Ruben Fernandes is the Executive Board Member ofthe municipal company Aguas e Energia do
Porto EM. He oversees the areas of strategic planning, lab testing, sustainability and
communication, information systems, water supply systems, urban drainage systems, asset
management and engineering, and energy. He is also an Invited Assistant Professor at the School
of Economics and Management of the University of Porto. Previously he was the Coordinator of
the Regional Dynamics Monitoring Unit at CCDR-N (Norte Regional Coordination and
Development Commission) — a regional body of the Portuguese Government tasked with
implementing regional policies in the Northern Region of Portugal. To date, he has been involved
in several projects covering topics related to spatial planning and development, urban
metabolism, circular economy, environmental impact assessment, urban regeneration, transport
planning, just to name a few. He got his master’s degree in economics and his doctorate degree
in Civil Engineering, both at the University of Porto.