Campaign for Wool NZ has a three-year strategy to make progress in education, promotion and advocacy for strong wool.
Campaign for Wool NZ has a three-year strategy to make progress in education, promotion and advocacy for strong wool.
Campaign for Wool NZ says it wants to spread its message further — expanding its educational offerings to range from the under-5s to university students.
It’s all part of the not-for-profit organisation’s three-year strategy to make progress in education, promotion and advocacy for strong wool.
With King Charles III as its global patron, Campaign for Wool NZ says it has led discussions with educators at every level on the best methods of leveraging opportunities for wool.
Wool in Schools now aims to reach more primary schoolkids, while new initiatives will include early childhood education, introduce secondary education modules and offer a new tertiary study pilot programme.
Campaign for Wool NZ’s general manager Kara Biggs said there was a pilot programme for the under-5s.
She hoped the early childhood education sector would adopt the wool-focused module.
“We’ll be giving the little ones simple play-based activities to learn more about where wool comes from and what it is – colouring-in sheets, counting, drawing and so on.”
Wool in Schools is expanding to offer a second option for kids at remote primary schools to learn, instead of relying on the shipping containers the programme normally uses.
Now kids at difficult-to-access, or smaller schools, can access all the learning materials offered in the containers through a classroom kit and pack of digital resources.
Biggs said it allowed all tamariki to interact with wool.
“These schools will be encouraged to hold a ‘Wool Week’, where pupils can spend time discovering the New Zealand wool industry and learning about the fibre.”
Campaign for Wool NZ’s general manager Kara Biggs.
As for secondary-level students, Biggs said there would be a range of design, art, technology and science projects, the details of which were still being ironed out.
She said young Kiwis were increasingly becoming wool ambassadors and influencers, as the tide turned against synthetics, plastic and petrochemicals use.
Campaign for Wool NZ also wanted to ensure future generations of Kiwis more deeply understood the insulating, thermo-regulating and moisture-wicking properties of natural, locally grown strong wool.
Meanwhile, Wool Dynamics is a tertiary study pilot programme, designed to support students to bring ideas to the wool industry through architecture, product design and other vocation-specific programmes.
Developed by Campaign for Wool NZ, Wool Dynamics is authored by Auckland University of Technology’s Professor Frances Joseph from the School of Future Environments and Peter Heslop, MSc in Textile Technology.
The programme will launch across six major architecture and product design schools this month.
Victoria University, Auckland University of Technology, Ara Institute, Otago Polytechnic and Massey University are the first to trial the programme, which is accessible to them via a Campaign for Wool NZ-hosted online education portal.
Both students and academics can log in to the platform to view presentations, lecture material, research and case studies.
Biggs said the programme was a huge step forward for wool.
“It also creates a clear roadmap for students keen to be part of the wool renaissance, make a positive impact on our planet, or create using wool.”
Joseph said she was thrilled to see the pilot programme come to light.
“Introducing architecture and product design students to the magical properties and potential of wool will really help continue the innovation trajectory for the wool industry.”
