European Wool Exchange Foundation - EWE

01/07/2026

Follow Maria Walsh MEP as she is bringing wool debate to the European Parliament’s plenary agenda in Strasbourg next week.

The move comes as part of MEP Walsh’s campaign to end the designation of wool as a waste product, allowing farmers to better exploit its various uses, giving them an additional source of income and reducing supply costs.

MEP Maria Walsh has successfully added a debate on the importance of wool to the European Parliament’s plenary agenda in Strasbourg next week.  The move comes as part of MEP Walsh’s campaign to end the designation of wool as a waste product, allowing farmers to better exploit its various uses, ...

13/06/2026

Celebrating International Knit in Public Day: Knitting with Wool, Responsibly
Thousands of knitters across Spain will show their craft in public spaces to make textile artistry and responsible consumption visible.

*Featured events:*
- Paseo de la Lana, Galicia: open gathering of knitters
- Museo del Traje, Madrid: dialogue between heritage and today’s craft
- Torrent, Valencia: community knitting day
- Vitoria, Basque Country: wool meets urban landscape
- Dozens of locations more across Spain

Knit in Public is more than a symbolic act. It’s education, it’s passing on a craft, it’s advocating for wool as a natural, sustainable fiber.

If you knit, come join us. If you don’t, come learn. The community is waiting for you.

29/05/2026

🧶 What if fibre crafting could create calm, connection and care?
The Awards 2026 are now open!

We invite fiber crafters, knitters, crocheters, makers, designers, and creatives to create sensory hand comforters using 100% natural wool — simple handmade pieces that can make a meaningful difference in someone’s life.
✨ All creations will be donated to hospitals, elderly centres and schools to support people living with Alzheimer’s and autism
✨ It’s not only about winning — every contribution brings warmth, comfort, and support

🌍 Open worldwide
📅 Submission deadline: September 25, 2026
👉 Join the movement and learn more:
https://ewe.network/wool4health-awards-2026/

15/04/2026

Europe produces around 80,000 tonnes of wool each year—but a surprising amount never reaches the market. In some regions, up to 80% goes to waste.

So what’s going wrong?

Andrew Hogley (CEO of British Wool and Chair of the IWTO European Wool Task Team) highlighted a few key challenges at the European Wool Day 2026 Conference:

🧶 Wool is not a single product. It’s a technical fibre with huge variation in quality, meaning it must be properly graded and matched to the right end use.

🌍 Wool makes up just 1% of the global fibre market. Its real competition isn’t other wool—it’s synthetic fibres and cotton.

📉 For years, low prices made it uneconomical for farmers to even sell their wool. While prices are now improving, the damage has been done.

🚛 Logistics are a major barrier. Wool is produced in small quantities across dispersed farms, making collection, transport, and processing expensive.

📦 Without proper grading, traceability, and scale, much of Europe’s wool simply can’t enter global supply chains.

But there’s good news 👇

Europe already has the infrastructure, expertise, and capacity to process its wool.

The key lies in:
✔️ Better collaboration across the supply chain
✔️ Aggregating wool into commercially viable volumes
✔️ Educating both farmers and global buyers
✔️ Using existing systems instead of rebuilding from scratch

The opportunity is clear: with the right approach, European wool can reduce waste, improve returns for farmers, and compete more effectively in global markets.

Watch the full presentation here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QCVmOKjmxuU&t=6991s

Watch European Wool Day 2026 Conference here: https://youtu.be/QCVmOKjmxuU

09/04/2026

🐑✨ Today, April 9, we celebrate European Wool Day ✨🐑
A natural, renewable and local resource that connects land, sheep, people and the future. 🌍🧶
The recording of the European Wool Day 2026 Conference is available on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/QCVmOKjmxuU

This year, in Tralee, Ireland on 28th March, the celebration led by EWE Foundation has highlighted something essential:
👉 the entire wool value chain, from animal welfare, farmers to craftsmanship, industry, policy, design and innovative new uses.

We are sharing extra videos to mark the day, so even attendees who made it in-person to the European Wool Day 2026 Confernce has some extra additional videos to celebrate the day with:
- Creating calm, a school project by Anja Sammon: https://youtu.be/zjK9Ye1BKPc
- Last year's Spanis European Wool Day celebration by Alberto Diaz from Made in Slow https://youtu.be/5t4OqiMj6D0
- This Will See Me Out: Localism, Emotional Longevity and Craft Heritage by Caoimhe Dowling https://youtu.be/wAC6iU_0bT8
- Baby Cloud by Montenegrin Wool Institute: https://youtu.be/RJD6vOe_AYo
- Wool 'tips' at lambing time by Jayne Harkness (Bones): https://youtu.be/AmeujvgMVcI

✨ An Irish Grown Wool Almanac has also been published, capturing this diverse and living ecosystem that makes wool relevant today:https://irishgrownwoolcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Irish-Grown-Wool-Almanac-0326.pdf

Talking about wool is talking about ESG in action:
♻️ Environmental: a natural, biodegradable material with a low footprint.
🤝 Social: rural jobs, traditional knowledge and territorial cohesion.
🏛️ Governance: traceability, value recognition and collaborative networks.

Today is a great day to give wool more visibility, look at it with fresh eyes and share why it is still part of the solution.
📣 If you feel the same, join in and spread the word!