Ullarthon 2021

The Ullarthon was an Icelandic wool-themed idea/invention marathon ("ull" = Icelandic for wool) hosted by the Icelandic Textile Center in collaboration with Innovation Center Iceland, funded by the Agricultural Productivity Fund.  Fund. Idea marathons are about finding innovative solutions to a specific challenge or topic, in this case: Icelandic wool. The Ullarthon aimed to support sustainable wool innovation and product development, and help increase the value of Icelandic wool, especially the classes/categories least profitable today. The event itself was held online March 25. - 29., 2021, with over 100 participants submitting 63 ideas in four categories (challenges): 

1) Utilizing unprocessed wool
2) Wool mixes and blends
3) Product innovation
4) Digital solutions and traceability 

On April 17, the panel of judges - including representatives from the Icelandic Agricultural Advisory Center, Össur Orthophaedics, the Icelandic University of the Arts, the Ministry of Industry and Innovation and the Environment Agency of Iceland - evaluated submissions and chose their Top 5 finalists. On May 20, winners were announced during the Textile Association's DesignMarch exhibition in Reykjavík, with Guðni H. Jóhannesson, the president of Iceland, giving out awards.

The winning teams were: 

Unprocessed wool: ,,Ullarhúsið“ Jón Gautasson & Hrönn Jónsdóttir https://youtu.be/LN2xnEJD2y0

Wool blends and mixes: ,, Snoðbreiðan“ María Dís Ólafsdóttir, Helga Aradóttir, Kristín S. Gunnarsdóttir og Mörður Moli Gunnarsson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pthnpLDigg 

Product innovation: ,,Cool Wool Box“ ; Anna María G. Pétursdóttir https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHACcSxV92Q

Digital solutions and traceability: „Unikind“; Laufey Kristín Skúladóttir & Hanna Birna Sigurðardóttir https://youtu.be/oPZmc8a2NE0

 

 Thank you everyone for your participation and great ideas!