1 PhD position in Sustainability-related knowledge creation and use in Germany | Leuphana University

This position is part of the Leverage Points project. This position focuses on consolidating and further developing conceptual foundations related to new forms of knowledge production and use, and will apply these to local transdisciplinary case studies. The themes of the case studies will revolve around the food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO).

You will be expected to work closely with the research consortium, including seven other PhD students, eight Principal Investigators, and Four Postdoctoral researchers.

The Leverage Points project focuses on understanding how changes in interconnected social-ecological systems facilitate the transformation to sustainability repre-sents one of the key challenges of sustainability science. Drawing on insights from systems thinking and solution-oriented transdisciplinary research, this project will focus on hitherto under-recognized leverage points – system properties where a small shift can lead to fundamental changes in the system as a whole. Leverage Points will focus on changes in relatively intractable, but potentially highly influential, system properties that could help to realign complex social-ecological systems to the normative goals of sustainability.

Specifically, we will analyse three sustainability-relevant leverage points:

1) institu-tional dynamics (RESTRUCTURE);

2) human-environment interactions (RECONNECT); and

3) sustainability-related knowledge creation and use (RETHINK). The three leverage points will be studied individually and with regard to their interdependencies, on two key themes (food and energy) in two contrasting case study regions (Transylvania in Romania, and Lower Saxony in Germany).

This position looks at consolidating and further developing conceptual foundations related to new forms of knowledge production and use, and will apply these to local transdisciplinary case studies.

Specific tasks and responsibilities may include:

1) Systematic review of the (types of) knowledge needed for regional sustainability transformations;

2) review of existing knowledge and experiences related to designs and opportunities of different forms of knowledge production to foster sustainability transformation;

3) empirical analysis in how and how far knowledge and experience gained in specific contexts can be transferred between regions and themes (Leapfrogging 2.0); and

4) contribution to the organization and management of one of the transdisciplinary case studies.