About the Project
About the Studentship:
The University of Greenwich is part of the nationwide Doctoral Training Alliance (DTA) Future Societies programme, a University Alliance initiative including 8 member universities which delivers a structured cohort-based approach to postgraduate research opportunities through an expert network of academics and professional staff. The programme is invested in addressing future research needs as well as enhancing the long-term career progression of doctoral researchers.
It will support solutions-driven research that tackles the world’s most pressing challenges, with projects guided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the corresponding research priorities of the participating universities. The collaborative research environment of the DTA Future Societies will nurture the potential of Early Stage Researchers to generate the visionary strategies required to protect the future ecological balance of the planet while taking care of the fundamental human needs of food, water and energy sustainability.
The student will be based at the University of Greenwich and undertake a project within the Greenwich Business School while being attached to the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU).
Established in 2000 by agreement between Public Services International and the University of Greenwich, PSIRU is based in the Greenwich Business School, University of Greenwich. PSIRU investigates the impact of privatisation and liberalisation on public services, globally, with a specific focus on water, energy, waste management, health and social care sectors, with an international reputation in all these areas. Other research topics include the function and structure of public services, the strategies of multinational companies and influence of international finance institutions on public services, and public sector alternatives to privatisation and Public-Private Partnerships. PSIRU Reports and academic publications by PSIRU staff can be browsed at https://blogs.gre.ac.uk/psiru/ and at https://gala.gre.ac.uk/.
The student will become a member of the Greenwich Business School postgraduate community, receive comprehensive training in the area of the project and acquire practical innovation and entrepreneurial expertise. This will include attendance at the DTA Residential Schools and access to a bespoke ‘elective programme’ hosted across the network of DTA universities. The student will also contribute to PSIRU’s Research and Knowledge Exchange activities, including contract research.
About the Project:
This project addresses the urgent challenge of ensuring sustainable water and sewerage development in England and Wales after 35 years of privatisation, against the backdrop of recurrent social, political and economic contestation. It aims to build alternative scenarios for the governance and regulation of water services, showing the extent to which different institutional arrangements may help or hinder the attainment of sustainable development objectives.
The research innovates by conducting a world-first systematic comparative analysis of the sustainability of water service reforms in England and Wales, an early case of the privatisation of water supply and sewerage. The primary objectives include:
O1) Forecasting progress towards reducing water poverty, mitigating sewage pollution, and modernising infrastructure under two scenarios:
a) The status quo (characterised by privatisation and independent regulation)
b) A system of public ownership and democratic regulation (informed by international best practice)
O2) Assessing the opportunity costs and benefits of institutional change versus inaction at three future points (2030, 2034, and 2039).
This foresight exercise is highly interdisciplinary, requiring a political economic analysis of sectoral reform sustainability that combines insights from institutional economics, public policy, and political ecology, among other disciplines. The research engages with themes of water sustainability, poverty and inequality reduction, public health promotion, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Methodologically, the project pioneers critical realist modelling. To strengthen the validity of results, the predictive modelling of future developments over 10 years is based on:
1) An accurate historical assessment of private and public utility performance over the past 50 years
2) A robust qualitative understanding of behavioural possibilities under alternative governance arrangements
To ensure the realistic nature of the non-status quo comparator scenario, participatory action research will establish the institutional features of public ownership and democratic regulation favoured by policy participants who have most persistently advocated for reform in the last 15 years.
The results will enable policy participants to identify which scenario is more conducive to deeply integrated sustainable water and sewerage development, corresponding to the simultaneous attainment of sustainability at economic, social, and environmental levels. These findings will be complemented by an evaluation of the timeliness of alternative decisions.
How to apply:
Please follow the link below for details of how to apply: https://www.gre.ac.uk/research/study/application-process
In your application, please state that you are interested in a DTA Future Societies studentship and the name of the project.
Please view the following page (Reinventing institutions for deep sustainable water development in England and Wales: an exercise in critical realist modelling | Documents | University of Greenwich) for important details regarding the person specification and eligibility criteria.
Closing date:
The closing date for applications is Friday, 3 January 2025.
Further information:
Applicants who are successful in being shortlisted for the studentship will need to be available for interview the week commencing Monday, 13 January 2025. Interviews will be held on MS Teams. Further details will be provided to those shortlisted.
For further information/questions on the project and the studentship, please contact Dr Emanuele Lobina at e.lobina@gre.ac.uk.
Funding Notes
The studentship is available from 1st February 2025 for a period of three years, subject to satisfactory progress and includes a tax-exempt stipend, which is currently £19,237 per annum, plus London weighting (where applicable).
In addition, full-time home tuition fees will be covered for up to three years. The studentship will also provide access to funds to enable attendance at DTA events and interaction between the collaborating universities.
