Mapping Alpine wool heritage and contemporary initiatives as a foundation for innovation

This deliverable presents a structured analysis of Alpine wool-related cultural heritage and current wool initiatives across the project territories. It combines historical, ethnographic and socio-economic perspectives to document how sheep farming, wool production and textile practices have shaped Alpine landscapes, identities and livelihoods over centuries. The report is organised by country and region, showcasing selected tangible and intangible heritage elements, and is complemented by a systematic overview of European sheep and wool projects, both past and ongoing. An Alpine sheep and wool calendar further situates wool-related activities within seasonal and territorial rhythms.

The primary objective of this deliverable is to build a shared knowledge base on Alpine wool heritage and existing innovation trajectories. By reconnecting historical practices with contemporary initiatives, it provides cultural and contextual grounding for the Woolshed project’s innovation activities. The deliverable supports awareness-raising, cross-regional comparison and strategic reflection, helping partners and stakeholders understand what has existed, what still persists, and where there is room for renewal and transformation within Alpine wool value chains.

This document is particularly relevant for researchers, cultural institutions, policymakers, regional developers, educators, designers and practitioners working at the intersection of heritage, rural development, circular economy and sustainable materials. It offers concrete references and comparative insights that can inform policy design, educational activities, innovation processes and community engagement. By making Alpine wool heritage visible and legible, the deliverable also supports dialogue between tradition and innovation, providing inspiration for future pilot actions and design-led experimentation.

An open, visual and data-driven map of Alpine wool ecosystems

The Woolshed Digital Alpine Wool Atlas is an interactive and narrative-driven tool that maps wool-related ecosystems across the Alpine Space. It brings together geographical data, value-chain information and qualitative insights to visualise where wool is produced, processed, transformed and valorised, and how actors, infrastructures and territories are connected. The Atlas combines cartographic layers with descriptive content, enabling users to explore wool value chains across regions, scales and sectors, while highlighting patterns, gaps and opportunities within Alpine wool systems.

The main objective of this deliverable is to make Alpine wool ecosystems visible, legible and comparable across territories. By translating complex datasets into an accessible digital atlas, it supports knowledge sharing, strategic reflection and cross-territorial learning. The Atlas also provides a common reference framework for subsequent project activities, including pilot actions, Design Marathons and policy-oriented discussions, helping to ground them in a shared spatial and systemic understanding.

This deliverable is particularly useful for policymakers, regional and local authorities, researchers, educators, designers, innovation intermediaries and development agencies working on circular economy, bio-based materials and mountain territories. It allows them to identify existing capacities, understand territorial specificities and explore potential connections between actors and regions. The Atlas is also a valuable communication and educational tool, supporting dissemination, training activities and informed dialogue with stakeholders and the wider public.

Exploring the Untapped Potential of Alpine Wool

This catalogue provides a structured overview of raw wool resources and semi-processed wool forms found across Alpine contexts. It compiles technical descriptors and classification logic to describe wool inputs and how they evolve through key transformation steps. The document is designed around a modular representation of the wool value chain, using “blocks” to describe raw materials, processes (e.g., sorting, scouring, carding, combing, nonwoven production), semi-products and final product pathways. It also includes a cross-sector application matrix, sustainability and circularity considerations, and appendices specifying common raw wool materials and semi-processed forms.

The core purpose is to create a robust, comparable dataset that can feed the WP2 resource-matching optimisation model, enabling better decision-making and more efficient allocation of wool resources across the value chain. In practical terms, the catalogue standardises how materials are described so that the optimisation tool can connect available wool batches to suitable processes and end-use opportunities, while considering constraints and sustainability parameters.

This document is valuable for wool processors, SMEs, designers, material researchers, sustainability experts and value-chain analysts who need a common reference for understanding wool variability, semi-product formats and processing implications. It is also relevant for stakeholders contributing data to the optimisation tool, because it clarifies the information needed to describe resources consistently and make them usable in a decision-support environment.

Connecting Wool Resources with New Market Opportunities

This portfolio presents a structured view of the demand side: it documents performance requirements and specification needs for wool-derived end products across multiple sectors. It defines representative “final product blocks” and clarifies which wool characteristics matter for different applications, including apparel, footwear, sports, architecture and interior textiles, manufacturing and industry, medical uses, agriculture and environmental applications, and smart textiles. It also includes elements of quantitative demand analysis (including seasonality), and a gap and compatibility assessment to help interpret mismatches between material availability and market requirements. The portfolio additionally references innovation frameworks that can support translation from demand signals to product development pathways.

The main objective is to provide the demand-side counterpart to D.2.1.1, supplying structured requirements that can be integrated into the WP2 matching logic. By codifying product expectations (quality thresholds, technical specifications, certifications and other constraints), the portfolio supports more accurate alignment between wool resources, processing pathways and viable end-use markets within the optimisation approach.

This deliverable is especially useful for SMEs, processors, designers, innovation intermediaries and policymakers who want a clear picture of where wool can realistically compete and what conditions must be met for different applications. It is also practical for partners and stakeholders contributing to the resource-matching tool, because it clarifies how “demand” needs to be described to be actionable (rather than generic) when linking products to material and processing options.

Brief and Matrix of technologies and infrastructures from lab to industrial scales

This document introduces and frames the Woolshed Factory concept within WP3 MAKE. It situates the idea in relation to distributed manufacturing, local capacity-building and regenerative approaches, and clarifies the role of Woolshed Factories as a network of spaces, tools and know-how supporting local wool processing and experimentation. The deliverable then moves into the practical groundwork for a future open catalogue by describing the creation of a technology matrix (developed as an Excel database) and the first designs for a Woolshed Factory Catalogue. It outlines what information the catalogue should capture for each tool or machine (e.g., description, scale, openness/licensing, users, TRL, low-tech criteria, resource use, and “stories of use”), and it notes the intention to link the catalogue with cartography and other open documentation practices.

The objective is to establish a shared definition, vision and operational starting point for Woolshed Factories, and to initiate the technical backbone needed for a living, open and reusable catalogue of technologies and infrastructures for wool processing. This deliverable effectively sets the conceptual and organisational basis for the next iterations of the Factory Catalogue, including governance considerations and connections to existing open-source platforms.

This deliverable is relevant for makerspaces, textile labs, pilot processing centres, SMEs, training providers and local development actors who need a clear and replicable way to think about “what a Woolshed Factory is” and what it requires in terms of tools, skills and documentation. It is also useful internally for partners, because it provides a common framework for populating the matrix and for converging towards a transnational catalogue that is comparable across territories and scalable from lab to industrial settings.