One of the objectives of the CARINA project is to improve the understanding of barriers and potential risks to upscaling bio-based agricultural production systems through a multi-actor social innovation process. As a first step, national Living Labs (LLs) were established in Italy, France, and Spain, engaging stakeholders across the entire value chain, including farmers, cooperatives, agronomic advisers, policymakers, farmer unions, academia, and bioindustries. 

The synergies between CARINA and other European projects created opportunities to conduct interactive surveys exploring participants’ knowledge of the camelina and carinata crop ecosystem. Results from the first round of LLs revealed that carinata remains largely unknown among farmers, awareness-raising activities are still needed, and that both crops are currently almost exclusively used for biokerosene production. 

To identify key actors and experts in Europe and North Africa involved in the camelina and carinata value chains, stakeholder factsheets were created. These interactions included field trial visits, interviews, and questionnaires to better understand and address the barriers preventing the development of new value chains beyond biokerosene. A preliminary PESTEL+I analysis provided a comprehensive overview of the external factors influencing the implementation of these value chains. 

Looking ahead, the project will focus on developing country-specific roadmaps and business plans to be shared with relevant stakeholders. These tools aim to support the formation of new alliances and foster the upscaling of camelina and carinata bio-based production systems.