Ana Melo

Ana Melo is a practicing communication designer, a former PhD fellow at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon (FA-ULisboa) from 2019 to 2022, and is also currently teaching design at FA-ULisboa. 

She graduated in Communication Design at FBAUL (2002) and got her Master’s degree in Communication Sciences at NOVA FCSH (2008). She has been a member of CIAUD (Centre for Research in Architecture Urbanism and Design, Faculty of Architecture, University of Lisbon) since 2019 and integrates REDES Desis Lab and <div> Design, Interação e Visualização.

She completed her PhD in Design at FA-UL in 2024, and her research focuses on communication design contributions within social innovation initiatives in geographic areas that face population decline. Her main research interests are design for social innovation, communication design, design for territory, strategic design, and interaction design.

Ana also has been working as a communication designer for many years at design studios, where she developed communication and strategic design projects while coordinating creative teams and projects. Currently, she is dedicated to initiatives related to her areas of research: Lãnd – Wool Innovation Week, Projeto Queijeiras and Plataforma Lugar are some of the  projects she’s been working on, closely related to activating communities and place-making approaches in Aldeias de Montanha, a depopulated rural territory in the center of Portugal.