Postdoc In Nature-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design

Short introduction

Are you inspired by regenerative and commons based approaches to urban biodiversity and nature stewardship? In this 3-year post-doctoral position you will co‑design and evaluate citizen‑led models for maintaining biodiverse public spaces in residential urban areas in the Netherlands. You’ll combine research, facilitation, and studio pedagogy to advance more‑than‑human urban planning and circular community economies in collaboration with research partners in 5 other European countries.

Job Description

EcoCARE – Ecologies of Care: Multispecies Design and Circular Community Economies in Peri‑Urban Settings is a DUT (Driving Urban Transitions) Partnership project engaging a cross-European consortium with partners in France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the Netherlnds. It addresses biodiversity loss, fragmented urban planning, and climate risks by advancing more‑than‑human approaches to urban design and circular community economies. Across a network of living labs in post‑industrial, suburban, and peri‑urban neighbourhoods in five countries, EcoCARE combines commons‑based ecological stewardship, multispecies design, and transformative pedagogies to diversify local biotopes, enhance socio‑ecological resilience, and build capacity through communities of practice. This post‑doc will anchor the nature stewardship strand of EcoCARE, focusing on citizen‑driven models for maintaining biodiverse public spaces and multi‑species placemaking in residential urban areas. 

Embedded in the Urbanism and Urban Architecture research group and our practice oriented studio environment ‘Urban Labs’ you will conduct cutting‑edge research and co‑produce practice with residents and practitioners to design, test, and evaluate models for citizen‑led biodiversity maintenance in residential urban contexts (e.g., pocket parks, green streets, wetlands/rewilded areas, shared courtyards). The post‑doc bridges research, pedagogy, and practice, contributing to the project’s scientific outputs, living lab programming, and the communities of practice.

Specifically you will have the following tasks:

• Map current practices, governance arrangements, and regulatory bottlenecks related to citizen‑driven nature stewardship in residential urban areas.
• Conduct comparative case analysis identify enabling/limiting factors (policy, maintenance regimes, liability, funding, equity).
• Co‑design and run deliberative activities with residents, municipal staff, and practitioners on biodiversity maintenance and multispecies placemaking. Pilot stewardship models and evaluate impacts.
• Produce scholarly and practice oriented outputs including 2-3 journal publications, policy briefs, podcast and newsletter entries.
• Develop place‑based studio/lab pedagogies for urban design/planning students that plug into the living labs. Co‑create pedagogical materials and open resources.
• Maintain open lines of communication with the transnational community of practice, contributing to newsletters, podcasts, tool/library entries, and events.
• Support the PI in stakeholder engagement and cross‑partner coordination. Contribute to planning, documentation, monitoring, ethics/data management, and reporting to funding bodies.

Job Requirements

• Motivated researcher, with a PhD in urbanism, urban planning, urban geography, environmental studies, landscape architecture, transition studies, or a comparable domain.
• Demonstrated expertise in participatory/ethnographic and/or design‑research methods; experience with living labs, co‑design, or action research. Experience facilitating multi‑stakeholder workshops and working with residents/municipal actors is a plus.
• Knowledge of urban biodiversity, nature‑based solutions, stewardship/governance of public space, and social equity in urban regeneration.
• Ability to conduct high quality academic research, reflected in demonstratable outputs.
• A team player who enjoys coaching PhD and Master's students and working in a dynamic, interdisciplinary team.
• A proven ability to manage complex projects to completion on schedule, including ability to manage timelines, documentation, and multi‑site coordination.
• Excellent (written and verbal) proficiency in English, good communication and leadership skills. Knowledge of Dutch is a plus.

Conditions of Employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for 2 years.
• Salary in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale 10 (min. € 4,241 max. € 5,538).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs on general skills, didactics and topics related to research and valorization.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• Partially paid parental leave and an allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs. 
• A TU/e Postdoc Association that helps you to build a stronger and broader academic and personal network, and offers tailored support, training and workshops.
• A Staff Immigration Team is available for international candidates, as are a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) and a compensation for moving expenses.

Information and application

About us

Eindhoven University of Technology is an internationally top-ranking university in the Netherlands that combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on attitude. Our spirit of collaboration translates into an open culture and a top-five position in collaborating with advanced industries. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow. 

Sustainability, in its broadest definition, is the cornerstone of research and education in the Department of Built Environment. We take the lead in (re)shaping the built environment to be future-proof, safe, healthy, inclusive and respectful of planetary boundaries. We house the entire spectrum of technology, engineering, design, and human behavior disciplines in the built environment, with world-class experimental facilities at all scales. This allows us to address societal challenges from a uniquely integrated perspective.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact the hiring manager Oana Druta, Associate professor, o.druta@tue.nl.

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. You can also contact Leo van Houten, HR advisor, L.v.Houten@tue.nl@tue.nl or +31 40 247 8269.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application using the apply-button. The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position. Max 1 page.
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references.
• List of five self-selected representative outputs fitting the position (both academic and practice oriented).
• One-two page research plan, including ambitions, unique approach/preferred methodologies, potential outputs.

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until November 21st.

Please note

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post. 
• A pre-employment screening (e.g. knowledge security check) can be part of the selection procedure. For more information on the knowledge security check, please consult Chapter 8 of the National Knowledge Security Guidelines.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.