Kohesio: discover EU projects in your region

project info
Start date: 1 June 2023
End date: 30 April 2026
funding
Fund: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Total budget: 321 699,00 €
EU contribution: 193 019,00 € (60%)
programme
Programming period: 2021-2027
European Commission Topic
European Commission Topic

Wool-Inno

The Wool-Inno project is driven by a growing interest in wool, wool yarn and wool handicrafts, and an awareness of the importance of sheep grazing to biodiversity and the cultural landscape. This wool phenomenon is also creating demand for new products and services from Lapland. The Wool-Inno project is driven by the need to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Lapland, such as craft entrepreneurs, to innovate and develop wool-based products and services in a commercial and sustainable way. The Wool-Inno project aims to produce new products and services, to improve the growth and innovation capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises in Lapland in the context of crafts and cultural tourism by sharing and renewing the cultural heritage of crafts, to increase the use of wool and to produce sustainable development by recognising the potential of cooperation between agriculture, crafts and creative industries for sustainable development from cultural, social, ecological and economic perspectives. The aim is also to increase the use of wool and, indirectly, to preserve the cultural landscape based on grazing. The Wool-Inno project will support business renewal, business continuity and the development of new products and services by bringing together crafts and design skills, so that new services and products emerge from tradition, strengthen the regional identity of Lapland and continue and renew cultural traditions. Wool-Inno targets small and medium-sized enterprises in Lapland in the craft, design, sheep farming and tourism sectors, as well as teachers and students of the arts at the University of Lapland. Indirect target groups are locals and tourists in Lapland and entrepreneurs in other parts of Finland. The Wool-Inno project measures innovation of handicraft products in synergy of knowledge, productisation of new products and services, bencmarking, development of new book models, modelling of the renewal of traditional crafts and dissemination of the project results. Concrete outputs include products and services using wool in new ways, a benchmarking report, booklet templates for businesses and craftspeople, a model for craft heritage revitalisation, an exhibition, a seminar and a publication. The long-term impact of the project will be increased cooperation between craftspeople, sheep farmers and the tourism sector, with increased opportunities for craft workshops as programme services in tourist facilities, increased direct and online sales of sheep meat in wool handicrafts and the proliferation of networked business models. The project will contribute to the growth and profitability of the handicraft and textile sector and rural tourism in Lapland and indirectly contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and cultural landscapes and the sustainability of the tourism industry. The Wool-Inno project is implemented by the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lapland. The partners are craft, design and tourism companies in Lapland.

Flag of Finland  Lapland, Finland