Social Science: Human Geography, Environment and Urban Planning
In 2019, the Scottish Government passed an amended Climate Change Act that mapped out environmental targets for 2050 while responding to a structural shift to deindustrialization. As Scotland moves towards a ‘green’ future of alternative energy sources, low greenhouse gas emissions and the remediation of mined and industrialised landscapes, how do we ensure that this transition is a ‘just’ one for workforces and communities that have depended on the extraction of fossil fuels? This PhD project, undertaken in collaboration with the union (and member of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission) Prospect Scotland, focuses on the formidable social and environmental challenges of former mining landscapes, extensively problematised as ruined sites that are exhausted and abandoned, and hence of no current or future ‘value’ in such a transition. Certainly, as sites of toxification, former coalfields have been met by a cross-sector response that emphasises remediation, using the expertise of a range of environmental and geoscience fields. Such efforts have, however, been situated in land management strategies, such as a return to pasture/grouse moor and housebuilding, that have little or no regard for a ‘just’ as well as ‘green’ transition. As employment in low carbon/renewable energy has declined in recent years, it is all the more important that these landscape remediation and management strategies are critically appraised in terms of their social impacts; and, new possibilities for socially ‘just’ environmental/geoscience research to impact governance are mapped and assessed for translation into policy. In assessing the dynamics of current environmental/geoscience-focused remediation projects, and the potential for new ‘just’ environmental/geoscience projects to address social inclusion, the PhD will develop new networks between scientists, policymakers and trade unions, substantially take forward the concerns of the Just Transition Commission, and shape academic debates on the politics and practice of sustainable land management, on ‘geoethics’, and on deindustrialisation.
Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria.
- A 2.1 undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline is the minimum requirement.
Please note that all applicants must also meet the ESRC eligibility criteria. ESRC eligibility information can be found here.
For full details and to apply for this studentship, please visit the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS) website here.
Applications will be ranked by a selection panel and applicants will be notified if they have been shortlisted for interview by 7th April 2021. Interviews will take place on 13th April 2021.
All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programme within the University of Glasgow. Successful scholarship applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme after they are selected for funding.
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