December 2021 and January 2022 was a busy period at the Győr RIF space.
Workshops
Despite the holidays approaching, various workshops were organized in the Győr lab where at least fifty children and youth attended. While several of the workshops were one-offs with children and youth who were visiting the facility for the first time, others were part of a series which had started in early November 2021.
The one-off workshops gave us the possibility to introduce the space to the children and youth attending and hope in capturing their interest for future visits. At the same time, these one-off visits are a fantastic opportunity for the RIF to expand its network with local actors and partners. In these workshops we introduce the technology available, create and design small items with the children and in the end produce. This lets us show children and youth the potential of this space for their own learning process but also to produce items that they or the community needs. The time of these workshops varies from 2 to 4 hours.
At the same time we continue to implement the continuous workshops which are part of a series aiming at building digital skills, creating and producing. At this moment we have three distinct groups who attend workshops in part of a 10 occasion period. Two of the groups are children coming from secondary schools from Győr and surrounding area. While one group of children and youth attend the workshops as part of collaboration with Childrens’ home institution aimed at empowering and developing skills for youth.
In these workshops the children will design, produce, and assemble a nightstand frame out of plywood and wooden rods using the FabLab technology (mainly CNC milling and Laser Cutting). As part of the innovation process the children will be able to learn, design and create other items to input/attach to the nightstand frame. Through the workshops that we will hold we will learn and create various other objects that can be of use in this nightstand for the children.
The prototype for the nightstand was designed together with the children, however its production was done on a separate occasion due to time limitation. The assembly of the product is well on its way and children are encouraged to come up with their own ideas about what accessories they need and want in the final product.
In total there are seventeen children attending this themed workshop on designing and creating their nightstands.
On the other hand, the young people who attend the workshop as part of cooperation with Children’s home are designing and producing a custom chair for their rooms in the institution. The three youth participating in this 12-week workshops attended the FabLab summer camp in June 2021 where, with 10 other youth, they designed and produced a boardgame. As part of the process to decide on a design and product with the team, the youth indicated that in the institution they reside with they do not own any of the furniture. Therefore, we are using this final product as a tool to design progressively structured session that support achievement of one objective while at the same time acquiring various design and digital skills.
Live at OLIve
The FabLab team was invited to provide a series of five workshops at the OLIve Weekend Programme in Budapest, Hungary. The OLIve weekend programme is dedicated to creating a safe and inclusive learning space within a university setting for people who have experienced displacement, including asylum seekers and those with refugee status. The OLIve weekend programme offers weekend courses in academic subjects, English, career skills and advocacy for up to 45 students in each term. The FabLab Gyor team will provide a course on the career skills track for a maximum of 12 students who register. Through FabLab Mobi the team will be able to bring technology and innovation for these students and together design and create products that will be discussed and decided together.
Coming Soon
In the coming weeks we will develop and organize a series of workshops with three new groups as part of cooperation with local actors working with children and youth from disadvantaged communities. The aim of these workshops will be to provide in depth skills for one or two technologies/equipment in the Lab for the children. Together with the children we will decide, innovate and design their ideas that will be able to use the learned technology. This in-depth knowledge will provide a better idea as a start for the children of what can be achieved.
At the same time, we there is a new collaboration taking shape between FabLab and the Design Campus, a department of Industrial and graphic design within the University of Gyor. As part of this cooperation, we aim to design a workshop series together with students of this faculty who would use the FabLab digital technology to design and create ideas that solve problems and challenges children from disadvantaged groups face in their communities. The aim for this cooperation Is to have a collaboration of students of this department, fablab staff and children as main participants to define and solve the problem they face.
Always Changing and Growing
The FabLab Gyor is constantly changing with the number of workshops increasing. The space is becoming more ergonomic and handier to help our and the visitor’s work. Our latest addition to equipment improvement is the purchase of a Makita circular saw, and a soldering station. At the same time we are constantly design and producing small stuff to make our space inviting and easy to navigate. We have designed and assembled a tool holder attached to the wall making it easier for visitors to find hand tools.
We are close to reach the maximum capacity of the workplace in terms of machines and worksurfaces though we always try to make small improvements week by week. One small routine we play with the kids before every workshop is that they have to figure out or find our latest updates in the FabLab.
