Eligibility: UK/EU/International Students

Award Details: Tuition Fees + Bursary £13,863 per year (tax-free)

Duration: 3 years Fixed Term (January or April 2015 start)

Application deadline:  November 3rd 2014

Interview Date:  Will be notified to shortlisted candidates

Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship to carry out research in the area: “Place, Food Sovereignty, Resilience and Participatory Video Methodologies”.

The Project

This studentship is located within the newly-established and prestigious University Research Centre – the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience. (CAWR) at Coventry University.

The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) is driving innovative, transdisciplinary research on the understanding and development of resilient food and water systems internationally. Food and water security is increasingly threatened by factors such as climate and environmental change, loss of biodiversity, conflict and market volatility. New knowledge, policies and technologies are needed to develop systems that are more resilient to change and which ensure the health of our food and water supplies. Through its focus on food and water, the Centre’s research develops and integrates new knowledge in social, agroecological, and environmental processes, as well as the pivotal role that communities play in developing resilience.

This studentship will involve a transnational multi-site ethnographic study to better understand and support the food sovereignty movement in Europe. The project will apply a reflexive, participatory and critical approach to work towards the following objectives:  1) Participate in and compare strategies, barriers and historical evolution of place-based campaigns for food sovereignty and socio-ecological resilience; 2) Evaluate how place-based experiences of food sovereignty and resilient food systems do (or do not) inform a sense of collective identity and the implications for collective action at larger scales of organization; 3) Develop a novel transnational participatory video research methodology to better understand food sovereignty based social movements. This research will use innovative visual ethnographic methods rooted in a participatory action research methodology that combines video documentation, participant observation, interview and deliberative dialogue. The knowledge produced collaboratively with social movement actors, issues and organizations will be communicated via a Transmedia Knowledge Mobilization and communication strategy that utilizes text, video, social media and engages with academics, civil society & policy makers. The successful student will participate in a rich and collaborative learning environment at CAWR and be provided with an excellent opportunity to build international networks with academic, community and social movement actors.

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