Carla Urbina has a diverse academic background, holding a Ph.D. in Urbanism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2021). She is an architect from Universidad Rafael Urdaneta, Venezuela (1997), with a Master’s in Urban Design from Universidad Metropolitana, Venezuela (2000), and additional qualifications in Landscape Architecture and Specialist in Recovery of Cultural Landscapes, Parks, and Historic Gardens from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain (2008).

She is currently a Postdoctoral researcher at the PAISA research group at ProUrb-UFRJ, focusing on biodiversity and restoration of modern gardens. She serves as an Associate Professor at Universidad del Zulia and is a Member of the Local Sustainable Development Commission of the National Academy of Engineering and Habitat (Venezuela).

Carla Urbina has extensive experience as an academic, teaching and researching in Venezuela, Norway, Colombia, Panama, and Brazil. She is currently a professor at the Polytechnic School of the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, specializing in multidisciplinary research and project design in architecture, urban design (historic centers, new urban areas, and recovery of devastated areas), and restoration projects of cultural landscapes and modern gardens.

She was part of the design team and the Board of Directors of the Fundação Jardim Botânico de Maracaibo (2009-2016), contributing to the recovery and reopening of the botanical garden designed by Roberto Burle Marx.

Throughout her career, Carla Urbina has received numerous distinctions, including the National Prize at the Caracas Biennial of Architecture (2001), First Place at the Maracaibo Architecture Biennial (2013), finalist at the Mexican and Latin American Landscape Biennial (2014), City of Maracaibo Order in the First Class (2015), and the National Architecture Prize of Venezuela (2017).

Currently, her research focuses on the concept of Landscape-school, emphasizing the role of urban landscape in restoring biocultural diversity and the importance of establishing ecosystem nurseries as spaces for the propagation and protection of plant species for use in ecological restoration projects.

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