Resource Library

The Fab City network is rich in knowledge and know how. From research, prototypes, reports, proposals, manifestos and more, we are compiling a library that showcases the breadth and depth of knowledge held in the network.

 

This library is ever growing. If you have a resource you want to share with the network, share it with us for a chance to add it to the resource library.

This document details the research and development of a digital "Maker Passport" prototype, based on the People and Skills Specification. It enables makers to showcase their skills and experience, facilitating participation in distributed production and connecting with skilled peers.

Maker Passports & Prototype

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Outlines the development of a mutual recognition standard aimed at issuing digital "Maker Passports" that document the skills and experience levels of makers. The document defines an open data specification, establishes a shared taxonomy of skills and experiences, and outlines a framework for verifying this knowledge. Additionally, it provides recommendations for local implementation, including tooling for web user interfaces and a governance framework to support the ongoing development of the specification within the open-source community.

Skills – Mutual Recognition Standard

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This document explores the creation of online maps that visualize manufacturing capabilities, highlighting how the Open Know-Where standard facilitates data sharing on machines, facilities, people, and materials. It demonstrates how this approach supports distributed manufacturing by improving resource visibility and accessibility.

Map of Machinery

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An outcome of the mAkE project, this e-learning platform equips digital innovation hubs, makerspaces, and fab labs with cross-regional knowledge on key topics, including sustainable financing, policy advocacy, and market access. It serves as a resource for strengthening the resilience and growth of maker ecosystems.

mAkE MOOC

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This resource introduces the release of an NFT marketplace prototype developed by the Dafne+ EU project. The focus is on empowering digital content creators and driving economic sustainability through a self-governed platform.

Self-governed NFT Marketplace

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A dashboard for Fab Cities that enables citizens, civic leaders, digital fabrication laboratories, and makers to assess their city's resilience and track their impact on it (Not updated w/all Cities metrics)

Fab City Index Dashboard

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A tool for defining what, when, how, and by whom data should be measured. It helps communities co-create plans for deploying sensors and capturing data by blending expert knowledge with community engagement, fostering commitment through collaborative decision-making.

Community Sensing Strategies Canvas

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An Online mapping platform used to organize data on social networks and other complex systems. Fab City Hubs, projects and communities can utilize KUMU for mapping urban settings and their resources.

Kumu: Ecosystem Mapping Tool

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A decentralized, open-source platform designed to empower makers and innovators to share, collaborate, and develop Open Source Hardware projects seamlessly.

Fab City Operating System

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Provides insights from a diverse group of experts, hobbyists, and educators whose work advances Distributed Design—clarifying its role as a framework for collaborative, open, inclusive, and sustainable design through practice.

Distributed Design Book

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A Guide to Support Implementing the Fab City Full Stack Locally

Full Stack Implementation Guide

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Get a gist of Fab City Global Initiative and its core components.

Introduction to Fab City: Where Do I Start?

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The Fab City Roadmap to 2054 Saga

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Fab Labs to Fab Cities: The Emergence Fab City Concept

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How to Become a Fab City?

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Our index, our bible, with all the information you need on Fab City.

Fab City Handbook

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In 2024, we celebrated ten years of research and development alongside our global community. Over the year, we focused on designing maker policies and engaging policymakers, providing a blockchain-based platform for creatives, and fostering creativity and innovation within the EU design community. We made a local impact through the Fab City Challenge, recognized inspiring projects and initiatives across the Fab City network, and empowered changemakers through the MDDI and Fab City Full Stack Bootcamp.

Fab City Annual Report 2024

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This publication showcases the impact of the Fab Island Challenge held in Bali, providing an overview of the challenge, its methodology, and selected case studies that highlight innovative ideas and prototypes developed.

Fab Island Challenge: Innovation for Impact

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An overview of the process and key stakeholders behind the Bhutan edition of the Fab City Challenge. This publication highlights the outcomes of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaborations that shaped the initiative.

Fab Bhutan Challenge: Designing Emergent Realities

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In 2023, we expanded our team to 15 across nine locations and advanced toward our 2054 goal by launching new programs. Highlights include the Fab Bhutan Challenge—bringing together 59 participants from 23 countries across five Fab Labs—and the second cycle of our Master in Design for Distributed Innovation (15 students, 10 locations), alongside the rollout of Distributed Learning Workshops and the Fab City Bootcamp.

Fab City Annual Report 2023

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In just 10 days, international participants teamed up with local communities to tackle urgent challenges such as water scarcity and biodiversity loss. This short documentary captures the essence of the Fab City Challenge, showcasing the power of global collaboration and local action.

