Adela Salas Ruiz

Adela Salas Ruiz (Badajoz, 1990). Phd in Construction and Technologies in Architecture (2019) at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). Expert in Basic Habitability in Precarious Human Settlements.  Member of the coordination team of the cooperation group on Basic Habitability (ICHaB), at the Architecture School (ETSAM-UPM). Freelance researcher and independent consultant providing technical advice and supporting innovation in Basic Habitability and International Cooperation. Her research line is focused on the development and the implementation of low-cost building systems in precarious human settlements, addressing both the development of building materials, which are adapted to the environment of precariousness, and the design of constructive solutions for low-cost buildings.   

Since 2014  she has been working in different studies to measure the Basic Habitability level in different precarious contexts in developing countries. She worked in the Strategic Urban Plan of Makeni (Sierra Leona) collaborating with Makeni City Council, University of Makeni and San Pablo CEU University.  In addition, she has participated in the design of the NAUTIA methodology (UPM Platform on Refugees) to identify living conditions in Refugee Camps and their host communities, while also detecting priority needs in order to improve quality of life.  

Since 2019, she is professor in the Post-graduate and specialization Degree on «Development Cooperation in Precarious Human Settlements» at the ICHaB (UPM) in Madrid. Her investigation results are published in different specialised journals and international conferences contributions on Development Cooperation and Basic Habitability. As researcher, she is member of Spanish Network of Development Cooperation Studies and member of the Investigation Group Urban Agenda and Social Challenges at San Pablo CEU University.