Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain
I am deeply passionate about wildlife and nature, amazed about its beauty, interdependencies and complexity. I believe that a world where humans and the more-than human world thrive together is within reach—if we embrace the profound transformations needed to achieve it. As an unorthodox economist, I work at the intersection of innovation, nature conservation, and sustainability transformations, with a particular focus on the Global South. I see my role as part of collective experiments in imagining and shaping regenerative futures. My research and collaborations focus on how transformations unfold—their pace, direction, and the scales at which they emerge. This means working alongside communities, policymakers, NGOs, and international networks to learn (and often unlearn) together, exchange perspectives, and co-create practices that sustain social-ecological systems and reimagine the way that humans relate to the more-than-human world. Over the past years, I have had the privilege of joining projects with the United Nations-ECLAC, WWF International and the Luc Hoffmann Institute, Unearthodox, and an international consortium led by National Geographic Pristine Seas. These experiences have been opportunities to weave knowledge across disciplines, places, and ways of knowing—whether exploring pathways for regenerative economies, reimagining tourism, or supporting conservation innovation. I currently serve as a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP) for 2022-2025.
My lines of research at INGENIO (Spanish National Research Council) revolve around studying the emergence and scale of regenerative innovations and their potential for transformative change and analyzing transformation trajectories and trajectories shifts to just and sustainable blue economies in a selection of oceanic nations in the global south.
This collaboration involves a long-term partnership between CINPE (National University of Costa Rica) and INGENIO (CSIC-UPV, Spain) to support two research projects on Bioeconomy (with Prof. daniela García) and on Innovation financing (with Profs. Jeffrey Orozco and Keynor Ruiz) in Costa Rica. The partnership will facilitate mutual researcher exchanges, provide joint academic activities, and foster shared knowledge to enhance innovation policies and sustainable development in the country.
Blue transformations in Latin America and the Caribbean | Transformative capacity in Small Island Development States (SIDS) | Director of the Master in Innovation and Global Sustainable Development | MOOC 'Working for a sustainable future' | Courses in sustainable development: Innovation for Sustainable Development; Responsible Consumption and Production; Introduction to the Circular Economy; Innovative Practices in Developing Countries.
Social innovation for whom? | Director of the research area on globalization of innovation | Focus on regional transformations and global networks, particularly in the Global South | Board member |
Global Innovation Networks in emerging economies | Innovation systems in Developing Countries.
Analysis of sustainability gaps in 12 tourism destinations in Costa Rica, Panamá and Dominican Rep. Refinement of the methodology for the measurement of sustainability gaps in tourism and comparison of the results in the 12 destinations.