PhD position on the role and rationale of participation in coastal management
We are looking for a highly motivated, creative PhD researcher to join the department Human Dimensions in Coastal Areas in a comparative study of maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management.
Over the last decades, integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and marine/maritime spatial planning (MSP) have become established as approaches for managing complex social-ecological interactions in the sea, in coastal areas and across land-sea interfaces. Despite some crucial differences in how they have been conceived and implemented in different countries, there are also similarities, one of which is that both are regarded as participatory approaches.
This 3-year PhD project will carry out a comparative analysis of participation in selected case studies of ICZM, one of which will be a German case. During the course of your PhD, you will contribute to an understanding of the rationale, role and forms of participation, as well as scrutinizing enablers and constraints for participation within planning and management and the role that is played by different cultural contexts. The approach and methodology will be developed in collaboration with your supervisors and includes empirical work, comprising document analysis, surveys and interviews. The framing of your study will include different types of participation (e.g. deliberative and representative forms, co-management etc.), and consider how participation relates to wider ambitions of planning and management, such as benefitting the common good or delivering just planning outcomes. You are expected to draw on various theoretical concepts in the development of your analytical approach.
The appointed candidate will join the team at Human Dimensions of Coastal Areas and benefit from working alongside a larger group of researchers across Hereon and Hamburg University. We invite applications from suitable candidates with a preferred starting time in May 2022.
Your tasks:
The successful applicant is expected to work independently as part of a wider study. As part of completing a PhD, key tasks will include:
- analysis of different forms and rationales of participation within a broader theoretical framework of justice and deliberation
- developing an analytical concept for two case studies of ICZM
- carrying out empirical work
- synthesizing results
- prepare manuscripts and conference presentations, including a PhD at the University of Hamburg
- contribute to other work of the department related to this topic
Your profile:
Essential qualifications:
- Master or Diploma degree in an appropriate field (geography, environmental sciences, political sciences, social sciences etc.)
- proficiency in writing and orally presenting research results
- ability to work independently
- skills in scientific analysis and willingness to explore new thinking
Desirable qualifications:
- excellent communication skills in English and German (spoken, written)
- experience with social science methods and field work (interviews, analysis)
- familiarity with guiding social theories