Conflicted Commons: A Local Makerspace in the Neoliberal City

The commodification of culture, space, and resources is incentivized by neoliberal urbanism. In response, we have seen an attempt to develop collectively organized, oppositional spaces within urban places. The tensions that arise when considering the production of commons in the development of the neoliberal city are the central focus of this paper. As I will observe, these spaces are subjected to commodification as they become increasingly de-politicized through neoliberal ideologies. In order to theorize about these contradictory elements, I observe a makerspace in Richmond, Virginia called HackRVA. Specifically, I consider HackRVA as an urban commons. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation, I consider how HackRVA engages with the neoliberal city of Richmond and how the organization and maintenance of their space and their community reflects commoning as social reproduction. I find that HackRVA’s relationship to the city is complicated as the community within the space both contests and assimilates to the creative economy

Grassroots digital fabrication in makerpaces. Report from a World Café

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Cultivating sustainable developments with makerspaces

In October 2015, we convened a workshop for 80 researchers and practitioners involved in makerspaces in Europe. Our aim was to explore how makerspaces can help cultivate sustainable developments. This paper reports workshop discussion and ideas on the topic, and illustrates interest in the deliberative potential for this kind of ‘citizen lab’. Interestingly, given the emphasis on tools and making practices in many makerspaces, discussion at our makerspace event focused much more on community development capabilities and skills for mobilising alliances for raising social awareness. Discussion problematized different kinds of sustainability, noting that social and economic ambitions can potentially align well with environmental goals at this level of activity, but are not always designed to do so. At heart, the workshop revealed the need for strategies that counter the incumbent social structures that influence ostensibly ‘open’ makerspaces, and thereby enable the tools and capacities available to work on more sustainable developments

Makerspace-the future of public libraries

Public libraries have always been regarded as the center of knowledge and information, but today the same public libraries have been challenged by the rise of mobile technology and digitization. Public libraries are facing a design shift in their focus from storing books to an active public space of learning which involves more engaging and reading. This thesis addresses the need for citizens to manifest the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to take part in a complex and increasingly digitized world of personal and societal prosperity. Digital competence significantly involves communication, collaboration, content creation, and problem-solving. The definition of digital skill underscores confident, productive, creative and critical use of digital technologies for diverse purposes in various social contexts and with multiple tools (Ala-Mutka, 2011). Presently, there is a lack of knowledge, on creating learning opportunities for digital literacies that are inclusive for diverse learners with different capabilities and interests, which can accommodate different personal situations, objectives and combine, for example, formal and everyday learning practices (Erstad et al., 2016). This research aims at understanding makerspaces and public library makerspaces, including the people and practices involved in these spaces. Makerspaces align with the fact that public libraries meet the needs and interests of their local communities. This research employs site visits, case studies, and analysis to examine the journal articles and blog posts published from 2008 to 2015 that focus on makerspaces and public libraries. The first part of the research highlights the literature concerning the history of making through Maker concept, Maker Movement. The methodology reviews the mission of providing access to digital resources in public library makerspaces in order to meet the needs of diverse communities. The analysis highlights some of the benefits and issues that emerge through the new trend of making and makerspaces in the field of Public Libraries. The researcher provides a review of library makerspaces both in India and North America, which are supported by several case studies. This thesis reimagines a public library, by evaluating a design that engages and responds to the local community it supports

Make yourself at home : makerspaces as a tool for resettlement and reconstruction in conflict-affected settings

Millions of people worldwide have had their lives upended by violent conflict. In the last decade, the number of people forcibly displaced by conflict has doubled, reaching current heights of more than eighty million. Once the emergency needs of food, shelter, and medical care have been met, there is an opportunity for aid providers to assist in the resettling of populations and reconstruction of devastated cities. This study highlights the value of a recent evolution in this response to include makerspaces: communal workshops that offer access to tools and materials as well as education and sometimes even employment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with program leaders in five different locations to examine makerspaces in conflict- affected settings. Through a lens of Human Capabilities, this study shows how they contribute to the improvement of livelihoods and well-being of users and their communities. The cases studied here have been particularly beneficial for women and youth. Through a blending of new and old technologies makerspaces allow users to shape or re-shape their own surroundings and participate in their own care. They contribute to improved livelihoods through skills development and market access. Makerspaces foster community and offer notable benefits to users' mental health and notably allow for some retention and restoration of cultural heritage. Additionally, this thesis assembles the experiences of makerspace program leaders to provide expertise on the challenges and enablers of operating a makerspace for conflict-affected populations.M-D

