PhD Studentship - The Role of Place-based Narratives to Foster Nature-connection

About ARU:
We are ranked in the world’s top 350 institutions in the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and we are a global university transforming lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education and research. Our research institutes and four faculties bridge scientific, technical and creative fields. We deliver impactful research which tackles pressing issues and makes a real difference to our communities. Our academic excellence has been recognised by the UK’s Higher Education funding bodies, with 16 of our research areas assessed as world-leading. In 2021, we were awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for our world-leading music therapy work.

About the Role:
Anglia Ruskin University is inviting applications for a fully-funded Vice-Chancellor’s PhD Scholarship for a period of 36 months within the Global Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Project Description:
How can stories connect us with the landscapes we live in? How can they enrich our experiences of nature and place? And how can they open up these benefits to communities who are disproportionately excluded from green spaces?

Rooted Stories is an innovative PhD project on the intersections of creative practice, community engagement and nature-connection. The research aim is to examine the impacts of place-based stories on nature-connection and associated benefits, and to draw lessons for optimising these benefits and scaling-up existing schemes. The research will involve designing, implementing and evaluating three real-world experiments: in each case-site, stories will be developed by local people and embedded in the landscape, where they can be accessed by smartphone. The impact of these place-based stories on participants and visitors will be measured through qualitative methods such as participant observation, in-depth interviews and surveys. The thesis will draw insights from this evaluative analysis to support conservation agencies and other stakeholders in widening access to meaningful experiences of nature, place and landscape.

This cross-disciplinary project has been developed by researchers from the Global Sustainability Institute and the Cambridge School of Creative Industries, in collaboration with partners including the National Trust, the Chilterns Conservation Board and the digital communications company Hello Lamp Post. It offers an exciting opportunity for a PhD scholar to join ARU’s thriving community of researchers exploring creativity and sustainability, and to work closely with national and local conservation agencies and a pioneering technology company.

The award is subject to the successful candidate meeting the studentship Terms and Conditions which can be found on our website (accessed by the 'Apply' button) alongside further information about the project: https://aru.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research/vc-phd-scholarships  and enquiries can be directed to [email protected] .

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting welfare of our staff and students and expect all staff to share this commitment.

We value diversity at ARU and welcome applications from all sections of the community.