I am currently an Assistant Professor in the section of Spatial Planning and Strategy of the Department of Urbanism at TU Delft. I am also the lead of the Citizen Voice Initiative, co-founder of the Citizens Collective and a member of the Centre for the Just City, the TU Delft Climate Action Program, and the TU Delft Climate Safety & Security centre (CaSS).
MY Journey
I grew up during a time of increasing awareness of climate change and urgent calls for sustainability, which profoundly shaped both my worldview and academic trajectory. At sixteen, I chose to study engineering, believing that science and technology could lead the way toward sustainable futures. This was during the “boom” of renewable energies, promoted by various global insitutions like the IPCC. Over time, I witnessed climate change intensify and intertwine with local and global crises, disproportionately affecting those least responsible for socio-environmental degradation. This realisation prompted me to re-evaluate the role of technology and expand my inquiry into the social, political, and spatial dimensions of climate change. Through this process, I took a “humanities turn” in my career, transitioning from a technical to an inter- and trans-disciplinary pathway.
BACKGROUND
With academic training in Mechanical Engineering (Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil) and Energy & Environment (Sorbonne, France), a PhD in Civil Engineering (KU Leuven, Belgium), and a postdoctoral fellowship on socio-spatial inequalities (TU Delft, The Netherlands), my transdisciplinary journey has equipped me to engage critically with the ways space, knowledge, and technology intersect in shaping collective imaginaries. Contributing to the fields of socio-technical transitions, spatial studies, and participatory planning, my work focuses on the geographies of inequality, the role of digital technologies in shaping space and mediating civic participation, and the governance dynamics that underpin sustainability transitions.
INTERESTS & APPROACH
My research interests broadly include socio-spatial inequalities & spatial justice, climate and resilience imaginaries, energy transition and energy poverty, public participation & citizen empowerment, and related planning and policy implications. My most recent research focuses on the potential of collective action and prefigurative politics for transformative adaptation. I look at these topics from a socio-spatial intersectional perspective, drawing from feminist and decolonial scholarship and combining quantitative, qualitative, participatory, and creative research methods.
With a transdisciplinary and justice-centred approach, my pedagogy encourages critical reflection and engaged education. I advocate for education as an awakening and empowering experience – “education as freedom” inspired by Freirian pedagogy – rather than a process of passive knowledge transmission. My teaching invites students to grapple with real-world challenges, engage with people and communities, and question dominant narratives in spatial planning and development.
Positionality statement
I am a brazilian, cisgender woman. Being an academic from the homogenised “global south” working in a dutch university, I have my position shaped by both privilege and marginalisation. Coming from a middle-class background in brazil, I benefited and still benefit from social and economic privileges within my home country, where I am perceived as a white person. However, upon relocating to europe, this racial categorisation shifts, and I find myself navigating a more complex racial identity, where whiteness is defined differently, and I am no longer seen as white. To this, I add a gender dimension. I lost count of how many times I was the only (latin-american) woman in the room – from earlier on during university lectures and later in professional settings. This dual experience not only shapes my social identity but also informs my academic work and professional attitude. I am constantly negotiating the intersections of race, class, and gender, balancing the privilege from my upbringing with the challenges of being “othered” in europe.
Mentoring
If you are a student or junior researcher, please have a look at the opportunities to collaborate. If none of the open topics interest you, but you feel our interests align, do not hesitate to reach out!
Juliana Gonçalves 