How To Cultivate Sustainable Developments In Makerspaces

This report provides an overview of a workshop on Makerspaces held in London, which involved around 80 participants from the UK and Europe. The workshop was made possible with support from the Centre for Innovation and Energy Demand, the STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability), both at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University, and the European Framework Seven project TRANSIT (Transformative Social Innovation Theory). The workshop was motivated by the following questions: How can makerspaces sustain and expand their commitment to sustainable developments? Should sustainability initiatives scale-up or circulate more widely, and if so, how can they retain their core aims when moving beyond prototyping? How can makerspaces work with others to generate conditions for sustainable developments in the wider world? Thought-provoking speakers on the first day talked about how they worked with makerspaces to promote sustainable developments. They raised issues that participants on the second day explored in greater depth through workshop activities

How Open Is the Maker Movement?:Integrative Literature Review of the Openness Practices in the Global Maker Movement

This article explores the multiple meanings of the concept of openness in the global maker movement. Openness is viewed as one of the key principles of the maker movement. As the global maker movement is a bricolage of diverse and situated practices and traditions, there are also many different interpretations and ways of practicing openness. We have explored this diversity with an integrative literature review, relying on the Web of Science™ database. We identified three interrelated but also, in part, mutually contested approaches to openness. Firstly, openness often refers to applying open hardware. Secondly, it is in many cases related to the inclusion and empowerment of various groups in making. Thirdly, openness appears to be seen as a means to pursue economic growth through increasing innovation activity and entrepreneurship. Our results also highlight the substantial barriers encountered by makers while aiming to open up their practices. These barriers include: value conflicts in which openness is overridden by other important values; exclusion of lower income groups from making due to a lack of resources; and difficulties in maintaining long-term activities. The different meanings of openness together with the barriers create tensions within the maker movement while implementing openness. We propose that engaging in a reflexive futures dialogue on the consequences of these tensions can enhance the maker movement to become more open, inclusive and resilient

How 3D Printing Can Revolutionize Developing Economies

3D printing technology has the potential to completely revolutionize development in emerging markets. While 3D printing can make a wide variety of objects, and create the capacity for local manufacturing, it can also change the nature of the economy and how things are made. When looking at the potential for development, we must realize that much development is attained by the unequal exchange between nations. For this reason, capitalism often fails the developing world while benefiting the developed one. However, thanks to this technology, there might be a path toward breaking this cycle. Examining how 3D printing is opening up new economic realities, such as the Social and Solidarity Economy, and models of production reveals the true potential that this technology has to help address important social issues such as equity and sustainability

Building Entrepreneurial Competencies in Library Staff: Getting Started

Library staff in public and academic libraries face challenges to build library staff competencies to serve a growing population of entrepreneurs. Most public libraries provide workforce development assistance, and of those, 48% provide entrepreneurial services to these communities (American Library Association, n.d.). What can we learn from those libraries in order to build our capacity to grow entrepreneurs? When library staff teach individuals about new technologies in our makerspaces, these community members invent new tools, or objects. How do we extend their expertise? Library staff can create pipelines to fabrication resources, patent centers, and small business resources in order to assist our communities to grow and start their own businesses. Meeting these growing needs, finding and providing information services in this vein is a part of the traditional library model. How can libraries best serve entrepreneurial-minded individuals? How can libraries boost their capacity to meet this need? What kinds of training do we need to address this issue

How Open Is the Maker Movement?:Integrative Literature Review of the Openness Practices in the Global Maker Movement

This article explores the multiple meanings of the concept of openness in the global maker movement. Openness is viewed as one of the key principles of the maker movement. As the global maker movement is a bricolage of diverse and situated practices and traditions, there are also many different interpretations and ways of practicing openness. We have explored this diversity with an integrative literature review, relying on the Web of Science™ database. We identified three interrelated but also, in part, mutually contested approaches to openness. Firstly, openness often refers to applying open hardware. Secondly, it is in many cases related to the inclusion and empowerment of various groups in making. Thirdly, openness appears to be seen as a means to pursue economic growth through increasing innovation activity and entrepreneurship. Our results also highlight the substantial barriers encountered by makers while aiming to open up their practices. These barriers include: value conflicts in which openness is overridden by other important values; exclusion of lower income groups from making due to a lack of resources; and difficulties in maintaining long-term activities. The different meanings of openness together with the barriers create tensions within the maker movement while implementing openness. We propose that engaging in a reflexive futures dialogue on the consequences of these tensions can enhance the maker movement to become more open, inclusive and resilient.EC/H2020/101006285/EU/Critical Making: Studying RRI Principles in the Maker Community/Critical Makin