Biography

Ana Paula M. P. Figueira has a PhD in Business Management (Marketing). She completed her post-doctorate at the Centre of Geographical Studies (IGOT/University of Lisbon) in 2011. She is a Coordinating Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Beja. She is a member of the A3ES list of experts for the assessment and accreditation of higher education courses in Tourism (Polytechnic). She was Pro-President for Planning, Marketing and Communication at the Polytechnic Institute of Beja (2017-2021).

She is vice-chair of the Chair in Ethnobotany and the Safeguarding of Plant Heritage, established by UNESCO at the Polytechnic Institute of Beja in January 2023. She coordinates the project “Cante de Improviso com Viola Campaniça” [Improvised Singing with Viola Campaniça], and has authored the first booklet to publicise this traditional instrument from the Baixo Alentejo, associated with the life and work of the musician Pedro Mestre.

She regularly writes opinion pieces in two regional newspapers. As well as technical books, she has published several works of fiction. Her areas of interest focus on marketing applied to tourism and the territory, as well as culture and heritage, particularly the relationship between tradition (popular cultures) and modernity, and the territorialisation of cultural public policies in plural ecosystems, with a view to finding solutions that promote cohesion, both in terms of proximity and in terms of involvement and coordination with the stakeholders.

Research fields

• Strategic planning, marketing, and territorial governance
• Tourism marketing
• Environment, culture, and heritage
• Cultural public policies

Selected publications

• Carvalho, Luís et al.. “Fig tree (Ficus carica L.) art in the Azores (Portugal).” Ethnobotany Research and Applications 26 (2023): 1-6. [link] 🔓
• Carvalho, Luís et al.. “Women and violets in France (1800-1920) – a visual journey.” Ethnobotany Research and Applications 26 (2023): 1-22. [link] 🔓
• Figueira, Ana Paula. Governança Territorial em Rede. Medição da notoriedade e avaliação do desempenho de uma parceria interorganizacional. Parede: Princípia Editora, 2013.
• Figueira, Ana Paula. Marketing Territorial. Uma Nova Dimensão do Marketing. Estarreja: Mel Editores, 2011. [link]

Main projects

• Coordinator of the project “Cante de Improviso com Viola Campaniça” [Improvised Singing with Viola Campaniça] — Hosted by the Polytechnic Institute of Beja in the framework of the UNESCO Chair in Ethnobotany and the Safeguarding of Plant Heritage. [link]