With more than six years of working experience as an urban and sustainability expert with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Sara is currently a research associate at The Business School of Edinburgh Napier University, and PhD student at the Academy of Architecture of Urban Studies of Tallinn University of Technology.

Her academic background includes two Masters and one Specialist Diploma in the fields of architecture, urban planning, and data-driven analysis through Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Since 2015, she has been working with local and national governments in various countries and regions around the world, including Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In this context, she has been involved in a range of different topics related to sustainable urban development, including strategic urban planning, data platforms, crises response, metropolitan governance, sustainable transport, housing policies, and public space. Overall, her roles included program management activities, negotiation and development of projects, technical advice, and urban and territorial analysis.

The focus of her PhD research lies on partnerships and governance models for the implementation of smart city projects, particularly investigating the creation of social, democratic, and environmental benefits. Tying into this research, she is also part of a team of academic consultants working on a global study on “Smart City Governance” for the UN and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).