PhD JUST TRANSITIONS. Re-Pairing Wetlands: Artistic Research for Just Multi-Species Relations in the Northern Netherlands

For “JUST TRANSITIONS. Re-Pairing Wetlands: Artistic Research for Just Multi-Species Relations in the Northern Netherlands”, we are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate with an active artistic practice and research experience in academic contexts to join the University of Groningen for a fully-funded PhD research project.

This PhD project is part of the NWO funded Consortium JUST ART. Creating Common Grounds for Climate Justice Through Artistic Research, a six-year project on climate justice and artistic research in the Caribbean and European parts of the Kingdom of The Netherlands. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and led by the University of Groningen. It offers 10 PhD positions at six universities in collaboration with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and four universities of applied sciences. JUST ART PhD candidates will generate new knowledge and critically assess approaches that integrate scientific insights with artistic research to address climate justice. JUST ART PhDs will study and develop concrete cases to learn how art and artistic research can be embedded in ongoing and emerging work on climate justice. They will enhance expertise and skills to take artistic and art-based transformative action on climate justice and will contribute to theoretical frameworks, common methods, educational toolkits and knowledge sharing platforms in co-creation with project partners. For more information on the project: https://justart.info/

What are you going to do?

Water has always been a threat and a promise in the Northern Netherlands, a region characterized by its dynamic wetscapes, with dikes, beaches, wadden, peatlands, meadows, and fields. Rising sea levels, severe weather patterns, water scarcity, pollution, and salinization, intensified through the climate crisis, demand just transitions that enable new ways of living with the water, requiring attention to the (opposing) needs of all who live here: farmers, inhabitants, and tourists; plants and animals; soil and water.

How can just transitions take shape for these hydro-social relations? Through participatory artistic research you explore intergenerational, intersectional, and interspecies perspectives, first identifying conflicting confluences and then co-creating common grounds for water justice and productive convivialities with different stakeholders. You contribute to charting the processes and impact of artistic research on climate-just transitions in these historically disadvantaged regions so that best practices can be de- and refined, and passed on to others. The project will focus on a specific type of wetland in the Northern Netherlands (Drenthe, Friesland, Groningen) to be selected by the candidate, and will involve collaborations with societal partners of the JUST ART Consortium in the North (e.g. VHDG Leeuwarden, Into Nature Biennial) and other artistic initiatives, research projects, and institutions.

This PhD is part of the JUST ART Theme Nr. 4 “Just Transitions: Hydro-Social Relations in Islands, Coast, and Peatlands” in which Groningen University, Aruba University, and Art Academy Minerva/Hanze University of Applied Science collaborate.

You will:

• Present findings in academic, artistic, and societal context (e.g. conferences, exhibitions, workshops, community gatherings).
• Publish at least one peer-reviewed article or book chapter and contribute to other writing projects as required (including JUST ART website).
• Produce a PhD thesis that combines publications with artistic formats.
• Closely collaborate with the other project members of the Just Art Theme “Just Transitions: Hydro-Social Relations in Islands, Coast, and Peatlands”, located at the Universities of Aruba and Groningen, and Art Academy Minerva/Hanze University of Applied Science.
• Teach during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year.
• Actively contribute to the JUST ART Consortium community through participation in and organization of workshops with project partners, and participate in the JUST ART School’s writing retreats and other activities.
• Actively engage with societal partners, e.g. organise collaborative knowledge exchange as well as educational and dissemination activities.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the collaborative nature of the project, regular physical presence is expected. Please indicate if you apply for more than one position in the JUST ART project.

• You have an MA in a relevant field (from an art school or university).
• You have excellent research skills.
• You have excellent writing and speaking skills in English and preferably also in Dutch, as the project requires active engagement with societal partners.
• You can demonstrate an artistic practice, preferably through a degree at an art academy or conservatory (alternatively through exhibitions, prizes, publications, etc).
• You bring experience with participatory (art) projects and artistic research.
• Prior knowledge of multispecies climate justice frameworks is desirable.
• You can work independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary and intercultural research environment, including fieldwork.
• You are enthusiastic about communicating research to academic and non-academic audiences.

• 232 vacation hours per year, based on a 38-hour workweek (1.0 FTE). You can also work more or fewer hours in exchange for more or fewer free hours. For example, with a 40-hour workweek, you save 96 extra free hours, and with a 36-hour workweek, you lose 96 hours.
• End-of-year bonus of 8.3% and 8% holiday allowance.
• Extensive opportunities for personal and professional development.

At the University of Groningen (UG), researchers from all fields of academia and technology are working on academic challenges and societal questions. Lecturers prepare their students for meaningful careers within or outside the academic world. Interdisciplinary research and teaching, sharing of knowledge, collaboration with businesses, government institutions, and societal organizations are aspects that are of the utmost importance to this European top university. The UG aims to be an open academic community with an inclusive and safe working climate that invites you to add your value.

The Faculty of Arts is a large and dynamic faculty located in the heart of the city of Groningen. More than 5,500 students and 900 staff work every day at the frontiers of knowledge. The Faculty offers a diverse range of academic programmes, with 16 Bachelor's programmes and over 40 Master's programmes. With its strong international orientation, the Faculty conducts research in fields including archaeology, cultural studies, history, international relations, journalism, literature, and linguistics. If you would like to learn more about the Faculty of Arts, visit rug.nl/let. 

The Graduate School of Humanities

The Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen is committed to providing advanced training at Research Masters and PhD levels. The Graduate School for the Humanities offers the organisational infrastructure within which graduate students participate in advanced training and supervised research.

Just Art Project

This PhD is part of the NWA JUST ART Research Project and the JUST ART Theme Nr. 4 “Just Transitions: Hydro-Social Relations in Islands, Coast, and Peatlands” in which Groningen University, Aruba University, and Art Academy Minerva/Hanze University of Applied Science collaborate.

Do you have any questions or need more information?

Questions about the content of the job?
Ann-Sophie Lehmann (Full Professor): A.S.Lehmann@rug.nl

Questions about your application process?
Ann-Sophie Lehmann (Full Professor): A.S.Lehmann@rug.nl