Francisco Freitas is a Portuguese sociologist who has been studying natural and technological risks and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in the Universities of Coimbra and Aveiro. He attended also exchange programs in the Dutch Universities of Nijmegen and Utrecht. As a researcher, he has been collaborating in research projects together with renamed social scientists in the fields of international migrations, risk analysis and, ultimately, public policy and participation. His current interests are risk analysis and management, participatory budgeting, as well as research methods and techniques, with a particular focus on the activities of data georeferencing, spatial analysis and mapping.