ESRC White Rose DTP Collaborative Studentship - Exploring the Socio-ecological Potentials of Essential Provisioning Systems in OECD Nations

Session 2025/26 – Closing Date 17:00 (UK time) 14^th March 2025

The online application form can be found at: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/esrc-white-rose-dtp-collaborative-25

Awards provide fees and maintenance at standard UKRI Rates (£20,780 in Session 2025/26)

This fully funded project is a collaboration between the University of Leeds (Dr. Richard Bärnthaler) and New Economics Foundation (NEF).

This project tackles the critical challenge of aligning human need satisfaction with ecological sustainability. Research highlights the importance of collective provisioning systems (CPS) in essential sectors – such as education, housing, healthcare, transportation and utilities – in meeting societal needs (eg health and social participation). CPS, organised through public, community, or cooperative arrangements, prioritise social equity and universal access over individual payment ability. Studies link CPS to improved well-being and reduced environmental impacts, eg through shared infrastructure and economies of scale. However, empirical evidence on CPS’s ecological effects, as well as on successful implementation conditions, remains limited.

Research Question 1: How does the mitigation potential of CPS in emissions and resource use in OECD nations compare to individualised, privatised, or market-driven systems across essential sectors?

Research Question 2: Which design and governance principles enable CPS to minimise resource use and emissions while ensuring inclusive, adequate need satisfaction, and how can these principles inform policy and practice?

OECD countries, responsible for 36% of global consumption-based emissions in 2022 (57% in 1990) must drive transformative change. This project contributes by focusing on:

• CPS’s mitigation potential compared to individualised/market-driven systems in OECD nations across essential sectors.
• Design and governance principles for socio-ecologically ambitious CPS and strategies to integrate these principles in policy formation.

A systematic narrative review will be followed by a Quantitative Analysis (including Input-Output Analysis and multivariate regression) and a Qualitative Analysis (in-depth case studies) leading to the development of policy recommendations.

A 3-month Research in Practice placement will be provided at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), providing an immersive experience of think tank working and skills in strategic policy communication.

This project integrates ecological economics, social policy, urban and regional planning, and governance studies.  Partnering with NEF ensures effective bridging of research, community innovation and policymaking, fostering transformative impacts.

Applicants with a background in Ecological Economics; Politics, Philosophy and Economics; Political Economy; Social Policy; Urban and Regional Planning; and Governance Studies are particularly encouraged to apply.

For further information about the application process, please contact the Admissions Team

For further information about the project, please contact Richard Bärnthaler.

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