Habibi.Works is an intercultural makerspace and FabLab situated in Katsikas, northwest Greece, over the road from Katsikas “hospitality centre” – a camp built to accommodate over 1000 refugees and asylum-seekers during the long periods entailed in awaiting decisions on their asylum applications. Founded in 2016 in a context of increasing precarity for people on the move, Habibi.Works is designed as a platform for education, empowerment, and community. Individuals of all backgrounds can make use of Habibi.Works’ 13 working areas, benefiting from free access to tools, machines and guidance from team members experienced in each area. These areas include: metal, wood and bicycle repair workshops; a plastic upcycling lab; a MediaLab fitted with a 3D printer, lasercutter and computer lab; a garden feeding a community kitchen (where community meals are prepared on a daily basis); a ‘storytellers lab’ (including a recording studio fitted into a geodesic dome); a sewing atelier and creative atelier; a language learning hub (housed in our multilingual lending library); and a community-led gym/sports programme.

Project’s approach

In this makerspace, participants – predominantly people on the move, but also individuals from the local Greek community and international makers – are treated as the experts of their own lives and accompanied to design and create their own solutions to the challenges they face. This approach is applied as a counterpoint to the prevalent approach in this context, wherein humanitarian assistance models import ready-made solutions and perpetuate dependencies on systems which strip individuals of the agency and autonomy that is critical to their self-esteem, self-reliance and to the integration process. One of the key values of the space is that everyone be regarded at eye level, thereby empowering each individual to learn by doing and capitalising on each interaction as a mutual learning opportunity.

Habibi.Works embodies a collaborative spirit that prioritizes open-source knowledge and transparency. Re-using and up-cycling materials is encouraged within our working areas, particularly in our wood workshop, sewing atelier, and plastic upcycling lab; meanwhile, food leftovers from our community kitchen also make their way back into our garden in the forms of compost and food for our resident (rescue) chickens. Ultimately, Habibi.Works aims to engage with public discourse on, and raise awareness around, the topics of migration and asylum by highlighting the resourcefulness and abundant talent in the communities we work with. On the ground, our mission is to tackle social disparity by promoting agency, solidarity and self-determination, all with the aim of building a more equitable world.