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dh
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dh
FabLab: An innovation space for refugees
A boy printing a figure with the 3D printer after having designed it on the laptop.
The FabLab in the Community Centre of Ioannina, Greece.
Context The closure of the Balkans route in 2016, followed by the Turkey-EU deal, led to more than 60,000 refugees being stranded in Greece in 2017 for an indeterminate length of time and with few future perspectives. Young people lack the opportunity to put their energy and enthusiasm to use. There is an urgent education need for displaced children who have lost their access to school.
Tools
computers
laser & vinyl cutter
3D printer
CNC milling machine
digital sewing machine
arduino boards
Located in the Community Centre of Ioannina, the purpose of the FabLab is two-fold. On the one hand, it is designed to be a room full of advanced digital manufacturing technologies allowing the creation of projects with creativity being the only boundary. On the other hand, it represents an innovative and captivating non-formal education tool providing young refugees with practical digital skills while contributing to improve their resilience.
One of the goals of the FabLab is to offer a collaborative open space for both refugees and the local community as well as to provide users with the required initial knowledge and assistance for the creation of personal and participative projects. Workshops are offered regularly, allowing users to enhance their creativity and to implement their own projects and designs. It’s far more than just 3D printing. The digital know-how they get in the FabLab is an important factor for their future employability.
FabLabs are regrouped in a global network with more than 1000 spaces worldwide. This is particularly relevant when addressing mobile populations, because once familiarised with the FabLab in Ioannina, refugees may later use this network in their destination country to continue their project and enhance their integration.
Project objectives
Coming from the contraction of Fabrication Laboratory, a FabLab is a physical space, where people can access a variety of numerical production tools. The concept was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2001 and is part of the global “Do it Yourself” movement with the philosophy of making instead of buying. In collaboration with the Global Humanitarian Lab (GHL), Terre des hommes (Tdh) is implementing its first humanitarian FabLab as a pilot project for the refugee population in Greece.
What’s a FabLab?
Siège | Hauptsitz | Sede | HeadquartersAvenue de Montchoisi 15, CH-1006 LausanneT +41 58 611 06 11, F +41 58 611 06 77E-Mail: [email protected], CCP / PCK: 10-11504-8
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Tdh
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2017
Key Facts
Perspectives
Contact
Partner
Story of a beneficiary
• 1250+ visitors in the FabLab in Ioannina since its opening in April 2017
• 54% female visitors, which demonstrates female inclusion as part of gender equality goals
• 14% host community visitors
• In Gaza: as an alternative to detention for children in conflict with the law – by helping them with their reinte-gration – and as a preventive measure for youth at risk
• In Burkina Faso: to give exploited children working in gold mines or as domestic servants a place where they are protected and can build their skills
In Switzerland, Innokick Master students are working in collaboration with Tdh and the GHL on the use of FabLabs in different humanitarian contexts.
• Adaptability: Although the age group of the participants was younger than ini-tially expected (mostly 10-12 years old instead of older teenagers), the FabLab adapted itself to their needs
• Host community participation: In order to enhance the integration of the host community, we collaborate with the University of Ioannina to organise student workshops
• Mobility of the target population: Thanks to the global FabLab network, refugee youth and children that visited the FabLab in Ioannina have the possibility to join another FabLab in their destination country
• Affordability: For the FabLab in Greece, costs were already reduced significant-ly in comparison to the price of a conventional FabLab, but the long-term objec-tive is to decrease it even more to less than 10,000 CHF
Challenges & Opportunities
«My dream is to be a car designer. Tdh staff introduced me to the FabLab, in which I am now creating a car model. This 3D printer will print it in 39 hours.» Yazan, 18 years old Terre des hommes in Greece
This successfully implemented pilot project will be replicated in the near future in other Tdh contexts:
GHL (Global Humanitarian Lab) is a cross-sector partnership of leading humanitarian organizations working together to tackle common challenges, that envisions more efficient, effective and sustainable humanitarian action as a result of forward-thinking, locally-driven, and globally integrated ecosystem in which innovation can flourish.
Terre des hommes is the leading Swiss child relief agency, improving the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable children.
For more information: www.tdh.chNicolas Füllemann, Innovation Unit, [email protected]
Tdh helps skilled young people like Yazan get a step closer to achieving their dream.
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