Category Archives: events

Alternative Histories in DIY Cultures and Maker Utopias

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Please join us for a special event on alternative maker histories, Thursday 29 April 2021, 18.00-19.45 CET, online.

Register here to get the zoom link: http://tiny.cc/by9wtz
The event will be recorded.

The programme (subject to changes):

18.00 INTRODUCTION (18.00 Amsterdam, Cape Town; 13.00 Rio de Janeiro; 12.00 New York; 0.00 Hong Kong)
Cindy Kohtala, Yana Boeva, Peter Troxler

RADICAL TECHNOLOGY – THEN AND NOW
Chair of theme: Cindy Kohtala
Simon Sadler, Peter Harper in conversation with Cindy Kohtala and Yana Boeva on Alternative Technology and the Exhibition of People’s Technology, Stockholm, 1972
Kostas Latoufis on Alternative Technology in the UK.
Q&A

THE POLITICS OF DIY COMMUNITIES
Chair of theme: Peter Troxler
Ellen Foster on the history of Maker manifestos.
Regina Sipos on the history of Germany’s Open Workshops.
Suné Stassen and Felix Holm on Making and makerspaces in southern Afrika.
In absentia: David Cuartielles, Cesar Garcia on the history of Spain’s maker communities.
Q&A

19.00 BREAK (19.00 Amsterdam, Cape Town; 14.00 Rio de Janeiro; 13.00 New York; 01.00 Hong Kong)

THE POLITICS OF CARE, CRAFT AND REPAIR
Chair of theme: Yana Boeva
Emilio Velis on the Meaning of craft during the San Salvadoran civil war.
Svetlana Usenyuk-Kravchuk on Arctic inventiveness and “cosmic conversion”.
In absentia: Petr Gibas, Blanka Nyklova on Czech DIY.
Anupama Gowda on Making with and for marginalized children in India.

ALTERNATIVE INDUSTRIAL HISTORIES
Chair of theme: Yana Boeva
Sam Shorey on Corporate DIY, ‘then and now’.
Kat Jungnickel on discovering women’s Inventions in patent registries.
Jesse Adams Stein, by video, on the Meaning of manufacturing expertise.

Q&A

OPEN DISCUSSION AND CLOSING OF EVENT

INFORMAL HANG-OUT

This event is to mark the launch of a Special Issue of Digital Culture & Society, guest editors Cindy Kohtala, Yana Boeva and Peter Troxler.

If you have any questions about the event, please email me directly or our editors’ email <dcs.si.althistdiy (at) gmail.com>. We are also collecting questions for the presenters in advance!

The study was supported in part by the Nessling Foundation.

So, What About Politics? Part 1

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In November I attended an excellent seminar in Brussels called #SWAP: So, what about politics? at iMAL, a ‘center for digital cultures and technology’ (which also hosts a FabLab). I must thank iMAL Director Yves Bernard, moderator Bram Crevits and the iMAL team for such an inspiring and educational event and for the careful selection of speakers and topics. I posted updates about the event as it proceeded on Facebook, and I will repost some of my notes, those short descriptions and links here, along with photos. iMAL livestreamed the talks and you can find all the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjQCOGgYPYdhmhj6pzH6Dj7h49DIeaDcb

iMAL, Brussels. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

iMAL, Brussels. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Symposium Day 1: Friday 3 November 2017, 10:00 – 18:30.

Lectures and Debates.
Programme: http://www.imal.org/en/more/swap-day-1

Opening the symposium: iMAL director Yves Bernard. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Opening the symposium: iMAL director Yves Bernard. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Keynote 1:
Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation
How can the commons change society, the economy and democracy?
Institutional Design for Public-Commons Cooperation

Keynote by Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Keynote by Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

-“The Place of the Commons in Human Evolution”: how we have moved from tribes that were commons-focused to states and markets.
-the natural commons includes e.g. agricultural commons or fishing;
-marked by a division between people who work and people who own;
-the commons have usually been social commons, cooperatives, mutuals, etc.;
-the third phase is the digital commons: with networks we start re-learning what the commons is, especially in the West.
-these are global communities, who recreate a new kind of commons.

slide: The Place of the Commons in Human Evolution

Michel’s slide: The Place of the Commons in Human Evolution.

 

-recently I did a project in Ghent, to re-imagine the city of Ghent as a commons.
-what I learned there: first, there is an exponential rise in urban commons;
-second, the structure is much like the digital commons;
-at the core, there is the constitution of the commoning of the community, a structure which is open;
-thereby a new urban commons – with the same attitude as the digital commons, everybody can contribute and everyone who contributes has a voice;
-one thing they do well in Ghent is temporary usage of empty spaces: whether empty factories or land, lots of projects have emerged on this land;
-they don’t tell anyone what to do, they create conditions where everyone can use the land;
-in order to survive, people try to do generative economic activities;
-they don’t want to rely on subsidies, they try to think about self-sufficiency over time;
-in Ghent, there is a group that is experimenting with mushrooms, taking toxic sludge out of the ground;
-three things to note, a for-benefit structure, an open community and generative economic activities (not extractive);
-we did a mapping of 500 projects.

