Future of humankind needs bold economic thinking and new governance on water
Are you looking for a challenging job in a dynamic setting? Are you interested in a job that searches for the answers to global questions in development and environment? The Governance and Inclusive Development group, Department of Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, is looking for a post-doctoral researcher to support the 'Global Commission on the Economics of Water'. The Commission is an independent body, convened by the Government of the Netherlands and facilitated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and chaired by Professor Mariana Mazzucato, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Professor Johan Rockström, and Singapore Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Part of the commission are three leading experts, including Prof. Dr. Joyeeta Gupta, who you will be working closely with at the University of Amsterdam.
The newly launched Global Commission on the Economics of Water will redefine the way we value and govern water for the common good. The new commission will present evidence and pathways for changes in policy, business approaches and global collaboration to support climate and water justice, sustainability, and food-energy-water security.
Completing the sustainability trilogy that began with the Stern Review on the economics of climate change and the Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity, the Review by the new Global Commission will provide a fundamental reassessment of the way we manage and value water, and its intrinsic role in addressing climate change and other global challenges.
The Global Commission's first report will be published to coincide with the UN's 2023 Water Conference and inform the launch of a "Water Action Agenda". The two-year project will deliver an action agenda to spur change globally, among governments, local authorities, industry, finance, multilateral institutions, and non-state actors.
The programme group on Governance and Inclusive Development within GPIO is looking for one post-doctoral to support the work of the Commission.
This programme group works on issues of governance and inclusive development with a focus on social justice, environmental issues and the politics of knowledge. Our staff conduct research on issues such as climate change and water, food governance and land, migration, peace and education with particular attention to issues of justice and equity. We also run the Master's and Research Master's on International Development Studies as well as the Masters on Advanced Environmental Geography and teach in a variety of courses within GPIO and across the university.
What are you going to do
You will be working as a post-doctoral researcher for 21 months in a large research project that focuses on the economics of water and beyond.
You will be joining the secretariat of a group that is composed of 17 Commissioners who are experts, community leaders and practitioners from a broad range of science, policy and front-line practice expertise from all regions of the globe. The secretariat will provide support for the writing of an independent review of The Economics of Water: An Agenda for the Common Good, by writing background literature reviews and content analysis of policies on a variety of topics to generate the evidence for good policies. For details on the Commission see
https://www.oecd.org/water/global-commission-water-economics.htm.
You will/tasks:
- writing background reports based on literature reviews, content analysis and possibly modelling to generate science-based evidence about how the economics of water needs to change;
- publish articles in cooperation with colleagues, in appropriate high-level journals;
- manage the evolution of the draft report of the Commission and review comments as they come in;
- manage the bibliography that supports the writing work;
- managing a database of relevant laws and policies and an interactive water atlas;
- write policy briefs;
- assist in the organisation of conferences, meetings and other events;
- assist in project management;
- take responsibility for planning and developing research methods and techniques within the framework of the work of the Commission;
- undertake any other duties relevant to the programme of research.