erasmus University College is affiliated with the faculty. Within ESSB, we work in teams on education and research, emphasising interdisciplinarity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability. Together, we strive for societal and scientific impact.

ESSB distinguishes itself through inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary research, in which academics and students work together on complex social issues. Thanks to this approach, ESSB successfully attracts national and international research subsidies and funds, with which we continuously strengthen and renew our education and research.

ESSB serves almost 6,000 students annually with a wide range of bachelor's and master's programmes and has more than 600 employees. These programmes are highly rated by students and alumni. Within ESSB, developing new insights and realising positive societal impact are central, always with a focus on people and society.

Visit our website for more information about the faculty, and click here for more information about our academic teams.

Team Governance and Pluralism
The Governance and Pluralism team studies complex, multi-value, and multilevel issues related to various societal challenges. We take the pluralistic nature of these challenges as a given and approach them from various social layers, lifestyles, and identities. We investigate how these complex societal issues can be addressed through different forms of governance, such as public-private partnerships, multilevel collaborations, community initiatives and triple helix partnerships. Our team’s work is highly regarded by (inter)national colleagues, civil society organisations, policymakers, and governments. This is reflected in their visibility within design, impact, and academic research projects and programs.

For more information, please visit our website.

CollectieveKracht is a knowledge platform for and by citizen collectives across all sectors: from energy to housing, from healthcare to food. The platform connects citizen collectives with each other and with stakeholders such as scientists, policymakers, financiers, and networking organizations. The platform emerged from collaboration between the Social Enterprise and Institutions for Collective Action research team (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam School of Management) and a broad base of network organizations and citizen collectives from a wide range of sectors.