-how do these global productive communities function? in a capitalist society, while maintaining the commons?
-note the booklet Values in the Commons Economy
-in the market economy, the change in accounting is a marker – double-entry bookkeeping marked the birth of capitalism.
-what marks the birth of the cooperative? commoning?
-e.g. FB does not recognize externalities;
-it is a new form of capital that is commons oriented in an extractive way.
-but biocapacity: we don’t take into account positive environmental constraints.
-if you want to survive, we need to integrate these externalities.
-this needs a different value regime;
-creating a membrane around their activities and then try to do it differently;
–reciprocity-based licensing: knowledge should be free and shared, but commercialization can be conditional upon reciprocity.

-this is designed for commons-market cooperation.
-it is a move away from capital/state/nation, but not that everything we have now will disappear; these modes of exchanges have always existed in different combinations.
-how do we design a new combination? commons-partner-state regenerative.

-in Ghent, the city is incubating commons projects, the city and the region are supporting commons projects, supporting generative initiatives.
-but it is fragmented, e.g. you have permaculture east and permaculture west but they do not talk to each other locally;
-there is a renewable energy coop;
-they don’t have a joint language and identity.

-but note that every time a civilization has been in overshoot, there has been a return to commoning.
-from open source, free software, mutualization of knowledge;
-then the sharing economy, mutualization of infrastructure;
-then relocalization of production, cosmo-local production to a ‘biocapacity economy’.
-how do we de-fragment these processes, support them?
-a commons accord – an agreement between the city and the commons-oriented communities.
-a circle of finance – if you can determine a community can diminish ecological impact – things spent on negative externalities that the market economy does not recognize – use this to fund transition activities.
-how to manage the eco-social transition
-representative democracy, participative democracy, contributive democracy – we should know how these work together.
-participative logic is seen as top-down;
-contributive democracy can be elite – the city is forced to recognize those actions it claims it wants to do;
-the citizens are doing renewable energy and urban agriculture: if the city recognizes this is what it wants to do, it should recognize contributive logic.
-this is not working in Ghent yet.
-we want to create a narrative that permits alignment in the transition.
-about identity: I am a commoner, I contribute to the common good – this is not acknowledged or named.
-in working class history, farmers shift identity to being a worker.
-rather: we are contributing to the common good, I am a productive citizen, I build value.

-in the P2P Foundation, 12 people are working full-time.
-we have 5 (autonomous) streams and we use Loomio to come to legitimate decisions – projects have 1-3 coordinators who are responsible;
-we look after each other: when income comes in, we know who is in need, there is a difference between precarious workers and salary.
-all our knowledge is put in wikis and blogs.
-in society there is a shift to precarious, but there are also people who want to be autonomous, so it is not forced precarity.

-in the anarcho-capitalism model, using e.g. blockchain, they are not about the commons: they use it so that everyone can be a mini-capitalist;
-it is extractive – Bitcoin – to make money; it is not generative.
-blockchain is trustless machines, trustless algorithms – because no one trusts anyone;
-it is also very hungry for energy;
-we could use blockchain for e.g. shared supply chains.
-we already have mutual coordination in the software industry
-I want to have that in the production industry;
-create a biocapacity framework and within that framework, decide on what we can do.

http://commonstransition.org/commons-transition-plan-city-ghent/

*

Saya Sauliere, Medialab-Prado/ParticipaLab, Madrid, Spain
Understanding participation in Decide Madrid, an e-participation platform

Saya Sauliere on Decide Madrid. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Saya Sauliere on Decide Madrid. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

-DecideMadrid software: open source, now in 16 countries, 60 cities, replicable, free, transparent;
-CONSUL platform.
-for example, City Hall asked the citizens of Madrid if they were willing to reform a key square, what kind of reform they wanted to have, then citizens chose among many projects, and then they decided between two projects.
-also Participatory Budgeting and Citizen Proposals
-participants are citizens as well as NGOs and neighbourhood associations

https://decide.madrid.es

*

Sanna Gothbi, DigidemLab, Göteborg, Sweden
Bringing together hackers and activists for social change

Sanna Gothbi on DigidemLab. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Sanna Gothbi on DigidemLab. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

-a non-profit ‘lab’ – an open space for experiments;
-started this year, February, inspired by Medialab-Prado.
-Sweden does not have a large hacker or civic tech community, and there is a growing wave of racism and right-wing nationalism.
-three principles for the Lab: building participation from below; dialogue is not enough – we have to do more; tools for democratic participation need to be developed and controlled by the citizens.
-using the G1000 as a citizen summit as an alternative to the G20.
-working with MedialabPrado on the Democat platform.
-fostering a local civic tech community.

