PhD position on incorporating knowledge infrastructure to green transitions: learning from campus interventions

This PhD project will focus on knowledge transfer between universities and local municipalities to facilitate green transitions in the field of urban mobility and urban biodiversity. The objectives are to (1) understand the role of data and knowledge infrastructure in the decision-making and governance of urban systems and public space when enhancing urban biodiversity, sustainable mobility, and public health; (2) examine stakeholder needs and interactions in public governance with the focus on data literacy, knowledge transfer, citizen science, co-creation, and evidence-based decision making; (3) identify critical intervention points, success factors, and performance measures in the governance process when designing, implementing, and monitoring solutions for healthy, just, and sustainable urban systems.  

A successful project will result in improved understanding of the role of knowledge transfer between universities and local municipalities, and best practices therein, that supports green transition and sustainability in urban areas, specifically in the fields of human mobility and biodiversity.  

Planned secondments:

• City of Tartu, Estonia (Early Fall 2025): Focus is on the governance of green transition through knowledge transfer, spatial planning, and systematic interventions that facilitate sustainable mobility and biodiversity in the urban area.  
• Aalto University, Finland (Spring 2026): Visiting Fellowship at the Department of Built Environment 

The selected candidate will be part of the SUNSET Doctoral Network built around a community of leading scholars and 10 doctoral candidates (DCs) delivering insights into how universities and their host cities can collaborate and interact to achieve the digitalization and sustainability goals set out by current European and global policy agendas. The network is purposefully international, intersectoral, and interdisciplinary. It consists of 6 academic and 16 non-academic partners in 5 European countries (Belgium – The Netherlands – Finland – Norway – Estonia). SUNSET emphasizes cooperative research and includes international mobility and intersectoral secondments to maximize the career potential of all DCs.