Have you ever been hooked on creating your own ‘trade for knowledge’? If that is the case Maker Spaces are a good place to start … and even a journalist (with a serious lack of engineer-skills) can contribute to new learning, since everyone in the space meets each other with an open mind.
The previous weekend Republikken hosted Maker Weekend, and of course the skillful team of Labitat showed their most cool artwork in lightning and 3D-printing.
Watch the fantastic lightshow with 1933 diodes changing 2000 times/second from Labitat
Thus inspired it was time for the kickoff brainstorming. I am always surprised to discover how many great ideas a few brains can come up with in a short time – just with a little help from a packet of coloured sticky notes.
My group came up with a stress-calculating watch and a bicycle recharger for smartphones. And then the game was set for the weekend’s workshops 🙂
Innovation always happens at places where you do not expect it. Professor Laura Watts explains that some places do not look innovative, because they have always been innovative. They simply had to be to survive, e.g. Orkney Islands, North to the Scottish coastline, where the inhabitants has worked with wind-power and wave-energy for centuries.
So keep going, folks!
Finally I would like to share a few pieces of advice that I got from moderator Vanessa Carpenter. Take a moment to think about them before starting your own process of making:
What will you make?
What will it be made of?
Who will it help?
How will it make a difference?
How can YOU make a difference?
And never forget the Fixer’s Manifesto:
Learn more about Labitat – they are open for free every Tuesday
Learn more about the creative openminded space in Republikken