*

Emmanuele Braga, Macao, Italy
Macao and its Commoncoin: the question of value

Emmanuele Braga on Macao. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Emmanuele Braga on Macao. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

-Macao is an organization of 100 people from the cultural sector, also a space, a squat: people working for their own projects as well as the organization;
-self-managed;
-members use crypto currency between them.
-as an organization we provide monthly the power for commoncoin to buy in the system – e.g. a collective order from farmers as an association in euros, then in the organization the goods are bought with commoncoin.
-euros come from events, donations, co-production of work.
-the organization does not pay a wage, 20% of the general income goes to the members as basic income.
-started in Nov 2016.

http://www.macaomilano.org/IMG/pdf/commoncoin-2.pdf

*

Lieza Dessein, Smart, Brussels, Belgium
Technology geared towards solidarity

Lieza Dessein on Smart. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

Lieza Dessein on Smart. Photo: Cindy Kohtala.

-an independent cooperative that works as an intermediary supporting creative industry and other autonomous entrepreneurs;
-founded in 1998 in Belgium as a social enterprise – with the aim to take over paperwork linked to creative entrepreneurship: we take on the role of the employer for the time of the freelancer’s mission.
-mutualized services: payroll, VAT declarations, salary guarantee, debt collection, microfinancing, personal and legal advice…
-also investing in workspaces;
-grew organically and rapidly scaled up.
-90 000 members in Belgium, changing to a coop structure in Belgium as the structure is a coop in other countries: a long, important transition;
-this is in constant progress, in constant dialogue on what tools to use, how to use them, on transparency, ethics.

*

End of Part 1.

Trashlab (repair café)

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Hooray! Trashlab is back! This time in Vallila.

What is Trashlab? Trashlab is…

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… helping others to fix their broken things …

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…getting your hands dirty…

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…breaking broken things to fix them…

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…needing tape, needing glue…

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…needing more light…

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…needing fuel…

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…giving up with some things…

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…succeeding with others.

Trashlab began in 2012 as an initiative by people from Pixelache and several departments in Aalto University in Helsinki: an art-design-recycling-trash collaborative, peer-learning experiment, combined with a more philosophical, critical, towards-the-academic look at waste and material culture (i.e. the Talking Trashlab lecture series hosted in Media Factory).
In 2013 Trashlab became a regular monthly repair event in different locations around the city, and in 2014, it found a home every month in Helsinki city centre’s municipal library makerspace Kaupunkiverstas (then in Lasipalatsi). In 2015 the group began to alternate the repair events with the original artistic and critical explorations – again in different locations but often in Sankariliiga makerspace in Hermanni. I especially enjoyed the casting workshop using reclaimed aluminium.

Today was the first event in 2016, and the first repair event for a few months. Two bikes, a child’s toy, a golf putt device-thing, a chair seat needing new fabric, a computer adaptor, a jacket zip, a dish, clothes with holes. I didn’t bring anything to fix, but I like to go just to socialize.

And I like taking pictures of people’s hands making and doing. They’re so beautiful.

Call for participation: papers and presentations for Urban Studies Days 2016

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Calling all urban studies researchers, urban activists, grassroots organizers, researcher-activists, activist-organizers!

We invite you to contribute to a workshop we will be holding as part of the Urban Studies Days 2016 in Helsinki 28-29.4.2016.

Contributions from people involved in grassroots initiatives are particularly welcome. To join the conversation, please send a few lines (no more than 350 words ideally) to us about what you are or have been doing and how your experiences relate to the problems of producing knowledge as part of DIY (do-it-yourself) work. We do not expect presentations to be polished academic papers – though they can be – the important thing is to share ideas and experiences. The deadline is 1.3.2016 (but this may be extended as the process has been a little delayed).

Is this a revolution? Problems in doing research on grassroots change-making

This workshop explores how activist contributions to the collective good are framed and presented, and what political implications this has. Does the way urban change-makers frame what they are doing make a difference to how they are received? And what about those doing research: how could we best engage in these delicate yet potentially consequential processes? And are these distinctions even valid?

The session is inspired by design researcher Ezio Manzini who writes that we may be living in a period not only of transition but of epistemological and socio-technical revolution (Design, When Everybody Designs 2015). He sees the dynamics of DIY-inspired urban change-making as a fundamental element of this ongoing but uncertain process. In this spirit, the workshop considers grassroots activism as a collective effort to combine theoretical and practical knowledge and address both local and global troubles simultaneously, that is, as an attempt to design better futures.

