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Wool Ecosystems

Deep territorial contextualisation and active actors mapping

Wool Ecosystem Map

The creation of this interactive map aims at fostering the understanding of local dynamics and challenges regarding the wool value chain and the stakeholders involved, from sheep farmers to wool markets. The research develops by mapping the local existing ecosystems and its key actors and stakeholders to strengthen the networks and promote locally productive territories.

The map is organized into six categories:

  • Cultural centres (museums, training and learning centers..) Most of cultural heritage centres may host a shop, or organize learning activities
  • Raw material suppliers, Farmers Associations, Farms, Natural Dyeing producers
  • Manufacturers (mills, spinning, weaving, dyeing, textile-making..) Industrial and semiindustrial producers for manufacturing wool and wool equipment and machines.
  • Shops, haberdashery, distribution centres Commerce that sells local materials from knitting accessories and tools, to yarns and publication manuals. Special importance should be given to try and identify the providers of local products.
  • Designers-Studio-(craftman) makers Designers studios that work with wool from industrial to interior garments.
  • Wool waste centres, end-of-life stakeholders, Recycling centres This category includes places and initiatives that try to revalorize waste wool streams, shredding and sorting centers, producers that use second grade wool for other applications than clothing, such as agriculture or construction industry.

Wool ecosystem interactive map

If you wish to become a contributor and add pins in the wool ecosystem map, send us an email at labs (at) shemakes (dot) eu.

A little step by step of how to >

How to add a pin to the map> Step 1> type the place you would like to add in the search bar on the top and click search Step 2> click on CATEGORY you want to add your pin to activate it Step 3 > click on the pin that appeared on the map and click + ADD to map Step 4 > Edit the link by adding webpage, contact email and any description relevant

Wool Context Description

Explore the build up knowledge, place by place through the links below:

*Belgium context

To start mapping out your own community, check out the git template or go on our Miro board in the context part and fill out your purple bubble.

WOOL MONDAYS > Local Ecosystems

On May 2nd 2022 we organized an hybrid event, taking place both online and presentially in various labs to present the current state of the research and to share stories, challenges and learnings on the topic of Local Wool Ecosystems.

LOCAL ECOSYSTEM MAPPING online event

A set of co-creation tool to work locally with stakeholders

Co-creation with stakeholders is the best way to improve knowledge and create synergies, identify and ideate around opportunities. Labs have been gathering a set of co-creation approaches and experiment some of them during the distributed event. The main co-creation phase experiment remained the first one, of “context analysis”.
Here are the methods that were used and that will be documented

Interviews and farm/industry visits onsite

Labs identified key places and people that they directly contact for organising a visit and/or an interview. By observing, taking pictures and videos, and discussing, they could build knowledge, share it and discuss the current research
Take a look at some examples:

Dialogues with testimonies from locals or experts

Labs invite local wool stakeholders and create a conversation with their members around the practice of the invited speakers.

Collective synergy mapping

The activity aims to Map and debate around local wool initiatives and goes in 3 steps. First, labs invite participants to think about and share local initiatives; then, they complete the map with stakeholders’ issues and finally they identify opportunities, gaps and synergies. Following the approaches of Emotional networking with Wool and Experiential Characterization the Reinwardt academy and the researchers Camere, S., Karana, E in 2018., the activity consists in expliciting the emotions generated by wool, as concepts and artefacts. It helps to gather stories and build experiential knowledge that foster designers creativity. Here the Miro board

Collective roadmapping

This activity aims to help labs in envisioning what they want to build together and to plan future actions.

Making/hands-on conversations

This activity positions Making as a way to discover and exchange around practices. In the case of wool, it could consist of spinning, weaving and showcasing tools and machines, with people explaining how to make/use, share their feelings, difficulties, personal stories.

Circular Design Team Workshop

This workshop will be described below more in detail. It helps participants to envision future interventions of circular design by debating the compositions and roles of stakeholders through the life cycle chains.
Here the Miro Board

References

Last update: November 21, 2022