Biography

Mónica is an architect from the University of Porto, holds an MSc. in urban planning and management from the University of Aalborg, and is a PhD candidate in Sociology: Cities and Urban Cultures at the Center for Social Studies / University of Coimbra with the thesis "Food and Urbanities: the production of urban foodscapes - Rio de Janeiro", funded with a PhD scholarship awarded by the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). For more than a decade she has been working with themes related to cities and sustainability, always linked to the third sector and working on themes such as sustainable urban mobility, sustainable cities, Sustainable Development Goals, and healthy and sustainable food systems. She had professional experiences with UN-HABITAT ROLAC, the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development, Conservation International Brazil, and managed the SDSN network in Brazil for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. She founded and co-directs Instituto Comida do Amanhã, a think-tank based in Brazil that supports the transition to healthy and sustainable food systems, and operates in the axes of food and cities, food and climate, food and culture. She was the main author of the chapter "RIO DE JANEIRO: Governance, Participation and street markets. The path towards an Urban Food Policy", which is part of the publication "FOOD & CITIES. The role of cities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals", organized and published by the Center for Food and Nutrition Barilla, together with the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.