We invite both empirical and conceptual papers that engage with the problems of producing knowledge within and about urban activism. Almost everything about it is experimental in some way – or claims to be – which makes conveying its political implications very hard to do without falling into either wishful romanticism or incurious dismissal.

We welcome papers in any fields and any domains that tackle the problems of reporting on grassroots urbanism and the new knowledge it creates, whether scholars struggling to demonstrate the value of activist knowledge or activists who fear their contribution does not add up to policy ‘evidence’.

Convenors,
Eeva Berglund, docent environmental policy and urban studies, University of Helsinki
Cindy Kohtala, PhD candidate, Aalto University, Sustainable Design. Contact cindy [dot] kohtala [at] aalto [dot] fi

Summer Seminar: About the Participants

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ABOUT THE PANELLISTS

See the seminar programme here.

SEMINAR ORGANIZER AND MODERATOR
CINDY KOHTALA
Cindy Kohtala is a Canadian-born researcher at Aalto University, Department of Design, NODUS Sustainable Design Research Group. Her doctoral research focuses on distributed production and the ecological, economic and cultural opportunities and threats inherent in personal fabrication practices (the ‘Maker Economy’). She is the chair and co-founder of o2 Finland ry, the founder and coordinator of Helsinki Green Drinks, and the working group leader of Helsinki Green Map. She teaches in the Creative Sustainability Master’s Programme in Aalto University.
Her aim with this seminar is to bring questions about open design, personal fabrication, and the Maker Movement to the general public via the World Design Capital Pavilion programme. The seminar is also a platform for the discrete maker communities in Helsinki to meet each other and discuss crucial present and future issues regarding creativity, quality, craftsmanship, ecology, ethics, collaboration, peer production and responsibility.
email cindy (dot) kohtala (at) aalto (dot) fi

GROWING AND LEARNING PANEL
ERICH BERGER:
Austrian-born Erich Berger is an artist and cultural worker based in Helsinki. His interests lie in information processes and feedback structures which he investigates through installations, situations, performances and interfaces. His work has been shown and produced internationally and has received a number of awards. Currently he is a lecturer at Vienna’s Akademie der bildenden Künste and the director of the of the Finnish Society of Bioart in Helsinki.
THE FINNISH SOCIETY OF BIOART
The Finnish Society of Bioart (established May 2008 in Kilpisjärvi) is an organisation supporting, producing and creating activities around art and natural sciences, especially biology. It fosters public discussions about biosciences, biotechnologies and bioethics. Additionally it is the Finnish contact node in international networks of bioart and art&science. It has currently 45 members, representing different art and scientific research fields as well as other expertise.
http://bioartsociety.fi

TAIKA ILOLA:
TUUNAAMO
http://dodo.org/ryhmat/tuunaamo

MIKKO LAAJOLA:
PIXELVERSITY
http://www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/pixelversity/
RESILIENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE (RES AGRI) PROGRAMME
http://www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/pixelversity/programme-2012/environment/

PÄIVI RAIVIO:
Päivi Raivio is one of the coordinators of Kääntöpöytä / Turntable, an urban garden and a greenhouse situated in Pasila, built on a unused railway turntable and near the site where Dodo’s urban gardening activities started off in 2009. Kääntöpöytä is an urban farming centre that aims to operate as an open test lab and source for learning and inspiration. It also has a cafe, which supports the project towards being self sustaining.
http://kaantopoyta.fi/

‘NEW DIY’ WORKSHOPS
RAMYAH GOWRISHANKAR:
Ramyah is a New Media Designer based in Helsinki, Finland. Her education and work experience are multi-disciplinary in nature and she has worked on projects ranging from visual communication, interaction design, filmmaking, animation and interactive & mobile media.
A recent graduate from the Media Lab Helsinki of the Aalto University, she is currently researching and working in the field of electronic textiles and soft devices as a continuation to her Master’s thesis work. She is interested in exploring the interactions and roles emerging from the integration of traditional textiles and new computational devices where handicrafts meet technology.
Lately she has collaborated with Kati Hyyppä forming a group called “e-crafts collective” that explores open design, traditional knowledge exchange and cultural heritage using the context of e-textiles.
email ramyah (at) narrativize (dot) net

ISABELLA HAAS:
EDEL CITY
Eco-design with the cool-factor. EDEL City has made it its mission to develop the best eco-luxury design for its customers. Its focus on high-design and stylish urban look is a welcome departure from other green design concepts. Following the slogan “Spoil yourself, without spoiling the environment”, EDEL City offers Finnish design products made from recycled or organic raw materials. Regular recycling-design workshops held at their flagship store are open to all.
http://www.edelcity.com/

