Biography

Isabel Ferreira is a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, where she is part of the Research Group "Urban Cultures, Sociability and Participation". Principal investigator and co-coordinator of the TRANS-Lighthouses project - More than green - Lighthouses of transformative nature-based solutions for inclusive communities, a European project funded by Horizon Europe and co-coordinator of the URBiNAT project - Healthy corridors as drivers of social housing neighborhoods for the cocreation of social, environmental and marketable NBS, European project funded by H2020. PhD in Sociology, Cities and Urban Cultures with the dissertation "Governance, citizenship and participation in small and medium-sized cities: comparative study between Portuguese and Canadian cities", with funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/129936/2017), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the International Council for Canadian Studies. She was awarded an honorable mention for the INA 2023 Award-Best Research on Public Administration. Graduated in Geography, with a specialization in Environmental Studies from the University of Coimbra (Portugal), with a specialization in Environmental Impact Studies from the University of Murcia (Spain), a master's degree in Spatial Planning and Environmental Planning from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal). Since 2015 she collaborates with the Research Executive Agency (European Commission) as an independent expert. Her professional experience is mainly related to local planning in the environmental and spatial planning, cultural, educational and sporting areas, having worked as a technician at the Barcelos City Council where she coordinated, collaborated and developed several plans and projects between 2001 and 2012.