Connecting UK Makerspaces

Makerspaces are shared making, creating and learning spaces where people bring their ideas and creativity and turn them into innovative experiences, products and ways of working. This enables open innovation, knowledge sharing and peer to peer learning (Capdevila, 2013). Whilst many of these spaces have arisen from grassroots networks, through a shared interest in developing a space for solo and collaborative work (Schrock, 2014), others are more formal organisations, such as FabLabs and Techshops. Regardless of their origins, they share many of the same principles and approaches to hands-on learning, what Honey and Kanter (2013) define as 'design-make-play learning methodologies'. However, as The Horizon 2020 Make-It project (Menichinelli and Molina, 2018) recognised, the maker movement is not a fixed entity, and is instead an expanding field, constantly in flux. The potential of these spaces is well established, having been the focus of previous research projects, such as the Future Makerspaces in Redistributed Manufacturing and Mapping Creative Hubs in England/Scotland. However, the shifting nature of the field and its provisions mean that there is not a successfully established UK wide network connecting these spaces. In turn, this means that every new makerspace begins from a standing start, unable to easily learn from other spaces regarding available funding, equipment lists, community project ideas, and business strategies. In 2016 The British Council led an EU funded project to create the European Creative Hubs Network (ECHN), which is now thriving with over 250-member organisations. However, having now left the EU, UK makerspaces no longer qualify for much of the funding and support that is on offer, which the British Council has highlighted as a major concern for creative spaces regarding their future (Dunbar, 2020). The aim of this project is to enable and encourage knowledge exchange across a UK specific network of makerspaces to support the growth and long-term success of existing spaces and the development of new spaces. The key objectives are to engage with makerspaces across the UK to produce toolkits that provide advice and guidance for UK makerspaces. Through engaging with existing makerspaces, we will not only create the network but will also collect information and collate data which will be developed into one set of makerspace toolkits. These toolkits will provide advice and guidance on (but not limited to); how to setup and develop a makerspace, best practice for measuring the impact of makerspaces and their initiatives on their local community, what funding is available in the UK, and how to successfully collaborate with Further and Higher Education institutes. Makerspaces support arts and humanities initiatives to thrive in local communities, by engaging local creatives, entrepreneurs, students and graduates, and creative industry partners. By providing support and guidance for the creation of new makerspaces, more people will be able to engage with digital design and fabrication equipment, strengthening local creative industries. This will help to strengthen the already blossoming creative communities that have developed around these spaces by promoting knowledge exchange across the UK.