Fab City Challenge Mexico: Fabricating Equity – Documentary

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The report presents how local and international teams worked together to co-create solutions addressing local challenges around sustainability, circular economy, and social inclusion. It highlights the collaborative design process, the prototypes developed, and the engagement of community stakeholders.

Fab City Challenge Mexico: Fabricating Equity

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A visual summary of the Fab Bhutan Challenge, highlighting how challenge teams explored the potential of digital fabrication to tackle some of the Kingdom’s most pressing challenges, working in close collaboration with local organizations and communities.

Fab Bhutan Challenge: Designing Resilient Futures – Documentary

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A visual summary of the Fab City Challenge’s process and outcomes, inspiring the community to imagine how global-local collaboration can shape resilient island futures.

Fab Island Challenge: Innovation for Impact Documentary

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Fab City Foundation's Networl & Knowledge Manager, Freda Yamorti Gbande, shares her key takeaways from 2024 Afrilabs and Africa Makerspace Ecosystem Gatherings in Cape Town. Discover how African makerspaces are shaping the continent’s innovation landscape.

mAkE: Reflections from Cape Town

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Discusses the Distributed Design Platform's (DDP) efforts to enhance its multi-stakeholder collaborative environment. In its third year, the DDP is focusing on international promotion, aiming to connect local maker and designer communities worldwide. This initiative seeks to foster open, collaborative design practices and innovation within the global maker community.

Expanding the Collaborative Ecosystem for Makers and Designers Globally

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Offers comprehensive guidance on establishing effective residency programs within makerspaces. It emphasizes the importance of aligning the residency's objectives with the makerspace's mission, ensuring mutual benefits for both residents and the host organization.

The Art of Crafting a Meaningful Residency: Key Insights for Planners & Funders

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A platform to amplify the voices of makers and innovators across the Africa-Europe maker ecosystems, covering topics like policy, sustainable financing, distributed manufacturing, and groundbreaking maker projects and initiatives from around the world.

mAkE Knowledge Pill Series

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This document outlines the co-creation activities that were essential to the success of the mAkE project over three years. These activities engaged participants from 13 African countries and six European countries, fostering collaboration across continents. By integrating diverse perspectives and expertise, the co-creation efforts aimed to drive innovation and tackle shared challenges in digital transformation.

mAkE Co-creation Report

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AMEG united over 70 stakeholders to foster knowledge sharing and collaboration among African makerspaces. Hosted by Fadia Elgharib, the event established strong connections and partnerships, emphasizing resource sharing and continuous learning.

Africa Makerspaces Ecosystem Gathering 2024 Report

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The mAkE project is an innovative initiative redefining how creativity, innovation, and collaboration can shape communities, businesses, and lives. Across Africa and Europe, makerspaces have emerged as vibrant hubs of ingenuity—connecting people, fostering local solutions, and empowering change. This booklet celebrates that journey, showcasing transformative impact stories that capture the heart and soul of the mAkE project.

Blueprints of Change: Inspiring Journeys from the mAkE Ecosystem

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This case study explores how a newly opened makerspace in Estonia built its community while addressing a national need. It focuses on the challenges and learnings from organizing a four-day wind turbine workshop with 20+ participants, most without technical or event-planning experience.

Open-Sourcing A Makerspace Community

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Emotion Networking is a method for gathering and mapping emotional responses that matter to a Fab City Hub’s communities. It brings stakeholders together to explore their emotional connections to a specific topic and visualize the range of perspectives.

Emotion Networking Tool

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A tool designed to enhance social inclusion within a Fab City Hub. It helps identify key stakeholders, assess trust levels between them, and determine where to invest in strengthening relationships. This tool can also support broader FCH challenges by fostering collaboration and engagement.

Stakeholder Trust Map Tool

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Highlights the project identity of mAkE through visuals such as logo proposals, inspiration, color palette, and possible applications. This resource could serve as an inspiration for projects and organizations looking to build a brand that effectively communicates their purpose and goals.

mAkE Brand Guidelines

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An interactive activity using a newspaper template where teams collaboratively create headlines and news pieces through drawing, writing, sketching, and collaging. This storytelling exercise helps participants reflect on their approach, actions, and expected outcomes needed to achieve a desired vision, as well as the tangible impacts and changes it will bring in the focus area.

Community Vision Mapping Guide

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A guide for understanding and documenting the fundamental steps required to conceive, set up, and operate Fab City Hubs in Europe and beyond.

Fab City Hubs Toolkit

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Fab City Hubs: Interfaces For Community Building and Playgrounds For New Innovative Urban Actions

Fab City Hubs: Interfaces For Community Building and Playgrounds For New Innovative Urban Actions

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A method within CENTRINNO that outlines an approach for gathering insights from stakeholders about their relationship to a site's history. Oral History is a widely used method for effective community projects.

