About


The Flaxmobile Project supports farmers and craftspeople across Mi’kma’ki: Nova Scotia to cultivate fibre flax as an alternative to fossil-fuel based fibres. The Flaxmobile Project is a three-phase research project that involves a mobile facility for educational immersion and fibre flax processing. The project is creating a critical network that connects farmers, fibre mills, craftspeople and consumers to explore the sustainable futures of textile supply chains and to address the material security gap across Mi’kma’ki: Nova Scotia.

Fibre flax thrives in our Maritime climate; it is fully biodegradable, zero-waste, and the plant source for linen. While robust networks for local textiles existed in Nova Scotia until the early 1920s, present systems of globalized commerce, and a migration away from rural communities has led to the decline of these sectors. 

The Flaxmobile Project is encouraging the development of a local and sustainable fibre flax industry to provide a consistent supply of high-quality fibres and fibre by-products to support our culture sector. We intervene in existing systems of textiles and fashion production to initiate change through sustainable fibre-to-fabric value chains.



Our approach includes five objectives:



  • Reduce barriers for Nova Scotians who wish to access locally produced and sustainable textiles and clothing, as well as natural building materials, such as flaxcrete and bio-char
  • Generate local, green jobs across the agriculture, craft, and building sectors that are in line with principles of the circular economy

  • Contribute to a broader long-term shift toward buying local and removing virgin polyester and synthetic fibres from entering Nova Scotia and ending up in our waste stream

  • Generate sharable knowledge to support climate change adaptation in other Nova Scotian communities
  • Address Nova Scotia’s target for GHG emissions reduction by sequestering 68 tonnes of carbon by 2030 and 3,669 tonnes by 2050