Could you share what you were doing before starting the master in urban studies?
Before coming to Brussels, I did my bachelor’s in civil engineer in Medellín, Colombia, where I’m originally from. After finishing my degree, I volunteered for a Belgian association for public transport, Youth For Public Transport (Y4PT), where I got really engaged with sustainable mobility. Since then, I managed to get a position in the Colombian government for the design and construction of bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure. I worked there for two and a half years. It was quite a fulfilling but unstable job, though, because with the change of governments I didn’t know if I would have a contract or not for the following year. I therefore decided to apply for the master. It caught my attention because it was about thinking more broadly: it’s not just how to build something, but how that affects the city. When I applied to the master’s, COVID hit. I got the opportunity to have a scholarship, so I came; it felt like strange times, but I don’t regret the decision.
How was your experience with the master?
I won’t deny that at the very beginning it was challenging. I came from a technical field: you have equations, you have an objective answer. In social sciences, it’s very different, you have to do papers, which I didn’t have a lot of experiences with, and there’s a lot of critical thinking. The contrast was challenging, but nice as well. I think that it is something that should be embedded in the different engineering faculties as well.
Do you have a memory that stands out from the master?
Urban Analysis was a really interesting course because it takes you to the streets to actually talk to people, discuss with a group, get out of your comfort zone. You start interviewing, experimenting, really being in the field. That was one of my first interactions with the city of Brussels. But then after a few months, everything shut down because of the pandemic, so that was challenging. We were supposed to go to Paris, but that got postponed. When we finally got to go to Paris, though, I was doing my internship there. So that was a fun experience to welcome my cohort to my new city.
What was the internship about?
It was a really nice experience! As I mentioned, I was always into sustainable mobility, and my internship was no different. I went to a cycling urbanism company that is called Copenhagenize; they tried to bring the concept of Copenhagen in mobility to different contexts. I was working on the French context from the offices in Paris. I was in the design team working on bicycle infrastructure for France, mostly for the cities of Montpellier and Toulouse. It was great, we got to experience the transformation of the cities, and there was a lot of learning opportunities.
What did you do after the master?
When you graduate as a non-European, you have to apply for a visa to get an extra year for job seeking. While you apply for that, you’re a bit stuck and waiting if you get your permit or not. So, I started networking a lot, going to places that I thought were interesting. For my master’s thesis, I volunteered for a couple of cycling associations, so I kept volunteering there. After I finally got the permit, I got a call from one of the professors of the master’s about a project about cargo bikes. So, I worked on that project, I was really lucky.
When that project ended, I struggled a bit to find another project to continue researching and making a PhD out of it. At this moment, I’m in a transition time. I technically stopped the PhD, but I’m continuing research on sustainable mobility, and I am now supporting the creation of a new research collective called SWIFFT. It is broader, with four research paths about decarbonization, justice, finance, sustainable engineering, and sustainable transformations. I still do a lot from the cycling sphere, so I’m happy that my current work still allows me to have the flexibility to focus on what I like while opening my mind and getting me into new domains.
What do you enjoy the most about your current position?
I really understood that that’s something I really thrive for: being this broker between academia and what is called “real life”. Being able to trespass academic knowledge and translate it into a language that actually creates transformative change. I believe that we are really privileged with the knowledge that we have and get and it’s part of our responsibility to also bring it back to the world through knowledge exchange. You have to take what you know to the outside world, so to say. I believe in applied research and activist research as well.
What are some skills learned through the master that you got to apply in your career?
Since the master’s had a focus on research, learning how to do research has been helpful for me to stay in academia. I will also say that one of the biggest learnings was critical thinking. Professors brought interesting views, some thinking through Marxist views, contesting mainstream sustainability narratives, and so on. Also, at the time, the master didn’t have such a big offer on technical skills, like GIS or AutoCAD, and I already knew them from my previous experience.
"I believe that we are really privileged with the knowledge that we have and get and it’s part of our responsibility to also bring it back to the world through knowledge exchange. You have to take what you know to the outside world, so to say. I believe in applied research and activist research as well."
Do you have any advice for someone who is considering studying this master?
I think it's really important to understand your background and where you want to go, because I think you take for granted what urban studies could mean. Just as we saw, it's really broad. Check the differences between what is urban studies, what is urbanism, urban design, urban planning. If you take for granted the differences between them, then you get into the program and you can be surprised or disappointed depending on your expectations. Do your research but also allow yourself to experiment. In the end, when I came here it was not what I expected at the beginning.
How did the program surprise you?
I was expecting less theory. The first semester was dense with theories. But then, they were complemented with other courses that were more on the ground, like Urban Analysis. Then I was able to adjust my path to go more into mobility and planning and doing an internship, which for me was a must. It opens your mind. Also, for a non-European perspective, it opens the European market. You understand how it works, how to connect to people.
Are you still in contact with the people you met through the master?
I don’t know how the selection process works, but they are really good at selecting motivated and passionate people with interesting paths! I still keep in contact with some of the people from my cohort and my partner is also from MUS. Some of them stayed in Brussels, others are citizens of the world that you catch here and there when you visit them or when they come back every once in a while. There are a lot of meaningful connections, and it feels like whenever you go around Brussels, you find someone from MUS, especially in the activist scene.
"Do your research but also allow yourself to experiment."
How did you experience moving to Brussels for your studies?
I think it’s a unique city, especially as a migrant. It’s a super cosmopolitan city; it feels so different from any other European city. I feel it is kind of a living encyclopedia: you meet people from all over the world, and you hear very different stories, you listen to all these different languages. I know it’s not the perfect city; there is also a lot of chaos, there are things to improve. Sometimes I dream of ending up in the public sector because I have some criticisms. But also, you see the city moving. I came here five years ago and even in my domain, mobility, you see advancements. Most of my research work is about Brussels, and I think there are a lot of things to learn.
How would you describe urban studies?
A really diverse and entertaining path to go through and that you can shape on your own. Urban studies gives you the opportunity to learn, to ask a lot of questions about the city.
This interview was conducted in July 2025.