A fully-funded PhD opportunity at Coventry University to explore sustainable energy futures for displaced communities drawing on anthropology and engineering.
Project details
Globally, over 80% of the 8.7 million refugees and displaced persons in camps have little or no access to electricity. For refugee settlements and host communities to have access to reliable, sustainable and modern energy, humanitarian responses need appropriate guidance and data to deliver improved energy solutions in displacement settings.
This transdisciplinary project will build on the HEED project principles of community co-design. It will draw on fields of energy anthropology, energy ethics and socially informed Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) design approaches to rethink energy protocols in refugee settings. The project will use qualitative methods such as interviews and community-based participatory research.
The project objectives are:
• To understand the social, cultural and subjective meanings of energy in the case study community to support energy systems design that can respond to and respect the energy needs and aspirations of displaced people
• To examine decision-making processes and preferences about energy access and use of households, individuals and collectives of geographically co-located people to inform energy systems design protocols that promote security, well-being and improve life chances of displaced people.
• To add to literature on the barriers that limit displaced communities from accessing and benefitting from modern, affordable, and safe energy.
The closing date for the application is 24 May, 2021.
Further details can be found here:
https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-opportunities/research-students/research-studentships/towards-sustainable-energy-futures/
Please contact Esra Kaytaz at esra.kaytaz@coventry.ac.uk if you have any questions about the call for applications.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
elmo (April 29, 2021). PhD Opportunity:Towards Sustainable Energy Futures for Displaced Communities. Energy Anthropology Network. Retrieved March 23, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/nzc8