KATHARINA MOEBUS:
Katharina Moebus is a design activist, blogger and independent researcher interested in creating positive societal impacts using dialogue and co-creative bottom-up actions with communities. Currently, she is working at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University, exploring Emerging Design Practices. During her studies and work practice in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Finland and Laos, she has moved across disciplines with projects ranging between installation art, interior and exhibition design, graphic design, comic art, food activism, urban interventions and environmental art. She believes that design has the potential to inspire and enable positive action and creative self-confidence.
http://window874.com/about/

MAKING AND FABBING PANEL
ANTTI AHONEN:
KOELSE
Koelse is an association of experimental electronics and a group of experimental electronics enthusiasts. The group gathers old consumer electronics and transforms them into sound producing devices. With these devices they play concerts, build installations and teach others how to build similar things. Koelse’s projects have been seen and heard around Europe in festivals, museums, galleries and alternative art spaces since 2002.
http://koti.welho.com/aahone22/index.html
TRASHLAB
Trashlab events explore experimental art-design-technology practice between hacker and maker cultures, in the context of re/up-cycling and the increased availability of new fabrication tools. Trashlab’s objective is to build up a community of people (artists, designers, hackers, makers, re/up-cyclers, activists) who are concerned with material and electronic waste in contemporary society, and tackle this problem with creative and tangential approaches.
On a monthly basis in 2012, a multifaceted set of groups (Koelse, Kokomys, local Helsinki makers initiating the process) will bring their practice to Aalto Media Factory, and other locations, Oranssi’s Valvomo, Polymer Cultural Factory (Tallinn), Wasteland Festival (Kouvola) over the year. They (and Pixelversity) aim to encourage a peer-based learning environment related to hacking electronics, appropriate technology for renewable energy production/usage, digital fabrication and re/up-cycling materials.
http://www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/pixelversity/programme-2012/trashlab-renewable-festivals/

HARRI HÄMÄLÄINEN:
Harri is a researcher, hackerspace facilitator and DIY culture advocate. Harri is a founding member of Helsinki Hacklab – a shared social workshop with tools to design and tinker all kind of DIY projects. In two years Helsinki Hacklab has gathered active local community and helped other similar workshops to emerge in different parts of Finland. Helsinki Hacklab organizes public events such as electronics workshops and collaborates with many other parties like artists and public organizations.
http://helsinki.hacklab.fi/
WÄRK:fest is an urban weekend festival for different Do-It-Yourself communities and people interested in learning new skills and getting new ideas.
http://www.warkfest.org/

MISKA KNAPEK:
Miska Knapek is a graphic information designer interested in and furthering Open Design practice. He spends most his time furthering public access to information about society, learning and government, as well as looking at how making processes and things can be made more collaborative and equal. Miska worked as one of the initiators of the Aalto University Fab Lab and has had his hand in other fab labs and open working spaces.

KIRSI NIINIMÄKI:
Kirsi Niinimäki is a textile designer, a teacher and a researcher. She has been working as an industrial textile designer at Finlayson, running her own design entrepreneurship and worked as a Principal Lecture in textile design. She has also influenced in the field of textile art and cultural production. Kirsi Niinimäki’s doctoral dissertation FROM DISPOSABLE TO SUSTAINABLE: The Complex Interplay between Design and Consumption of Textiles and Clothing was completed in 2011. Currently she works as a post doc researcher in Design Research in Aalto University and she also teaches in the Creative Sustainability Master’s Degree Programme.

JESSE SIPOLA:
Artist Blacksmith; Designer (Turku University of Applied Sciences 2009);
 Metal Artisan (Southwest Finland Institute for Art, Crafts and Design 2003)
In Governance of Artist Blacksmith’s Association of Finland 2010-
Exhibitions (selected)
NowHere Finland, Jyväskylä, Finland 2012; Exhibition Project Aalto Executive Education 2011, Helsinki, Finland 2011;
 Næs Smedtreff, Tvedestrand, Norway 2011, 2010; Blowing In The Wind, art festival of Halden, Norway 2010;
 Huomenta afrikka! Villa Karo 10 year anniversary exhibition, Helsinki, Finland 2010; Antracit Blacksmith Conference, Granbergsdal, Sweden 2010, 2009, 2008;
 Rautasulka Blacksmith Festival, Sulkava, Finland 2010;
 Neineperin Metallitaideviikot, Ulvila, Finland 2010;
 Sacred Signs, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine 2010
Projects (selected)
Invisible chair (No-Chair-Design challenge), live performances 2011 – 2012, several locations; Workshop “Forging in Urban Environment”, Helsinki Public School, Finland 2010;
 Oshipala Excavadora BETA forging performance, Sulkava, Finland 2010;
 Craft design and documentary project in Opuwo, Namibia 2008; In collaboration with Eero Yli-Vakkuri, Outi Heiskanen and Boris “The Wacher” in “Ore.e refineries” art project in Grand Popo (Benin), Lome (Togo) and Mynämäki (Finland) 2007
Oshipala Air Hammer Studio, http://www.oshipala.com/
email info (at) oshipala (dot) com

