Healthy Urbanism - Paid Internship - Swansea University only

This role is funded for Swansea University students and graduates only. Paid internship (real living wage).

Full details at link.

why is this role being created?

The Intern Research Associate will play an important role in supporting Urban Habitats put its vision and values into action across all its activities.

Urban Habitats has been trading for seven years and we are entering a new phase of development and growth.

Responding to the needs of the organisations and communities we support we are at a crucial time to consolidate our existing work, identify strategic opportunities, and share more about the good work we have been doing.

This role will particularly help with delivering project work.

what might I be working on?

Dependent on what goes ahead when, we have some exciting work planned alongside our regular workload so activities are most likely to include:

•Vision for Healthy Place: for a high profile client and city in England developing a vision that seeks to influence policymakers in relation to the large focus on housing numbers from the UK government. You would support desktop research, hopefully a field trip visit and public engagement, and (dependent on your skills / course) graphic analysis / outputs particularly using GIS mapping tools (QGIS).

•Health Impact Assessment. Working with a Wales Public Body

•Attending events: to represent Urban Habitats and prepare notes of the event.

•Process development: particularly around GIS and systematising approaches from project work.

•Knowledge management: we have a range of ongoing activities to improve our management of data and knowledge.

•Web / blog / social media content: contributing to showcasing Urban Habitats work especially through Instagram & LinkedIn.

•Other administrative tasks: will form part of the workload too.

how will I be supported?

Resources: senior staff time will be allocated to supporting the intern to work towards the outcomes identified in the internship pack.

Induction: you will receive an induction into Urban Habitats so you can find your feet and get the most out of your internship.

Equipment: we will provide a laptop with the required software and home working accessories to support an ergonomic setup.

Learning outcomes: we will agree learning outcomes for both you and us at the outset using a learning framework. This will be reviewed during the internship and also evaluated at the end of the internship.

Wellbeing: our work is about creating wellbeing with communities so it’s really important to us that our work also supports wellbeing and health for the people doing the work. We are aware that remote working or working from home can bring its own challenges and we will work to support you to get the most out of the internship.

main areas of work

These are the main areas of work with specific activities being determined by what is current at the time of the internship:

Project based work: including planning and delivering research activities, report writing, stakeholder engagement. Being in contact with partners and clients beyond Urban Habitats, for example in meetings.

Project and task planning: to deliver tasks on schedule through project management, administrative, and problem-solving skills, combined with attention to detail.

Communication: with a diverse range of audiences both in written materials, meetings, social media, and events.

Teamwork: contribute towards a team ethos, typically working remotely, with people both in Urban Habitats and other organisations.

Networking: contributing to the development of the Urban Habitats and own networks

Person Specification

Essential:

As appropriate to the level of this internship. Skills may be demonstrated through a mix of academic qualifications, professional experience, extra-curricular activities, or relevant personal pursuits/activities.

• Will work to deliver Urban Habitats’ values and vision, with a clear commitment to values and ethical practice and practise in their own work.
• A commitment to ongoing learning and personal development.
• Degree level qualification or current course of study in a public health, built environment, natural environment discipline (for example but not limited to geography, environmental health, public health, urban design, landscape architecture, architecture, town planning).
• Experience of preparing written outputs based on collection of evidence from a range of sources; analysis of evidence; synthesis; and written output.
• Motivated with the ability to work independently whilst also knowing the limits of own knowledge and when to ask for help. Manages own time effectively.
• Ability to work effectively in a supportive team environment.

Desirable:

• Postgraduate level qualification in the areas listed above.
• Motivated to building own networks including using a range of approaches and social media.
• A broad understanding of and interest in the links between people’s health, planetary health, and the natural and built environment.
• Commitment and enthusiasm to work to address the climate and nature emergencies, and reducing health inequalities.
• Confident with social media including its use for engaging with a wider audience (we use LinkedIn and Instagram).

skills, knowledge, & experience

Essential:

• Planning, implementing, and executing research and report writing.
• Writing – academic referenced outputs.
• Writing skills to include: initial drafting, review, and finalising outputs including working with team members (both internal and external) to integrate changes.
• Able to produce graphically consistent report outputs working to a template / guide.
• Good communication skills: across a range of outputs and a range of audiences.
• Commitment to building own professional network.
• Is self-motivated, can manage own time and workload. Can work to a deadline.
• Technology: confident user of digital technology and associated software packages including Microsoft Office 365 (esp. email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive) and tools for online meetings.
• Reference management: knowledge of reference management software and data management (we use Zotero).
• Literature sources and management: skilled at identifying suitable and relevant literature sources and interrogating these as part of literature review and synthesis.

Desirable:

• Experience in applied Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as part of degree level coursework or equivalent.
• Postgraduate module in applied GIS.
• Knowledge of QGIS software.
• Social media: demonstrated confidence in use of various social media platforms.
• Graphics skills – creating professional and engaging documents using graphic design skills.
• Writing – demonstrates a broad range of experience beyond academic such as for practice and industry audiences.
• Research writing – experience of synthesising qualitative evidence synthesis.
• Experience of public speaking at conferences / events (including online).