Profile

María Francisca Tapia

Member of gaia-liNc e.V. 

Budapest, Hungary

ftapia@gaialinc.org

Areas of knowledge 

  • Nature-based Solutions & Service Design
  • Sustainable Urban Development
  • Energy & Environmental performance
  • Co- creation process

Education

Doctoral studies at the University of Pécs focusing on NbS assessment and service design methodologies. M.Sc in Building and Architectural Engineering at Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi); Architecture and Urbanism Diploma at Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE); Research and Training in Social Design Architecture at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

Areas of interest

As a Senior Researcher Consultant, I specialize in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) implementation and service design, with a focus on ecosystem services and conservation across different scales and contexts. My expertise encompasses urban solutions, building renovation, and digitalization, contributing to both theoretical frameworks and practical applications in urban resilience and climate adaptation.

Background

I started my professional career with governmental and private collaborations in Ecuador and Argentina to optimize urban and natural resources at macro and micro-scale projects. During my master studies, I worked on R&I projects in Italy developing NbS and GI in industrial urban areas in the H2020 and EU Green Deal framework. Throughout my career, I’ve led transformative projects bridging diverse cultures and built lasting partnerships between European and Latin American institutions, creating valuable channels for knowledge exchange and collaborative research. I am now working as a Senior Consultant with focus on nature-based solutions, energy performance, digitalization, and retrofitting buildings in Hungary and several countries in Europe.

What drew you to gaia-liNc’s mission?

I believe in the power of networks between people and their skills. In this sense, every natural and urban initiative comprises methods and concepts to acknowledge different approaches, to understand and align them for reaching sustainable solutions. Such competencies are indispensable to enhance sustainability criteria as economic, ecological and cultural aspects in Latin America and the rest of the world. Thus, the reason that brings me to gaia-liNc is the motivation to build up ideas within a multidisciplinary team that consider sustainable solutions as our responsibility to change the social and natural environment.

 

An interesting fact about you

I lived and traveled through Latin America during my architectural studies, where I had the opportunity to experience different neighbourhood dynamics in the “villas” of  Buenos Aires, by dedicated work in seeking architectural solutions to improve public spaces and social relations in communities. During 2016, I was a volunteer for the development of an emerging and resilience pilot project for the design of a post-seismic building, after the Abril 2016 earthquake in Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Due to my desire for learning and improving my skills, I have been continuing to reach for new experiences in my career that always bring me to meet places and people with different cultures, which I think is part of the daily motivation of what I am doing now.