Circular Makerspaces: the founder’s view

Figures & data

Table 1. Circular practices observed in Makerspaces.

CE strategy	Makerspace activities	Examples of CE activities
Reuse	Establishing relationships within the local environment for product, materials, tools reuse, generated through its value chain as well as through one-off donations (Smith and Light 2015)	Library of things: http://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/
Repair	Hosting community-led repair meetings, building repair skills and providing access to tools (Dewberry et al. 2016; Charter and Keiller 2014; Charter and Keiller 2016; Salvia 2015; Terzioğlu, Brass, and Lockton 2016; Smith and Light 2015)	Restart parties: https://therestartproject.org/ Repair cafes: https://repaircafe.org/
		Product teardowns
Remanufacturing	Additive technologies can facilitate repair and remanufacturing of parts/goods through on-demand production (Despeisse et al. 2017)	Advanced manufacturing to produce spare parts in low-volume
Upcycling	Collecting and serving the local community as a hub of products and materials that can be upcycled to form new ones (Sung, Cooper, and Kettley 2015)	Making improvements to furniture, lampshades, old bicycle tyres
Recycling	Exploring local techniques of recycling materials used in makerspaces e.g. PLA shredders and re-grinders (Hunt and Charter 2016)	Precious plastic – open source shredder shreds plastic for re-processing: https://preciousplastic.com/en/
Sharing	Product life extension through intensification of use (Cohen and Muñoz 2016)	Library of things: http://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/

Table 2. Comparison between the Maker movement and the CE.

Characteristics	Makerspace movement	Circular Economy
Belief/ideology	• Grassroots innovation movement (Smith et al. 2016) • Self/local production alternative to mass production and consumption (Kohtala 2016)	• Business/economy-led and policy-driven approach to growth and economic renewal (EMF, 2013a, 2013b, 2015) • Vision for a reformed economy that questions the basis of capitalism (Gregson et al. 2015)
Vision	• Vision of a new industrial revolution through democratization of tools/technologies, enabling localised grassroots innovation (Smith et al. 2016; Kohtala 2016) enabled through the information era	• Vision of a new economy to preserve resources/waste through closed loop methods to generate profitable business activities (EMF, 2013a, 2013b, 2015)
Attributes	• Individuals can use accessible and cheap production tools/technologies for making • Information and knowledge is shared with offline/online communities through digital platforms to rapidly diffuse innovation and foster collaboration (Dickel, Ferdinand, and Petschow 2016) • Value creation through new business models and distributed production systems (Dickel, Ferdinand, and Petschow 2016; Ferreira 2008) • Product life extension through emotional attachment, co-design, prosumption (Kohtala 2015) repairability and adjustability (Holman 2015) • Local production (Kohtala 2015) • Community development (Smith & Light, 2015) • Toxicity, waste (Kohtala, 2015) • Collaboration/Partnerships for internalising expertise (Fleischmann, Hielscher, and Merritt 2016)	• Mapping and management of resource flows • Value creation through product lifecycle design (Bakker, den Hollander, van Hinte and Zijlstra 2014), circular business models (Bakker, den Hollander, van Hinte and Zijlstra 2014; Bocken, Bakker, and De Pauw 2016; Moreno et al. 2016; Prendeville et al. 2017) • Product lifecycle extension strategies such as reuse, repair, remanufacturing, refurbishment, upcycling, anaerobic digestion and recycling (EMF, 2013a, 2013b, 2015), upgradability and emotional attachment (Bakker, Wang, Huisman and den Hollander 2014) • Short production loops (e.g. localised through repair/reuse) (EMF, 2013a, 2013b, 2015) • Waste becomes resources (EMF, 2013a, 2013b, 2015) • Reverse logistics and closed loop supply-chains (EMF, 2013a, 2013b, 2015) require new forms of collaboration and stakeholder interaction
Key actors	• Individuals • Creative founders • Communities (online and offline)	• Businesses • Policy-makers

Note: Italicised text indicates criteria used for data gathering during workshop 2.

