FEDERACION DE COOPERATIVAS AGRARIASDE MURCIA S COOP

Their core work

FECOAM is the federation of agricultural cooperatives in the Murcia region of Spain, representing a network of farming businesses across one of Europe's most productive horticultural areas. In EU research, they play a practitioner role rather than a technical one — bringing direct access to agricultural waste streams, real farming operations, and end-user validation capacity that academic partners cannot replicate. In BARBARA, they contributed as an agricultural sector actor supplying agrowaste feedstocks (polysaccharides, plant-derived materials) for biopolymer development aimed at automotive and building applications. In COASTAL, they represented the farming and land-use community within a participatory platform designed to integrate coastal and agricultural land management.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first project (BARBARA, 2017) placed them squarely in the circular economy and materials space — agricultural waste in, high-performance biopolymers out, destined for automotive and construction sectors. Their second project (COASTAL, 2018) pivoted significantly toward participatory governance, multi-actor labs, and integrated land-sea planning — a much softer, process-oriented role. With only two projects it is difficult to call this a firm strategic shift, but the direction is clear: from material/technical contributions toward governance, co-creation, and multi-sector coordination.

FECOAM appears to be broadening from a raw-material supplier role into a community engagement and governance actor, making them an increasingly relevant partner for projects that need practitioner buy-in or rural sector co-design rather than purely technical input.

How they like to work

FECOAM joins consortia exclusively as a partner — they have never led an H2020 project. Despite only two projects, they accumulated 39 distinct consortium partners across 11 countries, which means they entered large, multi-actor research consortia rather than tight specialist groups. Their value to these consortia is access and legitimacy: they open doors to Murcia's cooperative farming networks and can mobilize real agricultural operators for field validation, stakeholder consultation, or co-design activities.

Despite just two projects, FECOAM connected with 39 unique partners across 11 countries — an unusually broad network footprint for an organization of this size, reflecting their participation in large RIA consortia. Their network spans European agricultural, marine, and materials research communities.

What sets them apart

Few EU research partners can offer what FECOAM brings: direct organizational access to a regional farming cooperative network in one of Spain's most intensive agricultural production zones. For consortia that need real end-users, field validation sites, agrowaste supply chains, or rural community engagement in a Mediterranean context, they provide a bridge that research institutes simply cannot. Their dual track — both material valorization (BARBARA) and participatory governance (COASTAL) — suggests flexibility in how they contribute sector expertise.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BARBARA
  Stands out for a bold cross-sector leap — taking agricultural cooperative waste (polysaccharides, plant dyes) and processing it into advanced biopolymers for automotive and building industries via additive manufacturing, a rarely bridged combination.
• COASTAL
  Notable for its participatory governance ambition — integrating farming land use with coastal marine management through multi-actor labs, placing FECOAM in a policy co-design role that goes well beyond typical agricultural sector participation.