Oral Histories Collection Framework

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Supports schools and local stakeholders in using research and innovation as tools to address local challenges and contribute to sustainable community development.

Open Schooling Framework

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Describes a strategy to maximize the impact of project results through communication, dissemination, and outreach activities at the EU, African, and local levels, aimed at enriching existing Digital Innovation Hubs ecosystems.

mAkE Communication, Dissemination and Outreach Plan

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Useful for social inclusion, helping to simplify messaging and campaign strategies, and often beneficial when setting up outreach initiatives to the community.

Community Campaign Guide

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A 10-step process to reflect on the dynamics, actors and elements necessary to activate a Fab City Hub community.

Circular Process Tool

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A communication strategy tool designed to empower communities by mapping interrelations between individual experiences and perceptions. It helps gather feedback, identify gaps, and can be integrated with dissemination campaigns or local events.

Legacy Storylines: A Communication Strategy Tool

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Provides practical strategies and guidelines to activate and engage communities, fostering meaningful participation and long-term collaboration.

Community Activation and Engagement Strategy

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Highlights key actors within the Africa Makerspace Network, raising awareness of makerspace activities and their impact across Africa.

African Maker Magazine 2023

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A practical guide to organizing a participatory exhibition that bridges your Fab City Hub with local heritage. It presents adaptable strategies for fostering community engagement and storytelling in any context.

Participatory Exhibition Making Guide

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Explores how the Hanoi Rethink project mapped Hanoi’s creative landscape, revitalized existing databases, and connected creative hubs into a shared online community—offering a model for strengthening local collaboration in other cities

Creative Industries and Digital Fabrication Assessment Report

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Explores resource sharing and embedding approaches within communities of makers and hubs in Africa and Europe.

mAkE Sharing and Embedding Strategy

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Describes the organization of a design contest aimed at developing innovative solutions for the creative industry sector, in collaboration with local Fab Labs, companies, and other institutions.

A Creative Industries Design Competition Report

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Presents the year 2022 in perspective, highlighting key performance results across various areas of the global initiative, including the foundation, network, collective, project ecosystem, learning programs, and events.

Fab City Annual Report 2022

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The Mass Distribution of Almost Everything

2018 Fab City Book

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Another fruitful outcome of the Bali Fab Fest 2022

2022 Fab City Book

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Provides an overview of efforts to develop a common policy agenda for makerspaces in Africa and Europe, along with outreach initiatives that connect policymakers and makers through 'Minister Meet Maker' dialogues. It highlights outreach strategies, shares key learnings, and offers recommendations to makers, policy makers, and development organizations, emphasizing the need for collaboration and ongoing engagement to advance the maker movement.

Minister meet Makers Dialogues Report

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The Right to Repair plays a pivotal role in fostering green and digital transformation. It helps to reduce waste, conserve resources, and democratize access to technology. Additionally, it promotes economic and social justice by empowering citizens and reinforcing consumer rights.

Right to Repair Policy Directive

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This report outlines policy recommendations for policy makers, helping them understand how to effectively support makerspaces and foster innovation at the local and global levels. It presents makerspaces as interconnected parts of global networks, including the Africa Makerspace Network, Global Innovation Gathering, and Fab City Foundation.

Common Policy Agenda

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This report explores strategies for building cooperation that benefits all stakeholders, focusing on five key topics: adopting a collaborative framework, enhancing the capabilities of African digital innovation hubs, fostering the growth of these hubs, promoting sustainable EU-Africa collaboration, and advancing digital innovation services and cooperation.

Digilogic Policy Recommendations Workshop Report

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This publication outlines Fab City's vision for a new socioeconomic model centered on local manufacturing infrastructure and globally distributed data. It introduces the transition from ‘Products In - Trash Out’ (PITO) to ‘Data In - Data Out’ (DIDO), redefining how cities source and use materials to foster circular and resilient urban economies.

Fab City White Paper (KO)

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This publication outlines Fab City's vision for a new socioeconomic model centered on local manufacturing infrastructure and globally distributed data. It introduces the transition from ‘Products In - Trash Out’ (PITO) to ‘Data In - Data Out’ (DIDO), redefining how cities source and use materials to foster circular and resilient urban economies.

Fab City White Paper (IT)

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This publication outlines Fab City's vision for a new socioeconomic model centered on local manufacturing infrastructure and globally distributed data. It introduces the transition from ‘Products In - Trash Out’ (PITO) to ‘Data In - Data Out’ (DIDO), redefining how cities source and use materials to foster circular and resilient urban economies.

