How can societal learning for the green transition be anchored in everyday life and translated into strategic planning and urban governance practices? This PhD position offers the opportunity to contribute to an ambitious, interdisciplinary research project that combines urban planning, sustainability governance, ethics of care, and participatory methods to support climate-positive change in Danish cities.
The Department of Sustainability and Planning at Aalborg University invites applications for a 3-year PhD position linked to the research project CARE+: Climate Action, Responsibility and Ethics of Care – A High-Tech Path to Climate-Positive Change, funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The position is located at the Technical Faculty of It and Design, Department of Sustainability and Planning, and is affiliated with the PhD Programme at the Technical Doctoral School of It and Design. The stipend is open for appointment from 1 April 2026 or soon hereafter.
Your work tasks
The PhD fellow will carry out independent research as part of the research project CARE+: Climate Action, Responsibility and Ethics of Care – A High-Tech Path to Climate-Positive Change. The project investigates how societal learning for the green transition can be fostered through everyday mobility practices, with a particular focus on school-related travel as a key site of climate action, care, and urban governance.
The PhD project will examine how care-centred and participatory approaches to mobility planning can contribute to climate mitigation, social inclusion, and institutional change. This includes analysing how schools, families, municipalities, and other public and private actors engage with climate action through everyday routines, and how these practices are translated into planning knowledge, governance processes, and policy uptake. The PhD fellow will contribute to the conceptual development of perspectives on ethics of care, societal learning, and planning for just sustainability transitions.
Empirically, the PhD fellow will design and conduct qualitative and mixed-methods research in close collaboration with selected pilot schools and project partners. This may include interviews, participatory observations, document analysis, and involvement in co-creation and evaluation activities within school-based living labs. The PhD fellow will also contribute to the analysis of how data, narratives, and participatory tools are mobilised in planning and governance contexts, and how they shape learning processes across actors and institutional levels.
Your work tasks
The PhD fellow will carry out independent research as part of the research project CARE+: Climate Action, Responsibility and Ethics of Care – A High-Tech Path to Climate-Positive Change. The project investigates how societal learning for the green transition can be fostered through everyday mobility practices, with a particular focus on school-related travel as a key site of climate action, care, and urban governance.
The PhD project will examine how care-centred and participatory approaches to mobility planning can contribute to climate mitigation, social inclusion, and institutional change. This includes analysing how schools, families, municipalities, and other public and private actors engage with climate action through everyday routines, and how these practices are translated into planning knowledge, governance processes, and policy uptake. The PhD fellow will contribute to the conceptual development of perspectives on ethics of care, societal learning, and planning for just sustainability transitions.
Empirically, the PhD fellow will design and conduct qualitative and mixed-methods research in close collaboration with selected pilot schools and project partners. This may include interviews, participatory observations, document analysis, and involvement in co-creation and evaluation activities within school-based living labs. The PhD fellow will also contribute to the analysis of how data, narratives, and participatory tools are mobilised in planning and governance contexts, and how they shape learning processes across actors and institutional levels.
The position includes the dissemination of research results through peer-reviewed academic publications and participation in national and international conferences. In addition, the PhD fellow will contribute to selected teaching, supervision, and problem-based learning activities at the Department of Sustainability and Planning, in accordance with Aalborg University’s regulations for PhD employment.
Full description of the position and instruction to apply: https://www.stillinger.aau.dk/
Contact: Enza Lissandrello, Aalborg University, Denmark