NINA WIKLUND:
I was born in Helsinki. In my family we have always made things. I was encouraged to make and re-make my own clothes, accessories, bags and toys. Since completing a master’s degree in acting at the Theatre Academy in Helsinki I have worked as a freelance actor and singer, but I have never stopped creating using recycled materials.
It might be only a drop in the ocean, according to many, but I sincerely believe that changing our consumer habits and attitudes and values, we create change. I am curious and I enjoy sharing and teaching what I know. I also try to learn new skills on the way by attending courses and workshops.
I have recently started a Facebook page where I share my work and plan to do workshops in the near future. I dream and believe in reviving the old sewing circles and knitting groups, as it is such fun to do things together. Today, I host one knitting group every second week.
http://www.facebook.com/Ninitchi
ninitchi (at) gmail (dot) com

EERO YLI-VAKKURI:
Eero Yli-Vakkuri is an artist and craftsperson living in Helsinki. Under the headline “peer-productions,” Yli-Vakkuri has worked as a telemarketer selling performance-art documentation dvds, produced peer-funded artworks, exported copper from Benin, made commercials for local entrepreneurs, and stole money from audience members of his performances.
In 2011 Yli-Vakkuri and Jesse Sipola launched the NO-CHAIR-DESIGN Campaign which has challenged the designers of the world to NOT design new chairs. “Instead of making new chairs we should focus on repairing broken ones”. The campaign is run by Ore.e Refineries which is a small company lobbying for sustainable crafts culture.
eero (at) storijapan (dot) net

Summer Seminar: Sustainable Maker Culture

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SUMMER SEMINAR: The Maker Movement: From Prosumer to Growsumer*
Wed 18.7.2012, 12-21, Pavilion Main space
What happens when people start making their own stuff and “growing” their own solutions?
From Hacklabs to Techlabs to Fablabs to Trashlabs to Transitionlabs**…
What is the Maker Movement, and where it is going?
Meet the maker communities and hear their stories. Sit down and join us in a workshop.

Programme:

12.00-13.00 ‘Growing and Learning’ panel discussion
One emerging aspect of the ‘New DIY’ Movement are the communities developing around sustainable solutions, addressing the gaps between urban and rural, nature and culture, art and science, doing and learning. This often results in new, hybrid forms of knowledge and solutions.
These makers come from urban agriculture and renewable energy communities, organizations that promote learning and sharing through making and doing, and people and organizations that promote open design, open knowledge, design literacy and sustainability literacy.
How can we create and share the knowledge we need to cope with complexity and limited natural resources?
PANEL
Erich Berger (Finnish Society of Bioart)
Taika Ilola (Tuunaamo)
Mikko Laajola (Pixelversity, Res Agri)
Päivi Raivio (Kääntöpöytä)

13.00-17.00 ‘New DIY’ Workshops and Demos
The Helsinki Maker Movement represents a variety of interests, areas of expertise and cultural domains – from hacking, to urban gardening, to smart textiles, to fashion hacking, to electronics hacking, to making stuff from industrial waste….
Some activities have been around for a while but some are new and strange – representing the new ways we are making sense of our world in the 21st century and taking action not only to understand our environment but to make it better.
The workshops will offer hands-on experiences for all visitors – locals and tourists alike.

13.00-15.00 ‘Making as journey’ workshop: Katharina Moebus (Aalto University). A philosophical exploration of the experience of making. Participants will explore together how making something out of seemingly ‘nothing’ can have great effects on our psyche and human relationships.
14.00-16.00 ‘E-textiles’ workshop: Ramyah Gowrishankar (Aalto University). E-textile worktable combines traditional textiles craft and simple electronics. Join us on our e-craft table to learn how to sew a soft-circuit on textiles, to practice and share your textile craft knowledge and work or to simply try and experiment with different materials. Bring your own craft to share with others or make something new from the materials provided on the table to take with you. No previous experience is necessary.
15.00-17.00 ‘Upcycling Design’ workshop: Isabella Haas, EDEL City. Make your own unique design souvenir from waste material!

18.00-20.00 ‘Making and Fabbing’ panel discussion
Fab labs, hack labs and maker spaces are truly new spaces for post-industrial activities: distributed production as an alternative to mass production. These panelists represent both the proponents and critics of digital manufacturing and personal fabrication – and we’ll attempt to dissect the sustainability and unsustainability aspects behind these practices: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
PANEL
Antti Ahonen (Koelse, Trashlab)
Harri Hämäläinen (Helsinki Hacklab, WÄRK:fest)
Miska Knapek (Fab Labs and Open Design enthusiast, Aalto University)
Kirsi Niinimäki (Aalto University)
Jesse Sipola (Oshipala Air Hammer Studio)
Nina Wiklund (DIY enthusiast, Ninitchi)
Eero Yli-Vakkuri (Ore.e Refineries)

20.00-21.00 Free Chat
Enjoy the end of a Helsinki summer evening with the makers, at the lovely Pavilion.

