Ticiana Ponte is enrolled in the Doctorate in Public Policy at the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences at the University of Aveiro (DCSPT, UA) in Portugal, where she is a member of the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP). She holds a master’s degree in architecture, with a specialization in urbanism, and a bachelor’s degree in architecture and urbanism from the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. During her undergraduate studies, Ponte received a scientific initiation scholarship grant from CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) to research the impact of climate dynamics on the Northeast region of Brazil. She was awarded 1st place in the Engineering Area for her research presentation at the IX Scientific Meeting of Research Initiation by the Federal University of Ceará. She was also awarded 6th place in the FCT 2021 Call for PhD Studentships in the Economic and Social Geography area, with the research project “Planning for Urban Sustainable Development: A Complex Adaptive System Approach to Lisbon's Green Infrastructure”. From July 2021 to March 2025, she held a Research Fellowship within the scope of the R&D Project ENVISION - Accelerating Environmental Assessment towards Sustainable Cities and Regions (PTDC/GES-URB/0804/2020; doi.org/10.54499/PTDC/GES-URB/0804/2020) funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/MCTES. Currently, she is a mentee in the International Sustainable Development Research Society-ISDRS Mentorship Program. Ponte´s research focuses on identifying and exploring the role of various actors in urban governance of decision-making processes of policies and plans, particularly examining how the dynamics of agency features may drive urban systemic change toward sustainability. This is particularly important in addressing the complex, interconnected challenges contemporary societies face, which manifest at different levels and domains, exhibiting complex adaptive systems configurations. Ponte has published the article “Identifying and exploring ‘agency features’ in decision-making processes aimed at urban sustainability transformation” as the first and corresponding author in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal indexed in Scopus (Urban Research and Practice; https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2025.2483242), marking a significant milestone in her research. She also co-authored two articles in Brazilian national journals and presented seven conference abstracts, including four at international conferences at renowned universities such as Georgetown University and Columbia University. She also presented two full papers, one at the International Conference on Water, Energy, Food, and Sustainability-ICoWEFS 2021 (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75315-3_60) in Portugal, published by Springer. Furthermore, she produced two policy briefs (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15195508) to assist policymakers and stakeholders involved in urban decision-making processes regarding policies, plans, and programs aimed at transforming urban systems toward sustainability, focusing on the Portuguese context. She also worked for the Prefecture of Fortaleza, Brazil, at the Municipal Secretariat of Urbanism and Environment as the executive sub-coordinator of a multidisciplinary team. In this role, she participated in research activities and planning for sustainable urban development and public policies in collaboration with international organizations dedicated to sustainable development, such as UN-Habitat, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability. The plans include the Fortaleza Master Plan, Fortaleza Walkability Plan, Low-Carbon Urban Development Strategies Plan, and Integrated Waterfront Management Project. For this work, she received a distinction award for outstanding public service.