Fab City White Paper (HR)

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This publication outlines Fab City's vision for a new socioeconomic model centered on local manufacturing infrastructure and globally distributed data. It introduces the transition from ‘Products In - Trash Out’ (PITO) to ‘Data In - Data Out’ (DIDO), redefining how cities source and use materials to foster circular and resilient urban economies.

Fab City White Paper (ES)

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The Manifesto presents the ten values and principles that the Fab City Global Initiative commits to implement in order to enable the urban transition towards locally productive and globally connected cities

Fab City Manifesto (ES)

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The Manifesto presents the ten values and principles that the Fab City Global Initiative commits to implement in order to enable the urban transition towards locally productive and globally connected cities.

Fab City Manifesto (PT)

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Describes the mAkE project data management plan, outlining personal data protection based on GDPR, FAIR data principles for non-personal data, and Open Access in line with the European Union’s Open Science Guidelines.

mAkE Data Management Plan

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Presents radical and effective policies addressing climate change, energy crises, and social equality, which need to be prototyped, implemented, and tested.

Fab City Policy Brief: From Experimentation & Evidence to Policy Proposals

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Describes the activities of innovation hubs and hub networks, showcasing their impact on local development. Highlights key policy advocacy efforts in Europe and reveals how similar strategies could drive innovation and growth in African contexts

Report on National and Regional Hub Associations

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Another year of Impactful strides for the Fab City Global Initiative

Fab City Annual Report 2023

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Report on National and Regional Hub Associations including 7 documented Case Studies and Comparative Analysis

Policy Approaches Tailored for Digital Hub Networks

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What’s Fab City’s purpose?

Fab City Whitepaper

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Fab City briefs: From experimentation & evidence to policy proposals

Fab City Policy Brief

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What principles and ethics guide Fab City’s work?

Fab City Manifesto (EN)

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This paper introduces the Fab City Full Stack, a framework designed to operationalize the mission of Fab City. It also explains how the Full Stack helps cities and regions interpret the Fab City challenge and guides them in implementing it using a multiscalar and ecosystemic approach.

Fab City Full Stack Framework: A Multiscalar Framework for Distributed Production Strategies in Cities and Regions

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More-than-Human Design challenges human-centric design paradigms by promoting a nature-centric, regenerative approach. One powerful way to integrate these principles into real-world projects is by cultivating empathy—not just for other humans, but for the entire ecosystem. We spoke with Thomas Duggan about applying more-than-human design in practice, the role of emerging technologies, and how his work is shaping the future of the field.

Exploring More-Than-Human Design with MDDI Faculty Member Thomas Duggan

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This handbook provides a framework for developing urban solutions that uphold sustainability, accountability, and respect for both human and non-human rights. Grounded in principles of equality and diverse representation, it guides city-makers in fostering climate resilience and community-driven, ethical urban development.

GreenInCities Values and Ethics Handbook

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This comprehensive policy report, created by the CENTRINNO, HUB-IN, and T-factor H2020 projects, synthesizes operational experiences from 23 pilot areas across the EU. It offers valuable guidance for implementing heritage-driven urban regeneration strategies aimed at making cities more creative, resilient, and innovative, highlighting how local heritage can be a catalyst for sustainable urban transformation.

Towards Innovative, Inclusive and Creative Hubs

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Synthesizes the framework, process, and mapping methods for holistically understanding local urban ecosystems and collecting data that influenced the development of the Centrinno Cartography.

Urban Ecosystem Mapping Guidebook

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In this article, MDDI faculty member Florencia Manzuoli explores how distributed leadership shifts the focus from a single leader to shared responsibility across teams and networks. She emphasizes that collaboration, trust, and adaptability are key to success—along with non-negotiables like clear communication and active listening. Discover how distributed leadership can empower your team and foster innovation.

Distributed Leadership in Design: Insights from MDDI Faculty Member Florencia Manzuoli

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Dive into design as a distributed practice in this lecture by Fab City Foundation’s CEO, Kate Armstrong. Design is reimagined not simply as a skill, but as an embodied, holistic practice that transcends the traditional role of the designer. Discover how designers can evolve into facilitators, caregivers, and explorers, building connections across ecosystems, communities, and territories.

Design Lecture by Kate Armstrong

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MDDI connects global changemakers with local innovators, offering both online and in-person learning experiences. Dive into its transformative methodology and be inspired by projects from a diverse cohort of participants.

Insights From the MDDI Program

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The Open Makerspace Toolkit (OMT) equips key stakeholders in the African and European maker movements with essential materials and resources for professional development. It supports the establishment, management, and sustainability of open, collaborative, and innovative makerspaces. The toolkit is structured into five main sections: (1) creating a makerspace, (2) making activities, (3) good practices, (4) digital communication, and (5) business models.

