(Masters) Research on Makers, MakerSpaces, Free/Maker-culture, etc

Research
#1

Kia Ora from Aotearoa (NZ),

I’m privileged to have the opportunity to embark on my Masters degree & my research/project is around Makers, MakerSpaces, etc (our whole movement/meme).

The entire topic is incredibly broad - not helped at all that the the “Maker” moniker is equally so - it only seems sensible to come discuss some ideas with this Community to help me hone in on something that I/we can contribute value back to the Commons.

My research topic is not FabLabs per-se (even as it is an important part of the overall), or even MakerSpaces in particular (as I consider them somewhat ephemeral), but rather looking at the bigger picture: Communities as Meta-spaces.

I feel that I may be starting to flounder in a sea of information; it’s may be quite possible/libely that my question(s) is ill-defined:

“How can (we?) remove barriers-to-Access to as many People in the Community to foster a more Diverse & Creative Maker-ecosystem”
OR
“What’s needed in a platform to empower the Maker-Community to pursue their passions while supporting resilience & market viability?”

I’ve found the Fab City work quite informative in this & resonated strongly with me, so I’m wondering if working on this might be an appropriate use of my time, though I am not confident of the outcome at this stage. (it’s a larger project than I can take on at this stage)

A more immediate outcome I feel is simply gathering good information on the local landscape; the Labs Map is pretty & goes a little way to address a need, I think, but does not go far enough or provide qualitative context for what I think is needed.

Posting here as a primer, as I’d like to discuss these ideas further, and if anyone have any insights or could direct me to information or resources online that would help in this endeavour, that would be greatly appreciated.

#2

“How can (we?) remove barriers-to-Access to as many People in the Community to foster a more Diverse & Creative Maker-ecosystem”
OR
“What’s needed in a platform to empower the Maker-Community to pursue their passions while supporting resilience & market viability?”

Really appreciating your creative thinking…
Please go on…I will be with you…

1 Like
#3

Hi Kia Ora,

I hope your research goes well. I’m sure many of us would be interested in what you find. Here is an article that may be helpful that explores the types of empowerment that Makerspaces provide to its visitors. As you know, Accessibility, Community and Financial Backing have a complicated relationship.

Best of luck!
Conor

1 Like
#4

Thanks for the quick feedback & kind words.

Are those questions on-point?
Too broad, or is there a better question or could it be phrased better?

I want to stress that I’m trying to be cognisant of some of my own biases & assumptions. I have a deep affinity for Spaces (having helped established a few), and I really do think that they can have an important role to play (this being by bias) - in no small part as vocational upskilling resources for people work impacted by automation & other economic forces now accelerated by COVID - but I’m not convinced that’s where I could make the best impact for my time.

I keep coming back to this notion of separating tool from utility: I (as individual) don’t need a laser cutter but rather to the cutting a laser can do for me, don’t need a car but on-demand transport. This is the value (in addition to the humanities factors) that these Spaces offer. But I also recognise each space is a unique special flower with distinct values & community from each other, and I’ve really not seen great collaboration between (local) spaces, which is where I think the FAB network brings value.

These are hubs of local Maker networks, so I’m pondering the network-of-networks, so that if (when?) any one fails, there’s resilience in the network/ecosystem for people & tools to find new homes & the value & relationships fostered does not get lost but remains accessible to the commons.

The NZ landscape is very different than others I’ve visited (I guess each country has its own opportunities & challenges):

  • We’re relatively widely educated, so literacy is not such a massive hurdle, though not so much tech
  • Globally well-connected (up to a few weeks ago), with a large immigrant population transiting through with valuable skills to share.
  • We’re heavily reliant on imports of goods (mostly from China), but our primary industry is still agriculture - this needs to change, now more than ever, so the “shipping bits, not atoms” holds very true here, and is an angle to pursue
  • We have a hard time attracting capital for large projects, since we simply don’t have an economy of scale, so many businesses start here & then move abroad to access bigger markets. Our entire population is still sub-5 million, which is less than some large towns or small cities.