Friday 21 October 2016
19.00-21.00
Location: Dana Library and Research Centre
Do you consider yourself a maker? The global maker movement is gaining followers and makerspaces are popping up everywhere. These spaces enable inventors, innovators and everyday people to create things. They provide hi-tech tools such as 3D printers, microelectronics and design software, along with more traditional hand tools, so people can make almost anything they want, from furniture to houses, from environmental sensors to drones.
These spaces aim to increase appreciation for how things are made and designed. They allow more people to be involved in the process. But do more people get to have a say? With renewed interest in how things are made, are we witnessing a democratisation of manufacturing?
Earlier movements have tried this before – for example the Lucas Plan, where people on the manufacturing floor made socially beneficial products, spawning a movement in London that led to the opening of community workshops that prototyped socially useful products.
At this interactive workshop we’ll ask what lessons today’s makers might recognise in earlier movements in technology democracy, and explore how access to tools can help democratise technology.