PhD Studentship : Mapping green and blue spaces in Coventry to inform strategies for improving urban green spaces for nature and communities

Introduction

Coventry is one of the most greenspace and nature deprived cities in England. The new Green4all partnership led by Coventry City Council with Coventry University, University of Warwick, National Trust, John Muir Trust and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust aims to address this. As part of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Nature in Towns and Cities Programme (NiTC) Green4all’s vision is to transform greenspaces across the city and work towards 30% of the city’s area supporting nature conservation by 2030.

The first step in this transformation is to better understand the extent and condition of all green and blue assets across the city. Using GIS and community mapping Coventry University will take the lead in developing the green-blue map, collating and evaluating existing spatial data, identifying gaps and developing the methodology for assessing the value of the city’s green-blue spaces. How we evaluate and assess the value for NiTC is a key focus of this project – resulting in a Coventry Green-Blue Score.

Project details

The outputs from this mapping will help urban Coventry develop a strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity and protect 30% of the area by 2030. The UK government has signed up to the framework of the 23 targets, target 12 ‘Enhance Green Spaces and Urban Planning for Human Well-Being and Biodiversity’ which is particularly relevant to this project.

The MRes will include the following activities: a literature survey, ethics applications, collation and evaluation of spatial data sets data using GIS, ground truthing of data, citizen science, constructing a blue-green map, writing a 30,000 word thesis, publications, and conference presentations. Findings will contribute to a better understanding of green and blue assets across the city, inform Coventry City Council’s strategy to improve the green spaces in Coventry for people and for nature and make a valuable contribution to Coventry’s Green4all initiative.

Benefits

The successful candidate will receive comprehensive research training including technical, personal and professional skills. All researchers at Coventry University (from PhD to Professor) are part of the Doctoral College and Centre for Research Capability and Development, which provides support with high-quality training and career development activities.

Entry requirements

• A minimum of a 2:1 first degree in a relevant discipline/subject area with a minimum 60% mark in the project element or equivalent with a minimum 60% overall module average.

PLUS

• The potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the Masters  within 1 year.
• A minimum of English language proficiency (IELTS academic overall minimum score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component).
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Additional requirements

You must have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours degree or equivalent, in an appropriate subject, including: GIS, geography, environmental science, data science. The candidate should have an interest in urban biodiversity, citizen science and community engagement and good GIS and data handling skills.

Eligibility: UK/International (including EU) graduates with the required entry requirements

Duration: Full-Time 12 months

How to apply

All applications require full supporting documentation, a covering letter, plus a 500 word supporting statement showing how the applicant’s expertise and interests are relevant to the project.

Please contact Dr Liz Trenchard for informal enquiries.

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