* thanks to Damien Melotte for the term ‘Growsumer’
** credit to Diana Wildschuft for the term ‘Transition Lab’

See more about all the panelists, workshop facilitators and seminar organizer here.

—

Kesäseminaari: The Maker Movement: From Prosumer to Growsumer
Tekijäliike: kestävää kehitystä tee-se-itse-hengessä
ke 18.7 klo 12-21, WDC Paviljonki

Mitä tapahtuu, kun ihmiset alkavat tehdä omia juttujaan ja “kasvattaa” omia ratkaisujaan?
Mikä on “Maker Movement”, tekijäliike, ja mihin se on matkalla?
Tule tapaamaan Helsingin tekijäyhteisöt ja kuulemaan niiden tarinoita. Ota osaa myös työpajaan.

12.00-13.00 ‘Kasvattaminen ja oppiminen’ -paneelikeskustelu
Uusia tee-se-itse-yhteisöjä on syntymässä kestävien ratkaisujen ympärille. Ne kurovat umpeen kuiluja, jotka erottavat kaupungin maaseudusta, luonnon kulttuurista, tieteen taiteesta, tekemisen oppimisesta. Miten jakaa tätä tietämystä? Keskustelu on englanniksi.
PANEELI
Erich Berger (Finnish Society of Bioart)
Taika Ilola (Tuunaamo)
Mikko Laajola (Pixelversity, Res Agri)
Päivi Raivio (Kääntöpöytä)

13.00-17.00 ’Tee-se-itse 2.0’ Työpajat
Hacklabit, Techlabit, Fablabit, Trashlabit ja Transitionlabit – Helsingin tekijäliike edustaa monenlaisia kiinnostuksen kohteita, tietämystä ja elämänalueita.
Tule tekemään tuttavuutta tee-se-itse-liikkeeseen omin käsin “tekijä 2.0”-työpajoissa.
13-15 ’Tekeminen matkana’ työpaja (Katharina Moebus, Aalto-yliopisto). Filosofinen tutkimus tekemisen kokemuksesta. Osallistujat havainnoivat, miten se että tehdään jotain yhdessä näennäisesti ei-mistään voi olla psyykkisesti ja sosiaalisesti vaikuttava kokemus. Englanniksi ja suomeksi.
14-16 E-tekstiili-työpaja (Ramyah Gowrishankar, Aalto-yliopisto). E-tekstiili yhdistää perinteisen tekstiilikäsityön ja yksinkertaisen elektroniikan. Tuo oma käsityösi tai käytä työpajan tarjoamia materiaaleja ja opi ompelemaan tekstiileihin pehmeä virtapiiri. Englanniksi.
15-17 Upcycling-design työpaja (Isabella Haas, EDEL City). Tee itse design-lahja ystävällesi – osallistu ja inspiroidu! Englanniksi ja suomeksi.

18.00-20.00 ‘Making and Fabbing’ eli tekeminen ja tuunaaminen -paneelikeskustelu
Fab Labit ja hacklabit, 3D-tulostus ja käsityö – oma tekeminen ja käsittely tarjoaa vaihtoehdon massatuotteille. Panelistimme keskustelevat siitä, mikä on hyvää, huonoa ja rumaa tekijäliikeessä (Maker Movement).
Keskustelu on englanniksi.
PANEELI
Antti Ahonen (Koelse, Trashlab)
Harri Hämäläinen (Helsinki Hacklab, WÄRK:fest)
Miska Knapek (Aalto-yliopisto)
Kirsi Niinimäki (Aalto-yliopisto)
Jesse Sipola (Oshipala Air Hammer Studio)
Nina Wiklund (tee-se-itse tekijä, Ninitchi)
Eero Yli-Vakkuri (Ore.e Refineries)

—

Sustainable Maker Culture
Kestävä tee-se-itse kulttuuri
Hållbar gör-det-själv-kultur

-a series of events at the World Design Capital Pavilion, May-September 2012
-coordinator Cindy Kohtala, doctoral researcher, Aalto University
cindy [ dot ] kohtala [ at ] aalto [ dot ] fi

More here

**

“Kestävä tee-se-itse kulttuuri” -seminaari on osa designpääkaupunkivuoden Paviljongin ohjelmaa.
“Sustainable Maker Culture” Summer Seminar is part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 Pavilion programme.
“Hållbar gör-det-själv-kultur” seminarium är del av programmet på designhuvudstadsårets Paviljong.

