East's art expressed a deep concern for Brazil's environment both in the major cities and the country's interior, specially the rainforests of the Amazon.
She moved to England and then to the Scottish community of Findhorn, where she focused on ecological activism and began giving lectures and seminars.
East has played a role in developing relationships between the United Nations and the Findhorn Ecovillage, culminating in the establishment of CIFAL Scotland in 2006.
[11] A UNITAR Fellow she has an MSc in Spatial Planning with specialisation in integrated approaches for the regeneration of abandoned towns in southern Italy, which makes the case for the reactivation of abandoned settlements, the so-called ghost towns in southern Europe, as an alternative housing solution that comes with embedded collective memory and offers ‘locally adaptable, culturally rooted’ opportunities for communities.
[citation needed] She holds a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning with the University of Dundee on the topic What if Women Designed the City?