Irene Quintáns worked in the Barcelona City Council (2008-11), and in the SEHAB – Municipal Housing Secretariat in São Paulo (2011-13), specially focused on the Slum Upgrading Program awarded by the UN (Scroll of Honor 2012). While in the SEHAB, she created and developed a Safe Routes to School project, finalist in City to City Barcelona FAD prize (2012) and winner of the French City on the Move Institute prize (2014).

Urban planning consultant, specialized in projects and educational networks related to urban issues, with a strong attention on children and youngsters. She developed studies on school´s urban mobility in vulnerable peripherical areas in São Paulo (IVM 2015, Bloomberg Philanthropies 2016, Education Secretariat 2017) and Recife (Security Secretariat, 2016). She was the local coordinator for the World Bank Project “In-depth analysis of travel patterns in a Sao Paulo low-income community” (2015-16).

She is currently working as a consultant for developing Bernard van Leer Foundation`s Urban95 strategy in Latin-America (designing cities that support healthy child development between the ages of 0 and 3).

Founder and director of OCARA Network (www.redocara.com), a Latin American network for the exchange of experiences and projects on city, art, architecture and urban space with children. Through this network, she broadens experiences, articulates networking projects and organizes workshops and lectures.