Program Overview

Program Overview

The Reconnecting: social renewal and creative regeneration for just urban transitions program is a doctoral research position at Malmö University, Sweden. The program duration is 36 + 12 months.

Profile and Requirements

The ideal candidate is a doctoral candidate with a background in Design/Anthropology.

Program Description

This position is affiliated with the EU project Bauhaus of the Seas Sails, which is linked to the work being undertaken as partners by Malmö University with the Marine Education Centre. The project concerns how the city's inhabitants and other local actors understand themselves as related to the sea, the marine environment, and life under water. The program will work across the city to embed a more-than-human perspective, focusing on articulating and experimenting with cross-sector collaborations and multistakeholder processes that aim at including both humans and non-humans.

Objectives

The program objectives are:

• Perform ethnographic and situated Participatory Design (PD) research within a cross-sector transformation initiative focused on reconnecting the sea with the city and its inhabitants, to examine how transformation is understood, evaluated, and negotiated in different contexts.
• Observe and articulate the specificities of context, dynamics, and strategies in transformation initiatives, identifying opportunities and challenges for connecting different actors, including the sea and more-than-human participants.
• Articulate practices for cross-sector and more-than-human engagement and making cultural shifts as part of just urban transitions.

Expected Results

The expected results of the program are:

• Ethnographic records of the context and dynamics between actors in cross-sector transformation initiative focusing on reconnecting the sea with the city and its inhabitants.
• Collection and description of strategies and design capabilities relevant for translation in the given context.
• Co-design of events that enhance translation and design capabilities of actors in transformation initiatives.
• Defining capabilities and strategies for just and sustainable transitions that support the flourishing of all life by fostering cultural shifts.

Host and Secondments

The program is hosted by Malmö University, Department of Arts and Communication (K3), Faculty of Culture and Society. Planned secondments include:

• Architecture Workroom Brussels: to perform situated PD research within a cross-sector transformation initiative focusing on co-design and water bodies.
• UHasselt, Liesbeth Huybrechts: to learn and gain hands-on experience in devising PD strategies for cross-sectoral alliances, transformation practices, and training events.