Rita is an assistant professor at the Department of Sciences and Environmental Engineering (DCEA) from NOVA-FCT University of Lisbon. She is an integrated researcher at CENSE (Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research) at NOVA-FCT, where she coordinates the Ecological Economics and Environmental Management area. She is also part of CHANGE - Institute for Global Changes and Sustainability in the thematic line "Promote a circular and carbon-neutral economy". Currently, she serves as vice president of the European Society for Ecological Economics. Her work has been focused on ecological economics, socio-environmental dynamics and analysis, collaborative governance, low carbon economies, and other sustainability topics. Her passion lies in advancing knowledge through innovative mixed-method approaches, facilitating informed decision-making processes, and shaping well-designed policies in critical sustainability domains, poised to drive profound social transformations. With extensive experience spanning both research and in collaborations with the private sector and public administration in Portugal and abroad, Rita has made significant contributions to the field. Rita holds a Ph.D. in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies, a joint program offered by NOVA University of Lisbon and the University of Lisbon. She also has a Master's in Environmental Engineering from FCT-NOVA University of Lisbon. Since she started as a junior researcher at CENSE (2009), she has focused mainly on socio-ecological systems, ecosystem services integrated valuation, systems thinking, and mixed-method approaches. After her Ph.D. completion (2017), she expanded her research fields to circular economy and low carbon economies, having also worked on well-being economy, green public procurement, and climate change adaptation. In these contexts, she has been developing and applying different collaborative tools and mixed-method approaches to support local and national public policies and plans and also private strategies and plans. Her scientific production has been consistent, demonstrating autonomy, being the first author of seven (of fourteen) peer-reviewed publications in international peer reviewed scientific journals. Her organization and leading scientific teams have been growing in the last years by integrating different international consortiums for developing research proposals, the experience of management and coordination activities conducted in various EU projects from multiple very competitive funding streams (LIFE ENTRACK, Horizon Hub IN, PRIMA BONEX) and the (Co-) Supervision of Ph.D. thesis with professors from other universities. Currently she supervises five PhD students (3 of them with FCT scholarship) and she had successful conduced her first PhD student to successful conclusion (2024). This has also expanded her international activities and networks, contributing to the research she has been developing. Her pathway shows continuity and intensification of research, teaching, and society-linked activities. During this pathway, she has been increasing her skills in design, management, and conduction of co-creation processes (in national and international environments), engaging different stakeholder groups from national, international, and local authorities, business, civil society, and research, reaching a high number of people (around 1000 stakeholders engaged). Rita has been weaving together key sustainability areas through mixed-method collaborative approaches, forging vital connections among social, cultural, economic, and ecologic spheres. As assistant professor she is responsible for a cross-cutting course on sustainability that is mandatory for all students attending the second year of undergraduate Programs; at Environmental Engineering Program she teaches at different courses (e.g. sustainability in organisations, environmental management, socio-environmental methods, participatory methods, among others)