At the Makerspace, we Care so we Make
Across from re:public’as big halls was Hall 8 with its big windows allowing natural light on the Makerspace high squared table. Tens of people gather around every day to learn and make new things. Together with Global Innovation Gathering, the makerspace at re:publica24, hosted three full days of exciting workshops featuring makers and innovators from all around the world, including Togo, Iraq, Nigeria, Singapore, Brazil, Germany and more.
At the exhibition, right next to the makerspace, an Open-Source Hardware Exhibition featured a 2-meter-long Bamboo tower revealing how open-source technologies can aid permaculture for sustainable food production and everyday care. Right next to it, Librewater exhibited its most recent open hardware for the desalination of seawater using solar energy.
The maker culture is nothing short of a movement for change, be it for climate or the empowerment of remote and local communities. Visitors came to learn that open source enables repurposing and reusing unused 3D printers into another useful gadget that prints braille on paper.
On finding creative ways to upcycle, a workshop on upcycling thrifted garments using Generated AI was held during the “Prompting for Pullovers” session. A discussion with the Minister of Environment Steffi Lemke, on the right to repair highlighted the major importance of taking repairability and sustainability into account right from the design stage.
Whether it was hanging around at the coworking area or on the Brazilian Farofa Cushions, where an upside down map of the globe hangs, the Makerspace remains a place with pumping energy where abstract ideas become a reality, and communities come together to exchange and imagine a far more just future world.
Yes, We Care, mostly for the unheard and the most vulnerable.
We want to ensure that open-source technologies are here to serve areas most affected by climate change and political instability/injustice.
We were honored to have Minister Lemke visit the makerspace. Special thanks to our supporting partners Distributed Design Platform, Felix Just from xHain and Machbar Potsdam who without; the makerspace would not have been possible.
