Please note: applications for these roles are no longer being accepted



Project: INSPIRE for sustainable transitions

The Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business is seeking to recruit two casual researchers (PhD candidates or recently graduated PhD students) for approximately 150 hours work each over 12 weeks, starting as soon as possible. Hours can be flexible and the work will be largely desk-based research.

Overview of the project

Transitioning, or transforming, businesses to become more sustainable (a term used here to represent the creation of positive environmental and social value alongside economic value) is creating a challenge for business owners like no other they have faced in their history. The transition is complex, there is much uncertainty, and there is a need for more systemic change beyond the boundaries of any one organization. Current research is indicating that although there are an increasing number of innovative businesses leading the way in sustainable transitions, the challenge for most businesses is where to start, and how to think ‘outside-of-the-box’ about what a sustainable future might look like for their business.

The question that this project wants to address is how might we inspire businesses to think creatively and act innovatively for sustainable transitions? What might the mechanisms be to enable SMEs to envision new ways of doing sustainable business practices that go beyond the immediate scope / boundary of the organization, and current capabilities and practices?

The project will address this through:

1. A review of literatures on models of change for sustainable transitions, synthesising ideas from research in sustainable transitions, imagination, sustainable regional development, sustainable entrepreneurship, and others. What role does inspiration, imagination, and creativity play in sustainable transitions and how might we be able to support that process? (i.e. through engagement activities with businesses). This will include writing a short report on the findings.
2. Understanding what role ‘inspirational examples’ might play in the change process, what they might look like, and how these examples might be collated and used. This will lead to the creation of a template for the collation of examples.
3. Based on the template, identifying ‘inspiring examples’ of SME sustainability transitions. Focusing initially locally (NW England), then widening that search to across the UK, and potentially from overseas. This will include documenting those examples in format agreed by the team and identified through task 2 above.
4. Producing a final (brief) project report on key findings and future recommendations.

The hourly rate for current PhD students will be £16.43 an hour (including holiday pay), or £20.19 for recently graduated PhD students. There are approximately 150 hours per role, this may change if mutually agreed, and depending on the project budget. Timesheets will be completed and signed off at the end of each week.

You will be employed in the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business, where you will have access to a desk and IT equipment, but you can also work remotely if that suits you better. You will be line-managed and the work supervised by Dr Joanne Larty.

For informal conversations about the role, please email Dr Joanne Larty, j.larty@lancaster.ac.uk

If you are interested in applying, please send your CV and a covering email outlining your reasons for interest in the post, including an indication of how many hours a week you would be able to work, to pentlandcentre@lancaster.ac.uk before 4pm Thur 2 Feb 2023.