The project aims to support businesses in Lapland in innovating and developing products and services based on the use of wool

Wool Innovation: The Revival of Heritage Wool

This publication brings together experiences, innovations and practical solutions aimed at increasing the use of Finnish wool, renewing wool craft traditions and supporting sustainable regional development. It examines wool as an ecological material, a cultural resource and an enabler of local livelihoods.

Publication

Aims

  • Develop new services and products in collaboration with partner companies in Lapland.
  • Strengthen the growth and innovation capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of sheep farming, handicrafts, and cultural tourism in Lapland. The project builds a regional value chain around Lapland’s sheep wool, increasing its use and supporting primary production as well as turning product and service innovations into commercially viable offerings.
  • Support SMEs in developing and commercialising products and services through the revitalisation of craft traditions and co-design. The project promotes business renewal, the establishment of new enterprises, and the continuity of existing ones.
  • Stimulate innovation by organising workshops for ideation and concept development, bringing together expertise from the fields of art and design, and strengthening professional know-how.
  • Promote growth-oriented and employment-generating business activity in the craft sector as well as in nature- and culture-based tourism, while also supporting the internationalisation of craft enterprises. The project partly addresses development needs and partly focuses on priority areas identified in Lapland’s Smart Specialisation Strategy.
  • Enhance companies’ capacity to utilise creative expertise and increase added value through national and international networking.
  • Improve business opportunities by creating network-based business models and pathways from wool production to the sale of handicraft products.
  • Lay the foundation for a Lapland-based competence hub that strengthens cooperation between agriculture, crafts, and tourism, while also building networks.
  • Promote sustainable development from cultural, social, ecological, and economic perspectives, in alignment with the European Union’s environmental policy.

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Research Publications

Arctic Wool: Perspectives on Sustainable Craft Practices

This research presents the work of two women, a crafter and a farmer, and considers connections between people working with textiles, sustainable processes, local economy, traditional knowledge, and roles within the craft sector

Stitching through Boundary Lines: Collaborative Art for Connectedness

The chapter addresses the urgent need for innovative teaching and learning models that create and examine human-land relationships as collective expression. It presents how artists and art educators in northern regions of Canada and Finland address the impacts of climate change and natural resource extractions.

Abstract Tradition Threads Textile Wisdom Weaving Resilience Beyond Borders Conclusion References Weaving Wisdom: Community Learning Through Wool Crafts

This research sustains that implementing craft practices in the context of contemporary art requires profound knowledge and respect for its origins.

Stitching for Material Sensitivity: From Traditional to Activist

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of how non-Indigenous crafters engage with colonial history and current cultural assimilation and appropriation, reflect on the ethical aspects of their cultures, and explore the potential of sustainability through embracing Indigenous knowledge.

Felted Futures: crafting transformative learning experiences in the Arctic

Teachers, researchers and international Master’s degree students collaborated on project-based studies aimed at supporting rural communities and the sustainability transformation in Northern Finland.

Embodied Mushroom Learnscapes: Fostering the Use of Wool in Artistic Craft

This chapter presents the use of artistic craft in material exploration to understand how wool serves as a vehicle to learn from the Land.

    Publication

    The publication draws on wool craft traditions, Northern expertise in wool crafts, and wool from Finnish native sheep breeds, exploring their significance in contemporary craft, design and culture.

    Read online
    A person is creating a needle-felted piece, holding a needle in one hand and a small basket filled with wool in front of them.

    Seminar

    The seminar explores key perspectives on Finnish native sheep wool, the revitalisation of traditional wool crafts, and the creative and sustainable use of local materials.

    Information

    Who works for the project