The Maker Movement and Sustainability: a live “collaborative Delphi”


Description

In Design for Sustainability, it is generally accepted that Open Knowledge is part of the foundation of building a sustainable society. In maker culture, openness is also a cornerstone of operations and a guiding philosophy. But what happens when sustainability constraints meet maker culture meet Openness? How can we ensure we build a Sustainable Maker Economy? This session will be organized as a live, collaborative Delphi. Participants will be considered experts who will debate and map the key issues, opportunities and threats, likelihood and impacts. The main themes for subgroups will be suggested in advance (e.g. materials and products; equipment and processes; use and behaviour) but participants can also suggest topics Unconference style.


Session Host

Cindy Kohtala, Aalto University, Finland, @ckohtala


Bios

Cindy Kohtala (CAN/FI) is a doctoral researcher in NODUS, the Sustainable Design Research Group in Aalto University. Her research focuses on the sustainability threats and opportunities in distributed production (Fab Labs, maker spaces, maker communities and the DIY movement) as an alternative to, and potential next paradigm after, mass production and consumption. She has been a researcher, educator and writer in the Design-for-Sustainability field and is actively involved in o2 Finland, Helsinki Green Drinks and Helsinki Green Map.blogs.aalto.fi/makerculture/


Details

Location: MAKE meeting room 1

Date & Time: Wed 19th, 11:45-15:30

Target Group: Anyone actively following, involved in, or critical of the Maker Movement, digital manufacturing, personal fabrication and Fab Labs and interested in discussing all the environmental (and social) sustainability issues surrounding them.

Topic Stream: Open Design, Hardware, Manufacturing and Making

Session Etherpad page: