Project
This position is part of an interdisciplinary research project between Psychology and Environmental Sciences. The levels of plastics in the environment are rising at an alarming pace and plastic pollution is recognized worldwide as a serious global environmental problem (UNEP 2016). This stresses the importance of preventing flows of plastics into the environment. Especially large urban areas are the source of large amounts of mismanaged waste ending up in the environment of which approximately 11% is plastic of which many are single use plastics from the food and beverage industry.

The Sustainable Development Goals also include targets aiming at prevention and reduction of waste in order to move towards a sustainability transition. Such a transition will require collective actions of a large diversity of actors across sectors and scales, and dealing with divergent perspectives and interests. It is therefore important to understand the motivations and assumptions governing behaviour towards waste in general and, more specific, on plastic waste. The city scale is the scale to study this environmental behaviour as it is the largest source of waste, it is also the scale to find solutions.

The main aim of the current project is to get insight in pro-environmental behaviour with regard to plastic in urban environment daily life. In the project we want to: 

1. assess (monitor) daily life pro-environmental behaviour

2. identify environmental/context-based factors associated with daily life pro-environmental behaviour

3. identify personal and social  factors associated with daily life pro-environmental behaviour.

The project offers a splendid opportunity to do interdisciplinary research with strong valorisation and practical relevance. The project is funded by the OUNL research programme DALI (Digital Accessible Learning Innovation), theme ‘Safety in urban environments’.

In this project we want to study pro-environmental behaviour in general, and more specific pro-environmental behaviour with regard to plastic waste, in daily life. The research will be carried out in two urban areas, one relative clean and one relative dirty area, in both the Netherlands and Indonesia (being the second country on the list of mismanaged waste). In recent years the Open Universiteit and Soegijapranata Catholic University in Indonesia have a successful collaboration in several (research and education) projects on plastic waste.
Complexity science can be used to study the interactions and feedbacks between human behaviour and the environment they observe. Therefore an ecological momentary assessment approach is used in this study. The experience sampling method (ESM) is a high-resolution structured diary technique to assess individuals in their day-to-day environment. This research method has been validated for the use of studying the immediate effects of environmental factors on behaviour and vice versa. During the day, over a period of 7 days, an ESM-based smartphone app prompts participants a number of times a day to fill in a short questionnaire containing questions about context and behaviour, in casu pro-environmental behaviour.

The tasks of the candidate are to coordinate and to carry out the data-collection and data-analysis. He/she publishes the research results and prepares a research proposal for follow-up research, preferably by applying for external funding.

 Requirements

• A (finished or nearly finished) Master of Science degree in Psychology or Environmental Sciences

• Strong and demonstrable affinity with scientific research

• Excellent academic writing and presentation skills

• Creativity, self-management skills and cooperation skills

• Experience with research on pro environmental behaviour

• Experience with Ecological Assessment Methodology serves as a recommendation

Fixed-term contract: for the duration of 1 year.

The maximum salary for a full-time position is € 2709 gross per month.

The Open University of the Netherlands provides good secondary benefits such as training, mobility, part-time employment and paid parental leave.

Station: Heerlen (Department of Psychology and/or Department of Environmental Sciences).
Start date: preferably starting as from October 1, 2019

The Open University of the Netherlands

Studying online anywhere in the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders)
The Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL) is the university in the Netherlands where students study part-time and follow online and activating education in bachelor and master degree programmes in seven fields of study. Characteristics of the education are openness, flexibility and quality. Enhancing the study success of students is an important point of focus. More than 14.000 students are studying at the OUNL and it has 655 employees. The OUNL has a network of regional study centres in the Netherlands and in Belgium (Flanders) (https://www.ou.nl/studiecentra). The head office is situated in Heerlen.
The most modern technologies and educational insights are applied in bachelor and master programmes and courses and also in projects and programmes with partners. Nationally and internationally the OUNL plays a key role in the innovation of higher education. Education and research are closely interrelated which guarantees that the current state of science is applied. The OUNL not only invests in research in the various academic disciplines, but also in research in the field of learning, teaching and technology.

Satisfied students
For several consecutive years, the OUNL has achieved a top position among the fourteen Dutch universities in the National Students Survey, the Dutch university guide ‘Keuzegids Universiteiten’ (in which the ratings by students and experts of the bachelor studies of the fourteen universities are compared), and the Dutch university guide ‘Keuzegids Masters’. In addition all studies score high in the rankings of the universities for these studies. All ratings are available on the website (www.ou.nl).