Decision-making pathways for a sustainable and just future

In the recovery from COVID-19, there is a renewed attention on the climate emergency with raised awareness by the public to sustainability issues. Decisions made by individuals increasingly show discontent with businesses that do not show what was formerly known as corporate social responsibility (CSR), but is shifting to encompass broader ‘green’ responsibility in environmental, social governance (ESG). Along these lines, the EU has brought in the EU Taxonomy for delivering on the European Green Deal in a way that ensures environmental sustainability in the pursuit of economic prosperity. In this project the PhD student will engage with the broader ways in which the six objectives set by the EU (1) Climate change mitigation, (2) Climate change adaptation, (3) The sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, (4) The transition to a circular economy, (5) Pollution prevention and control, (6) The protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems - work within the context of the city system and values defined in the City Portrait to optimise the positive multiple benefits across the social and ecological components of the city system.

Within the overall programme, there is a strong effort to co-create social and ecological values and indicators that are defined by the social foundations of the UN SDGs and the planetary boundaries of a 1.5C world. Much of the theoretical work behind this has already been done through downscaling the concept of the global doughnut to the city level, however, there a strong need to connect with international developments and new ways of thinking that brings the environment into policy and business decision-making pathways. This PhD enhances the impact of Gallant through bringing that dynamic. This project strongly integrates high-level systems approaches with indicators and data.

The PhD student will work directly with a team of researchers at UoG, local communities, and colleagues at Glasgow City Council (GCC) to explore multi-criteria decision making, and how decision making is carried out in practice.

The successful candidate will demonstrate skills and experience in system mapping, critical analytical skills to solve for outcomes to multi-dimensional problems and develop simulation platforms/decision-making tools relevant to our policy (e.g., Glasgow City Council) and business (e.g., Deloitte Ltd) partners.

  To be classed as a UK/Home applicant, candidates must meet the following criteria:

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or

• Have settled status, or

• Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or

• Have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

All applicants must have or expect to obtain a first-class degree (2.1 or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. This may cover, but is not limited to, earth sciences, social science, mathematics, engineering, computing, physics, bio- and chemical sciences.

We champion Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, believing that this is the way to increase research productivity and quality and to enhance societal and economic impact. Likewise, the University of Glasgow and our external partners are fully committed to EDI principles.

We support applications from under-represented backgrounds, childcare support for conference attendance, flexible working for carers and promote a work-life balance.

For enquires related to EDI, please address to GALLANT EDI Champion, Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay via the GALLANT-phd mailbox.

How to Apply: Please refer to the following website for details on how to apply: https://www.gla.ac.uk/gallant. For studentship enquiries, please contact [Email Address Removed]. Insert GALLANT URL.