Adriana Portella

Dr Adriana Portella has over two decades of professional research experience, with a strong track record in coordinating international projects, academic administration, and university-level teaching. She has led research funded by prominent international and national agencies, including the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Brazilian federal bodies such as CAPES, CNPq, and FAPERGS.

Dr Adriana Portella is currently the Principal Investigator of the British Academy-funded project Amazon Indigenous Windows, a collaborative initiative between Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom and the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) in Brazil. This interdisciplinary project brings together academic and Indigenous knowledge to explore environmental and cultural sustainability in the Amazon region, with a focus on decolonial methodologies and community-led research.

From 2016 to 2019, she served as the Brazilian Coordinator for the ESRC-funded project Place-Making with Older People: Towards Age-Friendly Communities (£808,289), a collaborative initiative between Brazil and the United Kingdom. In this role, she led a research team of 43 members in Brazil. Between 2018 and 2022, she was also a researcher on another ESRC-funded project, Ageing Well in Urban Environments: Developing Age-Friendly Cities and Communities, in partnership with the UK and India (£404,827).

From 2019 to 2023, Dr Portella coordinated the CAPES-PRINT-funded Brazilian project Centre for Studies on Healthy Cities, Ageing and Citizenship at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), involving international collaboration with institutions in the UK, Argentina, Chile, and France.

Her interdisciplinary research spans urban design, urban planning, architecture, environmental psychology, and health geography. She investigates themes such as climate justice, social inequalities, health and well-being, global ageing, sense of place, resilience, and heritage. Her work is grounded in participatory methodologies, engaging communities as co-researchers. She has developed and applied innovative qualitative methods, including photo diaries and participatory mapping, and also conducts quantitative research using non-parametric statistical analysis.

Dr Portella has worked extensively with vulnerable populations, including residents of favelas and gentrifying neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, she was invited to present her research The Olympic Legacy of Rio 2016: A City for Whom? at the United Nations in Geneva. She is committed to knowledge mobilisation and public engagement, translating research findings into public policy and working closely with community organisations, government bodies, and other stakeholders to maximise impact.

Dr Portella holds a PhD in Urban Design (2007) from Oxford Brookes University and a postdoctoral qualification in Urban Planning (2008) from The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. Since August 2008, she has held a permanent post as Associate Professor (Level 4) at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, UFPel. She served as Head of the Department (2016–2020) and as Coordinator of the Master’s Programme in Architecture and Urbanism (2009–2013). She also founded and coordinated the Laboratory of Behavioural Studies (LabCom) at UFPel from 2016 to 2023, where she now continues as a Research Fellow and International Coordinator. Dr Portella is also a professor of the Post-Graduate Programme in Architecture and Urbanism (PROGRAU) of the Federal University of Pelotas.

Dr Portella is the author of five international books: From the Amazon to the World: Confronting Climate Change Together; Visual Pollution: Advertising, Signage and Environmental Quality; Insights on Favelas; Place-Making with Older Adults: Towards Age-Friendly Cities and Communities; and Ageing in Place. She has maintained strong academic ties with the UK since 2003, particularly in the field of global ageing. In 2022, she was a Visiting Professor at the Urban Institute, Heriot-Watt University, supported by a CNPq scholarship. In addition to her roles at UFPel and LabCom, she continues to collaborate with the Research Centre of Urban Studies at Heriot-Watt University, developing research and teaching activities in the area of climate change, climate justice and Indigenous knowledge.