Postdoc Sustainability and Innovation Climate-Resilient Water Systems

Are you excited about shaping the urban water systems of the future? Join us in a Dutch research project where your analysis of urban water system innovations will support decision-making.

European water systems face increasing pressures from climate change, urbanization, ageing infrastructure, and stricter environmental requirements. At the same time, new hybrid urban water management approaches combining nature-based solutions and conventional gray infrastructure bring opportunities to improve system performance and adaptability. However, significant uncertainties remain regarding the environmental, economic, and societal implications of these innovations, limiting the ability of technology developers, utilities, planners, and policymakers to make responsible decisions about their development and implementation.

In this position you will investigate hybrid urban water innovations, which combe green and grey water infrastructure, seeking to anticipate the potential societal and environmental impacts associated to them. For that, you will integrate Value Sensitive Design (VSD) and ex-ante sustainability assessment within the Horizon Europe project RESILIENT-FLOWS. Therefore, this position involves two parts:
Part a focuses on how stakeholders perceive urban water innovations, identifying how values such as sustainability and resilience, should be integrated in their design and implementation. For this, you are expected to develop and analyze stakeholder engagement activities (e.g. interviews, participatory workshops), and coordinate partners to conduct them across multiple European pilot sites. Part b focuses on an ex-ante Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to assess the environmental impacts of hybrid urban water innovations in selected case studies from the RESILIENT-FLOWS project.

Depending on your interests, you may focus more on part a or b above, however the position requires you to engage in both. The results from your research will serve as key inputs to decision-support tools developed within the RESILIENT-FLOWS consortium, enabling utilities, planners, and policymakers to evaluate alternative innovations for climate-resilient urban water management.

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Designing and coordinating stakeholder engagement activities, such as stakeholder interviews and focus groups
• Analyze how values such as resilience and sustainability could be taken into account in technology assessment and decision-making
• Apply ex-ante Life Cycle Assessment methodologies for emerging water infrastructure solutions
• Support project partners on the integration of stakeholder insights and sustainability assessment results into broader assessment and decision-support frameworks
• Publishing research findings in leading international journals and presenting results at scientific conferences
• Contributing to project deliverables and collaborating with academic and non-academic partners across Europe

You will become part of a multi-disciplinary team and collaborate closely with researchers working on nature-based solutions, water treatment technologies, digital twins, amongst others. This position offers a unique opportunity to help shape emerging approaches for integrating sustainability assessment and responsible innovation in the design of future climate-resilient water systems. In this position you will be working closely with researchers, utilities, municipalities, regulators, and technology providers across various European countries.

We are looking for a reseracher who has afinity with quantitative and qualitative methods, and who enjoys questioning assumptions, metrics, and indicators to better understand what a desirable innovation is.

For that, the vacancy's requirements are:

• PhD in Industrial Ecology, Sustainability Sciences, Technology Assessment, or a related field
• Proven experience with Life Cycle Assessment
• Proven experience with qualitative data gathering methods, such as interviewing and focus groups
• Interest in Urban Water Systems and Nature Based Solutions
• Ability to analyze both qualitative and quantitative data
• Excellent communication and scientific writting skills
• Ability to work independently while collaborating in interdisciplinary and international teams
• Excellent command of English

• Experience with ex-ante or prospective Life Cycle Assessment
• Background or experience with Urban Water Systems and Nature Based Solutions

Working…