Cristina Cavaco, born in Lisbon in 1973, earned a Degree in Architecture (1996), a Master's Degree in Contemporary Architectural Culture (2001), and a PhD in Architecture with a thesis focusing on urban development (2009), all from the Faculty of Architecture - Technical University of Lisbon (FA-UTL). In 2023, she attained the Habilitation for full professorship in Urbanism at the Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, where she develops teaching, research, and expertise activities since 1999. Between 2021 to 2023, she held the role of Vice-President of the Lisbon School of Architecture. Currently, she holds the position of Associate Professor with Habilitation, serving as the Director of the Department of Urbanism since October 2023. She is an integrated member of the Research Center of Architecture, Urbanism, and Design (CIAUD), as well as a member and co-coordinator of URBinLAB – Urbanism and Territorial Dynamics, one of the research groups belonging to CIAUD. Her research spans urbanism and spatial planning, covering topics from regional design, the architecture of the region, urban development and morphology, and urban and spatial planning policies to tourism. She has spearheaded and participated in numerous research projects funded by entities such as FCT, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, EFDR, and EEA Grants. Between 2018-2022, she led the ‘SOFTPLAN - From Soft Planning to Territorial Design’ research project, funded by FCT, and she is currently involved in several other research projects, such as MetroPublic Net, Masti, LUCO, all funded by FCT. In terms of applied research, she plays the role of co-PI for the development of five Municipal Spatial Plans in Timor-Leste (2022-present), at the request of the Timorese Government, and is part of the team responsible for the elaboration of the Guide for Municipal Housing Charters (CMH) at the request of the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon. She is also involved in DUST – Democratising jUst Sustainability Transitions, a Horizon 2020 project, as a Member of the External Advisory Board. From 2012 to 2016, she served as Deputy Director General at the Directorate General of Territory, overseeing matters of territorial development, spatial planning, and urban policies. She participated in the revision of Portugal's spatial planning legal framework, contributing to the Spatial Planning Framework Act (2014) and subsequent legal regimes (2015). She has also been actively engaged in national and international policy agendas, coordinating projects such as the National Report for Habitat III (2016), evaluating the National Spatial Development Policy Programme – PNPOT (2014), and contributing to the National Strategy for Sustainable Cities 2020 (2015). Additionally, she played a role in formulating the National Policy for Architecture and Landscape (2015). Her dedication extends to international representation, where she served as Portugal's representative on the Monitoring Committee of the European Territorial Cooperation Programmes URBACT III and ESPON 2020. She has been an expert on the European Commission's Expert Group of Territorial Cohesion and Urban Matters (TCUM), a National Focal Point on the EIONET National Reference Center on Land Use and Spatial Planning (NRC – LUSP) at the European Environment Agency, and the National Representative for Habitat III. Currently, she is involved in the international AESOP’s Thematic Group for Regional Design and ‘Aliança ODS Portugal’ (led by the United Nations Global Compact national network), where she serves as a member of the Council of Honor and an Ambassador for SDG 11 and 15.