SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL INNOVATION
Date Posted: October 14, 2013
Region: Ontario
Institution: University of Waterloo
Discipline: Environmental Studies
The Department of Environment and Resource Studies - ERS invites applications for a tenured or tenure-track position at the Assistant or Associate Professor rank, in the area of social innovation for resilience in linked social-ecological systems, with a special emphasis on the role of social media in social innovation.
The Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience (WISIR) is based in the Faculty of Environment with faculty members in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies and the School for Environment Enterprise and Development. This position will be based within the Department of Environment and Resource Studies. The successful candidate will join the WISIR interdisciplinary team of researchers focused on innovation in intractable social-ecological problem domains where the interface may include - but is not limited to - social and technical innovation and its impact on the transformation of a wide range of problem domains. Academic training in and experience with complexity theory, innovation theory, resilience theory and their application to linked social-ecological problem domains would be an asset.
Under the auspices of ERS, WISIR is currently initiating a new course based Master’s degree in social-ecological innovation, geared at attracting change agents from private, public and not for profit organizations as well as researchers interested in the topic area. The successful candidate would have primary responsibility for teaching within this program. To that end, the critical skill a candidate needs is an ability to teach a course in the relationship between social media, social networks and innovation. The capacity to teach one or more of the following is highly desirable:
- Governance for Social-Ecological Innovation
- Social Finance
- System/Institutional Entrepreneurship
- Designing intervention processes for accelerating social-ecological innovation
The Department of Environment and Resource Studies offers an undergraduate program that admits over 100 students annually, the department already offers a dedicated master's and a doctoral degree (combined admission of about 30 students annually). For four decades, the Department of Environment and Resource Studies has promoted and advanced transdisciplinary approaches to human-environment relations. Three broad conceptual themes guide our teaching, learning, and scholarly inquiry:
- Assessing the theoretical foundations and practical implications of progress toward a sustainable society, and application of this analysis as a broad context for specific work;
- Understanding socio-ecological interrelations as dynamic complex systems vulnerable to being over-stressed by human activities; and
- Examining conventional and alternative social arrangements, including institutions and tools of governance, as means of improving human wellbeing and environmental responsibility.
WISIR was established in the Faculty of Environment in 2010. It is primarily a research institute, with a focus on:
- Analyzing intractable problem domains as complex systems that are best understood by using a system perspective as well as a resilience framework to illuminate the dynamics of change and continuity
- Understanding the dynamics of social innovation, including the origin of social inventions, how social inventions are disseminated and how they are scaled up to change the broader institutional context including the broad social, economic and cultural rules which govern our society and environment.
- Understanding the roles and skills of social entrepreneurs, institutional entrepreneurs and policy entrepreneurs and how they interact to catalyze and support the dynamics of social innovation.
WISIR participates in Social Innovation Generation, a Canada wide initiative funded by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation to build the capacity for social innovation in Canada.
There are many opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Waterloo, which has increasing strength across faculties in complexity, resilience and innovation. ERS and WISIR work closely with such centers as the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI), the Centre for Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation (ERA), the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship &Technology Centre (CBET), the Centre for Knowledge Integration (CKI) and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).
Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent; an active fundable research program relevant to a transdisciplinary approach as described in this ad; demonstrated ability in publishing in relevant peer-reviewed journals; and demonstrated commitment to and quality of teaching at all levels.
Applicants should submit a letter of application stating the nature of their interest in this position, career objectives, approach to learning and teaching (including a teaching portfolio of courses taught or would like to teach) and research goals. Accompanying that letter, applicants must include a current curriculum vita and a submission that identifies four referees and their addresses that may be contacted for references. Please also include selected and relevant recent publications.
Review of applications will begin November 15, 2013 and will continue until the position is filled. The application package should be sent via email to:
Lynda Connolly, Administrative Manager,
Department of Environment & Resource Studies,
University of Waterloo,
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, CANADA;
Email: connoll@uwaterloo.ca
Salary range will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The appointment will be effective July 1, 2014.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. The University of Waterloo encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including women, members of visible minorities, native peoples, and persons with disabilities.