As part of our ongoing COVID project, we have a new Research Practice internship opportunity available for one or two WUR MSc (SSG) students.
Duration: 6 months
Languages: English
Start Date: May/June 2022
Description: Are you interested in developing a career in research and would like to conduct a Research Practice internship at ENP? Are you interested in the sociology of consumption and understanding the longitudinal impacts of the pandemic on daily social practices (such as those relating to food consumption, mobility, working practices, and wellbeing)?
The Environmental Policy group has vacancies for one to two students to join a project investigating the longitudinal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily domestic consumption practices. This longitudinal analysis forms part of a larger ongoing project that has been led by ENP since 2020 (see https://everydaylifeinapandemic.wordpress.com/ for more information) that has been investigating the impact of the pandemic disruption on the daily lives and practices of citizens in different cities around the world. A key focus of the project is understanding how disruptions in daily practices can present opportunities for transitioning to more sustainable consumption.
The student(s) will have the opportunity to join the ENP research team in conducting a second wave of data collection to assess how initial changes caused by the pandemic are impacting daily life over the longer term. The student(s) will have a chance to participate in project meetings, conduct fieldwork in Ireland and/or the Netherlands, and engage in data management and analysis and the development of project ideas and insights. If you are interested, please submit your CV and 1-2 page motivation letter to Mary Greene outlining why you are interested in the position, your motivation and how you meet the requirements listed below by Thursday May 9th @ 14.00. The position will commence end May/June 2022 depending on availability of the candidate(s).
Requirements:
Interest in the sociology of consumption (for example, food consumption, daily mobility, sustainable lifestyles)
Knowledge of sociological concepts, particular social practice theories
Knowledge of and interest in qualitative methodologies, including interviews and data analysis
Good organizational and administrative skills
Interested in a research career
You meet the program requirements for a Research Practice internship at ENP
ENP Supervision team: dr. Mary Greene and dr. Sigrid Wertheim Heck
More information? Contact Mary Greene (mary.greene@wur.nl)
Are you interested in taking part in an international study exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday life practices among citizens across different countries of the world? An international research team, including researchers from NUI Galway and Wageningen University (The Netherlands) are looking for males and female participants working to explore the impact of the pandemic on everyday life practices at home, including those of food, mobility, family dynamics and others.
Participation in the study involves an initial online interview of approximately 1 to maximum 1.5 hour in length, with the option to partake in a follow up interview later in the summer. There is also the option to take part in a photo participation task, where you take photos of things in your daily life that have taken on new significance in the context of the pandemic. Detailed guidelines on this will be provided on this during the first interview.
In taking part, you will be part of a study that will help to shed light on the impact of the pandemic on people’s everyday lives and domestic consumption as well as how governments can best respond in the post-COVID recovery. The broader study involves citizens across Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Frances, China, the USA and Vietnam. You do not need to prepare anything for this research or have any special knowledge. If you live in Ireland and follow some sort of domestic routine at home, you are an expert.
If you are interested in participating, please fill out this short online survey and a member of the research team will contact you to discuss your participation.
Assistant Professor in the Sociology of Consumption
Environmental Policy Group
Wageningen University
The Netherlands mary.greene@wur.nl
Phone: +353 (0) 85 7318953
Delighted to part of an excellent team of researchers broadcasting the new series of Building Ireland. Building Ireland takes a historical look at how Ireland’s great building and engineering achievements came to be, and their impact on the social, cultural, and economic development of our towns and cities.
In the latest episode, (episode 3, series 3), we travel to the Beara Pennisula, one of the most remote parts of rural Ireland, to rediscover the extensive copper mines of Allihies. Together with Geographer Susan Hegarty and engineer Tim Joyce, we prise open the multiple engineering, geological and social dimensions of the rise and fall of copper mining in the region. Susan explores local geological features, Tim looks at the engineering feats supporting the industrialization of the mines, while I unpack local history and archives to explore the social and equity dimensions of the local community’s experiences of the new mining economy. The full episode can be watched here.
Are you a WUR student searching for a master’s thesis topic? Write your master’s thesis on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday life and consumption practices.
Are you interested in consumption and an opportunity to undertake research for your master’s thesis exploring cultural differences in the lived experience of the coronavirus pandemic? The investigation will explore the research question How are everyday consumption practices changing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic across different cultural contexts?
We are searching for an enthusiastic and ambitious master’s student to investigate this topic.
Study context: The scale and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in recent history. The Corona pandemic is currently disrupting everyday life in 189 countries of the world. In their attempt to urgently control the healthcare implications of the pandemic, governments are placing restrictions on the freedom of movement of citizens and their participation in economic and social activities. These measures are impacting many of the social practices (travel, food, work, gym, school, holidays) that comprise everyday life in contemporary societies. However, different experiences and intervention strategies across Europe point to the importance of socio-political and governing contexts for meditating the form and effect of the disruption being caused by the pandemic on experiences and practices in daily life.
The current COVID-19 pandemic provides an important and immediate empirical context in which to advance understandings of the social dynamics of everyday consumption practices
Research focus: This research opportunity will involve comparing the lived experiences of the COVID-19 pandemicon everyday domestic life and consumption practices among Dutch and Irish citizens through a social practice theory lens. In the context of constraints placed on empirical research in the context of the pandemic, all methods will be implemented through online platforms. You will be supported to develop your critical sociological research and analytical skills and contribute to important empirical research.
Interested in writing your master’s thesis on this topic?
Please get in touch if you :
Are interested in sociology and consumption research
Have a background in or familiarity with social practice theories
Are experienced in and interested in doing qualitative and/or quantitative research; e.g. semi-structured interviews, video diary methods, surveys
Are interested in comparative research methods (e.g. comparing two cultural contexts)
Are willing to conduct online interviews and/or surveys with Irish and Dutch citizen’s on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday life and consumption practices
Are fluent in English and Dutch and are willing to conduct and write your research in English
Have an average grade of 7.5/8 or above
Are able to start this April (possible to start immediately)
If you are enthusiastic about this research topic, please send an e-mail to mary.greene@wur.nl at your earliest convenience (cc. gert.spaargaren@wur.nl and sigrid.wertheim-heck@wur.nl) Please provide a short statement that outlines why you are interested in the topic and how you fit the profile outlined.
Best wishes,
Mary Greene
Dr. Mary Greene
Assistant Professor – Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands – mary.greene@wur.nl – +353 (0)85731 8953 – Twitter
Delighted to have been invited to visit colleagues at the Global Sustainability Institute of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Over my week-long visit (24th – 28th February 2020), I’ll be catching up with old and new colleagues working on social science sustainability research and hosting a methodology research seminar exploring practice-based approaches to researching past consumption practices. During my stay we’ll also be holding a methodology focused reading group on practice theory, method and intervention.
The methodology-focused seminar, entitled Can People Talk About Their Past Practices?, will focus on exploring the value of biographic-narrative inquiry as a methodological medium for practice-theoretical investigations of everyday consumption practices. While it has been argued that people can talk about routine practice individually (cf. Hitchings, 2011) or in groups (cf. Browne, 2016), as of yet there has been little consideration of whether people can retrospectively talk about their past practices, over timescales of several decades, such as that of the biographic lifecourse. This seminar will begin to address this gap. In doing so, the seminar will discuss the particular challenges and opportunities of using retrospective biographic talk-elicitation methods for researching past action and informing interventions for improved sustainability.
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