Knit for Wildlife: Pop culture meets purpose
At the CommOCEAN 2026 conference we welcome Knit for Wildlife, who are organising a workshop using the global knitting community to build ocean literacy and awareness. For CommOCEAN 2026 they bring a unique knitting pattern!
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Wednesday 2 September 2026
12:30-13:30
Søndre Allmenning 1
UiB Learning Arena South
Knit for Wildlife is an initiative from OCEANhab, founded by Lena and Peter Fagerwing, who are organising the workshop ‘Expanding ocean literacy through the global knitting community’ at CommOCEAN 2026.
What if the most unexpected objects could become vehicles for ocean conservation?
Knit for Wildlife experiments with a different way of communicating wildlife stories: taking conservation out of its usual spaces and placing it directly into everyday life.
In this interactive workshop, participants will explore how pop culture, creativity and curiosity can become tools for ocean literacy. Starting small and building towards a bigger reveal, we’ll unpack the thinking behind Knit for Wildlife’s creative “Trojan horses”. These are knitted objects, designed to catch attention first and carry a conservation story second.
Working in groups, participants will choose a seabird story and build their own Trojan horse:
- How do you translate a cause into something people actually want to wear, carry, share, photograph or talk about?
- How can an idea move beyond the conference room and create conversations somewhere completely unexpected?
Think of the workshop as a mini “Knitters in Residence” experience. Participants will step into the same creative process as our residents: Starting with a wildlife story, exploring its different layers, and translating it into an unexpected creative concept designed to travel beyond the conservation space.
Pattern launch: Eider Pocket Bird goes Cousteau
CommOCEAN will also mark the launch of a special new version of Dominika’s Eider Pocket Bird, originally created for Knit for Wildlife. The little knitted eider now comes with a red Cousteau-inspired beanie and is designed to be carried as a bag charm.
Clip it to your bag and suddenly a seabird conservation story can travel with you. To the café, the bus stop, the library, the gym, across cities and potentially across the world.
Someone notices it. Someone asks about it. A conversation starts.
The pattern will be released open access during CommOCEAN, inviting knitters everywhere to make one, carry it and help the story travel.
