Rita Assoreira Almendra is a Full Professor at the Lisbon School of Architecture (FA-ULisboa) where she is Head of the Design Department and coordinates both the Design Doctoral Program and the nucleus of Design at CIAUD research centre. She holds a PhD in Design (2010) from FA-ULisboa, and a Master's in Design Management (2004) and an MBA with marketing specialization (2002), both from the Catholic University of Lisbon. Rita has worked for more than 20 years as a design researcher and educator, with numerous publications and master's and doctoral supervisions in this field. She is the founder and coordinator of the Research & Education in Design research group [redes.fa.ulisboa.pt], and was responsible for two editions of the International Conference on Research and Education in Design.

• Part 1 Design Proximity(ies) in Design Education 1. Draw(in)Proximity: A Drawing-Based Strategy for Knowledge Transfer 2. The New Fado of the Students: Proximity between Utopia and Architecture Education 3. Design Educators: Collective Agents of Change 4. The Synergies Initiative: Enhancing Interdisciplinarity through Problem-based Learning in Design Education 5. Portuguese Educational Practices: A Journey through European Trends in Graduation, Quality Assurance, and Design History: The Influences and Consequences in the Teaching of Design to Develop a Relevant and Contemporary Curriculum 6. Liquid Proximity: Engaging and Alternative Ways of Interacting with Design Students 7. Proximity of Conjectures to Design Pedagogy Part 2 Design Approaches in Academic Context 8. Food Design Education: Design for Food or Food for Design? Different Approaches to Designing a Change for Our Food Systems 9. Design Activism: A Humanitarian Approach in an Academic Context 10. Textile Design: A Transdisciplinary Approach in Higher Education in Portugal 11. Urban Design Project-Based Teaching: The UQAM Praxis III Lab Approach 12. Investigating the Means Utilized by the Supporting Staff in Design Studio Courses: An Interview Study 13. Assessments in the Design Studio: Self-Reflecting on MDD (AUAS) Methods 14. Teaching Design in the Google Age: Redesigning the Assignment 15. Design Thinking and the Proximity Argument — The Case Study of Engineering Students at a Portuguese University Part 3 Teaching-Learning Processes 16. Teaching-Learning Design through the Contingency of COVID-19 17. Tall Tales: Reflecting on the Role of Dialogue in Design Studio Learning 18. Portuguese Design Education on Materials – An Overview 19. Supporting the Understanding of Complex Concepts through Play Situations 20. A Pilot Study for Introducing Designing Materials in Design Education 21. Exploring Student Perceptions of Product-Service Systems