Summer series 2012

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Special Summer Series: Sustainable Maker Culture
Kesäohjelmaa: Tee-Se-Itse -tapahtumat

Helsinki Green Drinks moves to the Pavilion! Tervetuloa! Welcome!

World Design Capital Paviljongissa/Pavilion/Paviljongen, Ullanlinnankatu 2-4

MAY
Maker Culture: Do It With Others
Jon Sundell (FIN) tells us about the Made in Kallio collective and the importance of collaborative making. The presentation is in English, discussion in Finnish and English.
Thur 31.5, 18-20, Pavilion Library corner
TOUKOKUU
Tee-Se-Itse kulttuuri: Do It With Others
Jon Sundell (FIN) kertoo Made-in-Kallio -ryhmästä ja yhdessä tekemisen tärkeydestä. Esitys on englanniksi; keskustelu on englanniksi ja suomeksi.
to 31.5 klo 18-20, Paviljongin Lukunurkkaus

JUNE
Maker Culture: Open Design
Massimo Menichinelli (IT/FIN) tells us about Open Design. What is it? Who does it benefit? The presentation and discussion is in English.
Thur 14.6, 18-20, Pavilion Library corner
KESÄKUU
Tee-Se-Itse kulttuuri: Avoin muotoilu
Avoin Muotoilu (Open Design) Massimo Menichinellin (IT/FIN) silmin. Mitä Avoin muotoilu on? Kuka siitä hyötyy? Esitys ja keskustelu englanniksi.
to 14.6 klo 18-20, Paviljongin Lukunurkkaus

JULY
Maker Culture: Fab Labs
Peter Troxler (NL) presents his view on fab labs and maker spaces. Where are they now? Where are they going? Why are we so fascinated by them? The presentation and discussion is in English.
Fri 6.7, 15-18, Pavilion Main space, “After Work” programme
HEINÄKUU
Tee-Se-Itse kulttuuri: Fab Labs
Peter Troxler (NL) esittelee ajatuksiaan tekemisen tiloista ja työpajoista (fab labs). Mikä on niiden nykyisyys? Minne ne ovat menossa? Mikä niissä vangitsee ja kiehtoo? Esitys ja keskustelu englanniksi.
pe 6.7. klo 15-18, Paviljongin päätila

AUGUST
Maker Culture: Growing Knowledge
Mikko Laajola (FIN) tells us about the Res Agri (Resilient Technologies in Urban Agriculture) peer-learning initiative and other maker activities in Helsinki.
Tues 21.8, 18-20, Pavilion Library corner
ELOKUU
Tee-Se-Itse kulttuuri: Kasvava tietoisuus
Mikko Laajola (FIN) kertoo Res Agri –ryhmästa ja kaupunkiviljelystä.
ti 21.8 klo 18-20, Paviljongin Lukunurkkaus

SEPTEMBER
The Future of Sustainable Maker Culture
Tues 4.9, 18-20 Pavilion Library corner
Researcher Kristiina Soini-Salomaa (FIN) presents some alternative images of the future of craft and design. What kind of relevance might skills and culture competences have in the future? How could designers and makers respond to the challenges of sustainable development?

SYYSKUU
Kestävän taitokulttuurin tulevaisuus
ti 4.9 klo 18-20, Paviljongin Lukunurkkaus
Tutkija Kristiina Soini-Salomaa (FIN) esittelee muotoilun ja käsi- ja taideteollisuuden vaihtoehtoisia ammatillisia tulevaisuudenkuvia. Mikä merkitys taito- ja kulttuuriosaamisella voi olla tulevaisuudessa? Miten muotoiljat ja käsityöläiset vastaavat kestävän kehityksen haasteisiin?

www.greendrinks.org//Helsinki

***

SUMMER SEMINAR: The Maker Movement: From Prosumer to Growsumer*
Wed 18.7, 11-21, Pavilion Main space
What happens when people start making their own stuff and “growing” their own solutions?
From Hacklabs to Techlabs to Fablabs to Trashlabs to Transitionlabs**…
What is the Maker Movement, and where it is going?
Meet the maker communities and hear their stories. Sit down and join us in a workshop.
Programme here.

Kesäseminaari: The Maker Movement: From Prosumer to Growsumer
ke 18.7 klo 11-21, Paviljongin päätila
keskustelut ja työpajat
ohjelma englanniksi täällä

For more information: / Kysymyksiä? cindy dot kohtala at aalto dot fi

*thanks to Damien Melotte for the term ‘Growsumer’
**credit to Diana Wildschuft for the term ‘Transition Lab’

“Kestävä tee-se-itse kulttuuri” -tapahtumat on osa designpääkaupunkivuoden Paviljongin ohjelmaa.
“Sustainable Maker Culture” Summer Series is part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 Pavilion programme.
“Hållbar gör-det-själv-kultur” händelser är del av programmet på designhuvudstadsårets Paviljong.