Stories of spaces for becoming: from idea to execution
Tinkering and Making Space (La Cassiere Hall)
Opening up new spaces dedicated to informal learning is challenging.
We all tussled with how can we make big dreams come true, whether we were starting a small scale makerspace or a bigger dream of a science centre. We come from different places and spaces, to share our stories and experiences of setting up makerspaces, both independent and within an institution, moving away from a “top down” approach into a more community based, bottom up one.
We share the challenges of choosing people, creating a diverse and equitable community with focus on local context, culture and systems, being clear on goals and balancing management with choices and tasks. Also, balancing our vision with being led by our community, ensuring that they are at the heart and start of our spaces, physically and conceptually.
This session explores how to go from the spark of an idea, to a vibrant space which truly serves your audience.
Outcomes: what will participants get from this session? Skills, knowledge, experience etc.
Participants will learn how to build bottom up, community led spaces from scratch. Our case studies range from a large, new, science centre to tinkering spaces within an existing centre, to an independent arts centre.
From how to craft the vision, to operational challenges - we'll provide a framework to start a new space, that draws on our, and our participants', experiences. We'll draw together the experiences shared and share the outputs of best practices.
Session speakers
Founder and Director of AlElieh for Science Environment and Art Science and Maker Educator / consultant
AlElieh for Science Environment and Art
East Jerusalem
Palestinian Territory
Samar Kirresh will share her experience in initiating AlElieh for Science Environment and Art in East Jerusalem as the first maker space for Palestinians in the city. She will present the role of different contributors and how the space functions in the community. She will put forward challenges and strong points and how they project in the strategies and plans for the space.
Susana Cabral will share the experience in making a low-cost tinkering space in Expolab: the municipality carpenters made benches from leftover wood, broken toys were collected, fruit boxes are the drawers, and the team brings all the garbage from home that, with imagination, could be used to create and to overcome all the challenges launched there. From an empty exhibition room (and the inspiration from other amazing tinkering spaces), it becomes one of the favourite areas of the science centre!
jh Museum & exhibition design
Jochen is currently one of the people that are building up ZAM (Centre for Exchange and Making) in Erlangen / Germany. After years of prototypical and temporary interventions on vacant surfaces in the city centre the foundation “makerspace+” seized the opportunity to transform the premises of a former hardware shop (more than 3.500 m2) into a meeting point for makers and citizens alike. Subsidies are coming from the city council and national grants for urban renovation.