Open Makerspace Toolkit

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This report details the Open Makerspace Toolkit (OMT) program and presents case studies from the OMT Train-of-Trainer (OMT-ToT) workshops conducted worldwide. The program is designed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively train others in using the Open Makerspace Toolkit, thereby enhancing capacity building and knowledge sharing within the maker community.

Training of Trainers (ToT) Report

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This document analyzes existing social innovation capacity-building tools, integrating key values, principles, and methods to establish a structured strategy. It outlines the development and implementation of capacity-building tools, their application in targeted activities, and the resulting design guidelines, templates, and how-to resources for strengthening makers' capabilities.

Guidelines for Capacity Building Tools for Social Innovation

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Details the activities involved in organizing a training program on distributed design practices for trainers of Creative Hubs and Fab Labs.

Distributed Design Practices Training Report

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Framework to support local production through global connectedness

Applying the Fab City Full Stack

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This resource outlines the mAkE Project Impact Assessment Plan, which evaluates how the project's networks, capacity-building efforts, and infrastructures align with its objectives. It provides a structured approach to measuring short-term benefits for individuals and organizations while tracking long-term outcomes to sustain the maker movement's impact.

mAkE Impact Assessment Plan

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This report highlights key initiatives fostering collaboration between African and European makers, startups, and investors. The Residency Program enabled cross-cultural prototyping, while the Founder-to-Founder (F2F) Matchmaking strengthened trust and strategic partnerships. Additionally, B2B matchmaking events connected startups with partners in design and agriculture. Despite funding challenges, these initiatives established a strong foundation for future Afro-European collaborations, emphasizing the need for continued financial and strategic support to scale and sustain impact.

mAkE Residency and Matchmaking Report

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This comprehensive toolkit, designed for venture owners, managers, and builders, offers essential frameworks and processes needed to develop successful and scalable businesses. It covers tools like the business model canvas and SWOT analysis, providing a roadmap for effective decision-making, product development, and team building.

Venture Building Handbook

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Describes the internal collaboration processes of the mAkE project consortium, including quality assurance procedures and ethical guidelines to ensure effective and responsible project implementation.

mAkE Handbook

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This report provides an overview of the Hanoi Rethink project and its key phases, including mapping the creative ecosystem, the Training the Trainers program, the open design contest, and project development stages.

Hanoi Rethink Impact Report

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In this session, Giovanna Danies Turano, an expert in the circular economy, explores how biodesign and sustainable systems can drive meaningful change. Giovanna also discusses the intersection of design thinking and education, highlighting how these approaches can transform learning and knowledge sharing.

PENCE Roundtable: Exploring Biodesign and Circular Economy

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In this roundtable, experts Mikko Laak, Jessica Newfield, and Daniel Kaufmann share actionable insights on how local initiatives can influence EU climate goals. They explore how leveraging local knowledge, creativity, and innovation can help build resilient communities prepared to tackle the climate crisis head-on.

PENCE Climate Roundtable: Shaping a Sustainable Future Together

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Aims to help advertising and communications agencies navigate the complexities of sustainable marketing and tackle greenwashing. It provides essential guidelines, practical advice, and an interactive 'How Not to Greenwash' checklist to ensure agencies' communications are truthful, evidence-based, and compliant with the latest regulations.

Anti-Greenwash Guide: A Practical Guide for Honest Sustainability Claims

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The Fab City Decalogue marks a decade of progress in the Fab City movement, outlining key principles, methodologies, and achievements that have shaped its vision. From an ambitious idea to a network of 54 cities and regions, this resource reflects on the journey toward localized production and sustainability by 2054.

A Decade of Fab Cities

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A collaborative tool for tracking activities and their impact on local needs. It helps monitor various circular economy initiatives, drawing connections between outputs, needs, and ongoing local Fab City Hub initiatives. This tool functions as a recurring asynchronous task throughout an organization's initiative lifecycle.

Matrix of Circular Collaboration

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Provides Fab City Hubs with a classification of Circular Economy Roles, outlining 12 key types of circular economy actors, along with descriptions and examples.

Circular Economy Roles Mapping Tool

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Guides cities and grassroots organizations in discovering and mapping local skills, materials, and resources in five steps. Each step can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on the time users choose to dedicate to the process.

CENTRINNO Cartography

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What practical actions do we undertake to achieve our mission and vision?

The Fab City Full Stack

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Freda Yamorti Gbande

Freda Yamorti Gbande

Network & Knowledge Manager

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