[Kaupunkitutkimus] Fwd: [Comurb_r21] 3-year postdoc position smart urban mobility, Brussels

Tue Jan 5 05:48:02 EET 2016

---------- Edelleenlähetetty viesti ----------
Lähettäjä: *Bas van Heur* <bvheur at gmail.com>
Päiväys: maanantai 4. tammikuuta 2016
Aihe: [Comurb_r21] 3-year postdoc position smart urban mobility, Brussels
Vastaanottaja: CRIT-GEOG-FORUM at jiscmail.ac.uk, URB-GEOG-FORUM at jiscmail.ac.uk,
BESTS at jiscmail.ac.uk, ECONOMIC-GEOGRAPHY at jiscmail.ac.uk,
comurb_r21 at email.rutgers.edu

Dear all,

Please see below for a job advert: we are looking for a postdoc to work
with us in Brussels on a three-year research project funded through the JPI
Urban Europe / ERA-NET Cofund Smart Cities and Communities scheme. A
background in action research or working with local stakeholders and
expertise in urban mobility and sustainability is considered favorably in
the selection process.

best,

Bas

*Postdoc: SmarterLabs – Improving Anticipation and Social Inclusion in
Living Labs for Smart City Governance*

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

Location: Brussels, Belgium

Starting period: March 2016

*About the research project:*

The SmarterLabs project deals with two major risks to a successful,
widespread implementation of smart transport technologies. These two risks
concern (1) unforeseen barriers to large-scale change in socio-technical
systems, and (2) exclusion of social groups not matching the required
‘smart citizen’ profile. The proposed novel, ‘smarter’ approach will be
developed, tested and refined by retrospective analysis of urban mobility
governance and by action research in Living Lab experiments in four western
European cities: Bellinzona (CH), Brussels (BE), Graz (AT) and Maastricht
(NL). The main feature of this approach is to anticipate these two major
risks through ex-ante diagnosis, and then address these explicitly in the
design of the Living Lab experiments in such a way that an enhaced success
rate can be achieved in the  uptake of smart urban mobility innovations.

The overall design of the Living Lab experiments is based on principles of
‘transition experiments’ (Hoogma, Kemp et al., 2002). In contrast to
traditional innovation experiments aimed at testing and demonstrating
change, transition experiments focus on broad stakeholder involvement,
co-creation, and strategic learning to achieve systemic change (Kemp & van
den Bosch 2006; van den Bosch, 2010). This approach will be combined with
the logical levels approach (Janschitz & Zimmermann, 2010) to guide the
development of a shared, holistic vision of the smart city as an
overarching framework for setting the goals for learning. For the practical
implementation of the case study experiements, ‘systemic action research’,
as developed by Burns (2007, 2012), will be adopted, This permits to take
proactively into account any uncertainties and complexities associated with
real-life settings, including place-specific particularities.

*Job description:*

The postdoctoral researcher will work on the case of Brussels, which
focuses on the impact of urban mobility on air quality. In close
collaboration with a local NGO (BRAL – http://www.bral.brussels/en), the
postdoc will be involved with, and analysis of, the development of a living
lab setting, in which different actors, including citizens, organizations,
experts and public authorities work together to develop criteria,
participatory measurements, identify geographic patterns of air quality in
Brussels, and develop and implement appropriate analytical modi operandi.
The postdoc wil also participate in, and contribute to, the preparation of
reports and various forms of academic publications, and engage in
presentations on the project in workshops and at national and international
conferences.

The postdoc will be based at the Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research (
http://www.cosmopolis.be) and the Center for Studies on Media, Information
and Telecommunication (SMIT) (http://www.smit.vub.ac.be), both lead members
of the Brussels Centre for Urban Studies (BCUS) (
http://urbanstudies.brussels) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). The
candidate will also act as day-to-day ‘Brussels coordinator’ in the
international SmarterLabs consortium that includes Maastricht University
(NL), the University of Graz (AT) and the University of Applied Sciences
and Arts of Southern Switzerland in Bellinzona (CH), as well as local
stakeholders in the four cities.

*Job profile:*

The researcher should have a PhD in a field relevant to the project (e.g.
urban studies, geography, environmental studies/sciences, science and
technology studies, mobility and planning, media and communication studies,
transport planning, sustainability studies). Ideally, the candidate
possesses strong qualitative research skills (e.g. observation, interviews,
documentary analysis) and experience with action research and/or working
with local/regional stakeholders in policy processes, project design and
management, planning processes, etc. Excellent communication and writing
skills in English are a prerequisite, since the postdoc will play a key
role in communicating with all members of the international consortium and
realising international English-language publications on the basis of their
empirical work in this project.

*Conditions of employment:*

Depending on nationality and work experience, the postdoctoral researcher
may be employed either on postdoc bursary terms, or on a fixed-term
standard employment contract as researcher. International candidates
(non-Belgian nationality, no previous work experience in Belgium, and PhD
degree from a non-Belgian university) can be hired full-time (1.0 FTE, 38
hours per week) on a bursary scheme. Others will be employed on fractional
terms (approx 0.6 FTE (depending on previous qualifications and work
experience). Either way, the position is available for a fixed term of
three years. Starting date: March 2016, or as soon as possible thereafter.

*Information and application:*

For more information about the project and position, please contact Bas van
Heur (bvheur at vub.ac.be) <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','bvheur at vub.ac.be)');>.
To apply, please e-mail a motivation letter and CV, including list of
publications, to Bas van Heur no later than 1 February 2016. Interviews (in
Brussels or via Skype) with the shortlisted candidates will take place in
the first two weeks of February 2016.