Humanitarian makerspaces in crisis-affected communities

Corsini, Lucia; Moultrie, James

doi:10.1017/s0890060420000098

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…Although this is not the first time that makers and makerspaces have played a role in crisis response (Corsini et al, 2019; Corsini and Moultrie, 2019, 2020), this is the first time that the maker community is responding in such numbers. Prior to COVID‐19, research on 3D printing in the humanitarian sector identified a handful of promising projects (Corsini et al, 2020a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Frugal innovation in a crisis: the digital fabrication maker response to COVID‐19

Corsini¹,

Dammicco²,

Moultrie³

2020

R & D Management

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The rapid spread of COVID‐19 has led to a global shortfall in essential items, turning many countries into resource‐constrained environments. In response, an unprecedented number of do‐it‐yourself hobbyists (i.e. makers) have started to use digital fabrication tools to produce critical items. These bottom‐up communities are mobilising as part of a global movement to produce innovative solutions to much‐needed items, such as face masks, face shields and ventilators. As these individuals tackle widespread resource constraints, the conceptual lens of frugal innovation becomes highly relevant to study how these solutions developed. Frugal innovation is a type of resource‐constrained innovation that refers to the practice of doing more with less, for more people. In this study, we present two instrumental case studies of maker projects that use digital fabrication to tackle COVID‐19. The first case study is from Italy (a High Income Country) and the second is from India (a Lower Middle Income Country). We analyse the frugality of these cases and highlight their similar approaches. In doing so, we suggest that current theories of frugal innovation can be expanded to new geographical and technological contexts. We put forward that frugal innovation is an important strategy in crisis response beyond emerging markets and that digital fabrication can be considered as an important frugal innovation enabler, both in its ability to produce frugal solutions and to support distributed networks of innovation actors. This study advances knowledge on how frugal innovation unfolds in the Maker movement. It is among one of the first studies to connect the domains of makers and frugal innovation, and the paper concludes by identifying several promising areas for further research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Frugal innovation in a crisis: the digital fabrication maker response to COVID‐19

Corsini¹,

Dammicco²,

Moultrie³

2020

R & D Management

Self Cite

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“…We know how important the prototype is for the designer's process by supporting him/her in exploring, learning, refining and communicating the product (Camburn et al, 2017), but also for the whole system of actors that contribute to the descent to the market (Preece et al, 2015). There are many definitions of prototype (Jensen et al, 2016) and different taxonomies that help in understanding the relationship of the prototype according to different application contexts, function and goals of use (Petrakis et al, diid 2019), but beyond its phenomenological dimension, it is possible to state with certainty that prototyping significantly increases the performance of the product (Camburn et al, 2017), of the creative process (Corsini & Moultrie, 2017), making it an essential field of experimentation and work for designers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Making and the Digitisation Trap

Barbieri

Cattabriga

2021

Diid

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The article aims to investigate the evolutionary dynamics and critical issues emerging around makerspace communities, collaborative design and prototyping spaces whose practices have radically impacted the world of education, enterprise and social innovation. Through an exploratory approach, experts from the maker movement and design students have been involved to understand the health of the model underlying makerspaces. The perspective of the research is to graft the debate on the forms of these practices into the dichotomy between physical and digital, socialization practices of design and the ability of these bottom-up models to work on complex solutions. A list of recurring conditions occurring at the time of the creation of these communities has been elaborated. The discussion then covers risks and limitations of the physical dimension of makerspaces in relation with digitization of operations and relations at every level, calling for a necessary re-thinking of co-design practices.

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Developing Flexible Risk Management Systems for Resilience in a Post-pandemic World: Can Lessons from a Makerspace Case Study Support Pacific Island Communities?

Tootell,

Treadwell,

Schulz

et al. 2023

Glob J Flex Syst Manag

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Pacific Island communities are facing disruptions to supply chains from natural disasters and a changing global environment, which have become more acute following the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, it has been demonstrated how flexible systems can enhance resilience in low-resource environments, such as adapting to changing consumer needs and minimizing supply chain disruptions. This paper considers how the development of a flexible system for conducting a risk assessment on a product that was developed and manufactured in a Makerspace environment would have application in Pacific Island communities to improve resilience. Using a participative action research (PAR) approach, a traditional product risk assessment is refined through iterative PAR cycles to reconceptualize it into a structured simplified risk process. The resulting product development risk assessment process (PDRAP) demonstrates that it is possible to adapt a detailed systematic risk assessment process, such as hazard and operability analysis (HAZOP), to be more suitable and effective for low-resource situations requiring flexible solutions. The improved process provides greater system flexibility to empower people to develop products which may improve their resilience in an ever changing and complex world. The PDRAP process can improve product design and adaptability which assists safeguarding supply chains from system wide disruptions. With the emergence of Makerspaces in developing countries for supply chain recovery from natural disasters and a changing national strategy, the PDRAP provides communities with a low-resource approach for risk assessment to ensure the safe use of products fabricated using emerging low-volume, rapid prototyping, and manufacturing technology.

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Humanitarian makerspaces in crisis-affected communities

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Frugal innovation in a crisis: the digital fabrication maker response to COVID‐19

Frugal innovation in a crisis: the digital fabrication maker response to COVID‐19

Design, Making and the Digitisation Trap

Developing Flexible Risk Management Systems for Resilience in a Post-pandemic World: Can Lessons from a Makerspace Case Study Support Pacific Island Communities?

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