PhD Democratising heritage tourism - risk, governance and inclusivity

The Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC) at the Erasmus University Rotterdam is pleased to announce a challenging PhD position that examines democratising heritage tourism as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network fellowship titled “HERITOUR - Enhancing collaborative synergies between Cultural HERItage and TOURism”

About HERITOUR
HERITOUR is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network that examines how the cultural heritage and tourism sectors can collaborate more effectively to address shared challenges and reduce the negative impacts of tourism. Cultural heritage represents a major segment of contemporary tourism, yet increasing touristification and overtourism have intensified debates about environmental degradation, social disruption, and pressures on heritage sites. Although European and international policy frameworks promote ethical and sustainable tourism, heritage and tourism governance remains fragmented, with sectors operating under different institutional structures and priorities. HERITOUR investigates how current collaborations function and how cross-sectoral policies can be developed within a democratic and regenerative governance model. The project focuses on hybridisation, sustainability, resilience, and democratisation, and provides interdisciplinary training for Doctoral Candidates.
HERITOUR is a collaboration between Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Stavanger, Middle East Technical University, University of Aruba, Mid Sweden University, and the University of Granada.
Successful Doctoral Candidates will be seconded at heritage and tourism organisations for the total duration of three months during the employment period.
A total of 10 PhD vacancies are available across the six universities. For more information, check the individual vacancy pages of the universities, or check the project website www.heritour.eu

About the research project
This project investigates how inclusivity can be strengthened through collaboration between the heritage and tourism sectors, focusing on the co-production of tools and guidelines that support regenerative and inclusive engagement at heritage tourism sites. By connecting key stakeholders, the project fosters shared responsibility for managing cultural resources while balancing social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Using multi-sited ethnographic methods, it identifies everyday narratives and practices of inclusion and exclusion, revealing how visitors, local communities, and practitioners experience heritage spaces. The project also critically engages with the growing securitisation of heritage and tourism, whereby heritage sites are increasingly framed as objects of risk requiring surveillance, control, and protection. While safeguarding heritage from vandalism, conflict, and over-tourism is essential, securitised approaches can unintentionally marginalise certain groups and restrict access. By integrating protection strategies with inclusive governance models, this research project seeks to reconcile heritage security with social justice and participatory tourism development.

This PhD position (DC-8) is embedded in Work Package 4 “democratisation” and is supervised by Dr. Naomi Oosterman, Prof.dr. Stijn Reijnders (both Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Dr. Luc Alofs (University of Aruba). PhD candidates will be seconded at the Monument Fund Aruba (Aruba) and Sámi Museum Gaaltije in Östersund, Sweden.

Job description
The successful candidate is expected to be involved in:

Research (1.0 fte)

• Conducting PhD research.
• Publishing and presenting research results in the form of articles in international peer reviewed journals and papers at international conferences.
• Participating in intensive training schools as part of the HERITOUR training framework.
• Writing a dissertation within the appointment duration of three years.
• Partake in two secondments at the Monuments Fund in Oranjestad, Aruba and Sámi Museum Gaaltije in Östersund, Sweden.
• Taking part in seminars, workshops etc. that are organised by the Erasmus Research Institute for Media, Culture, History and Society (ERMeCHS), the department, as well as the HERITOUR consortium.

To be eligible, a candidate must have:

• Not resided or carried out their main activity in the European or Caribbean territories (the public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba and the autonomous countries Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the starting date of this employment (1 September 2026). (unless as part of a compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention)
• Not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment (Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis, but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree are not eligible)
• A (research) master degree or equivalent with a relevant specialisation within the social sciences or humanities, such as cultural heritage, sociology, tourism studies, media studies, anthropology, and/or related disciplines;
• Familiarity with and keen interest in qualitative research methods;
• Independent thinking and critical analytical skills;
• Good collaboration skills and an ability to join interdisciplinary and intercultural academic communities;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English (CEFR C1);
• Motivation to carry out high level research and publish in top peer reviewed international journals
• Good to have: Interest and/or familiarity with indigenous epistemology and working with indigenous communities; some basic knowledge of a Scandinavian language would be an asset

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 the Department of Arts and Culture Studies in Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC). This position is for 1 fte. The salary ranges from a minimum of € 3.059 to a maximum of € 3.881 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 three years.

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.

Faculty / Institute / Central service
The Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communicationl (ESHCC) is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. The school has three departments: History, Arts and Culture and Media and Communication.

ESHCC offers high quality education based on scientific research at the intersection of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our ambitious Dutch and international students are educated in a stimulating learning environment. Upon graduation, they have acquired the knowledge, insight and skills to make important and inspiring contributions to an increasingly international society in which diversity plays a major role.

The faculty offers three bachelor's programs and three master's programs with a total of seven specializations, as well as two Erasmus Mundus programs and a research master. Most programs are internationally oriented and taught in English.

ESHCC hosts the research institute ERMeCHS (Erasmus Research Institute for Media, Culture, History & Society). Researchers at ERMeCHS are dedicated to conducting interdisciplinary research in the fields of media, communication, culture, history, and society. Our research agenda focuses on strengthening interdisciplinary research, increasing external funding, and enhancing our societal impact.

ESHCC is housed in the Van der Goot (M) Building on the Woudestein campus of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Approximately 2400 students study there, and there are 240 staff members.

Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from dr. Naomi Oosterman via oosterman@eshcc.eur.nl.

More information about the HERITOUR project, consortium, and the application procedure, please contact dr. Bozhidar Ivanov, Project Manager, via heritour@eur.nl.