Eduarda Aun’s social change work started in the neighborhoods of Brasilia. She moved to New York City to pursue graduate studies in the MS Design and Urban Ecologies program, which enabled her to master skills and approaches to assist citizens in navigating, contesting and transforming their urban environments. During her time at Parsons, she worked on groundbreaking public projects with the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve mobility for New Yorkers, which led to her current work as a program associate at the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and her participation in the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI).

After earning a bachelor’s degree in architecture and urban planning at the Universidade de Brasilia, Eduarda co-founded Coletivo MOB (Movimente e Ocupe o seu Bairro), a nonprofit organization that uses public space as a platform for civic engagement and social change, working alongside local planning agencies, cultural movements, and mobility advocates. Her interest in activism and community planning motivated her to enroll in the MS Design and Urban Ecologies program at Parsons, in which she continued nurturing her passion for public space and commitment to the promotion of citizen-led processes and democratization of urban knowledge.

“The program definitely helped me better define and support my beliefs and values and incorporate them into my urban and professional practice. It not only gave me the theoretical framework on which to base it off of but also exposed me to some of the methodologies, the design processes, and the different paths I could take as a designer other than a traditional architect or planner. It also demonstrated the need to work in interdisciplinary groups and how the different perspectives and skills are complementary and can yield unexpected and more creative work.”

During her thesis year, Eduarda developed Espaço Público, an interactive platform that provides resources and supports grassroots initiatives that are reclaiming public space in Brasilia and was featured on the website ArchDaily. Eduarda received a fellowship from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship to implement her thesis project.

While working at the DOT during her studies, Eduarda assisted in the development of the third edition of NYC’s Street Design Manual and in the planning, design, and evaluation of pedestrian-friendly “el-spaces” (spaces under elevated infrastructure) citywide. She also collaborated with both Street Labs and Beautiful Trouble. For her innovative work Eduarda received the Women’s Transportation Seminar Transit Policy Innovator Scholarship in 2017.

Today Eduarda works as a program associate at NACTO. This role allows her to contribute to the efforts of the GCDI, an organization that promotes sustainable, accessible, and equitable transportation. NACTO-GDCI supports city governments around the world in implementing projects that foster sustainable mobility, use of public space, and road safety. Through policy and design guidance, capacity building and community engagement, interventions and street transformations, and metric collection and evaluations, the partnership contributes to cities’ knowledge base and provides tools with which to transform the roles of streets and public space.