Noemi Barrientos Herrero

My name is Noemi. I live between La Valcueva, the small village in the central mountain of Leon where I was born (Spain), and Lufreu, a small village in the interior region of Coimbra (Portugal).

I am a local entrepreneur, innovator and triathlete. I am devoted to harnessing innovation to unlock the potential of rural areas. I design disruptive projects with other local entrepreneurs, to offer alternatives to the established industry and transform the territory by generating new ways of wealth in farming, agriculture, energy and industry.

Creativity, ideation and action shape my day by day. Balancing challenges with movement, I am continuously rethinking how to wring out innovation opportunities by using collective talent to generate something new and genuinely different. I like to see the big picture and enjoy experimenting with new formats, to push the future into the present: pilot initiatives, hackathons, innovation challenges, labs, workshops, “Conversatorios” and more.

Boosting innovation through co-creation, I get crucial players to act as the "glue": changemakers, entrepreneurs, cooperatives, associations, local people, local communities, farmers, producers, beekepers, rural teachers..