Figure 1. Overview of research methodology.

Table 3. Overview of expert interviews.

Interviewee Role	Expertise	Date	Interview Purpose
Academic	Distributed production, sustainability in Makerspaces	14 August 2015	• identify exemplary and/or unique makerspaces to conduct workshops with • explore concept of distributed production • identify examples of distributed production • explore role of and opportunities for makerspaces in distributed production • explore role of and opportunities for makerspaces in circular economy • identify their understanding of and experience with CE • identify criteria for context-mapping workshop to map activities commensurate with the development of circular makerspaces
Makerspace founder	Incubating commercial start-ups in Makerspaces	5 August 2015
Makerspace founder/academic	Implementation, incubating start-ups, distributed production, sustainable urbanism	31 July 2015
Makerspace founder/academic	Distributed production, sustainability in Makerspaces, repair practices	1 September 2015
Makerspace founder/academic	Distributed production, manufacturing, technology	22 July 2015
Makerspace founder/academic	Distributed production, sustainability in Makerspaces	1 September 2015

Figure 2. Map defining the scope of the research activities adapted from Troxler (2011) and Nesta (2015).

Table 4. Description of tags used during the Buda::LAB workshop.

Tags	Rationale	Tag explanation
Tools/technology	Expert interviews	The equipment used within the space and its relevance, relationship and impact to circularity
	Literature (Kohtala, 2015)
Value creation	Literature (Bocken et al. 2016; Bakker, den Hollander, et al. 2014; Dickel et al. 2016; Ferreira, 2008)	Creating value that includes financial survival as well as social, environmental and cultural
Product lifecycle extension	Literature (Bakker, Wang, et al. 2014)	Consideration of raw material extraction, production, use, transport and product life extension (reuse, repair, remanufacture, upcycle, adaptability, upgradability, emotional attachment, co-design/prosumption)
Local contexts/local production	Expert interviews	Partnerships with local entities, such as through industrial symbiosis approaches
	Literature (Kohtala, 2015)
Community connections [local/global]	Expert interviews	Engagement with global communities for local benefit
	Literature (Smith & Light, 2015)
Toxicity	Literature (Kohtala, 2015)	Environmental hazard of toxic materials, off-gassing of machines, waste toxicity
Waste/resources	Workshop 1	Sourcing materials from waste, sustainable use of resources and low environmental impact materials
	Literature (Bakker, Wang, et al. 2014; EMF 2013a, 2013b; Kohtala, 2015)
Collaboration/partnerships	Expert interviews	Building partnerships to support activities, such as with experts, to assimilate knowledge
	Literature (Fleischmann et al. 2016)
Supply chains	Literature (EMF, 2013a, 2013b)	Decisions about on know-how of sourcing of materials/parts
Actors/stakeholders	Expert interviews	Product value chain stakeholders
	Literature (EMF 2013a, 2013b; Smith & Light, 2015)
Good practice guidance	Expert interviews	Guidance (e.g. signage, short descriptive overviews, visual cues, processes)
	Workshop 1
Skills & knowledge	Expert interviews	Capacity building to bridge knowledge-action gap/access to know-how

Figure 3. Example of tags with circular themes (Workshop 2).

Figure 4. Documentation of Insights at Fab Lab London (Workshop 1).

Figure 5. Documentation of Insights at BUDA::lab Kortrijk (Workshop 2).

Figure 6. Circular Makerspaces: guiding themes and ‘How-to’ practices.

Table

Space	Date	Purpose	Format	Actors	Selection criteria
Fab Lab London, UK	14–16 June 2015	Scoping and testing (see Section 2.3.1)	OSCEdays 2015	Organisers: OSCEdays team	Commercial/Educational
			2-day Workshop	Challenge Setters: (1 of 5)
				Participants (3 of 26)
				Researchers (1/3)
Lewes Phoenix Industrial Estate, UK	24 July 2015	Initial mapping and observations	Invited	Organiser: Research	Grassroots
			Guided	Team
			Tour	Guide (1)
			Site visit	Makers, Inventors (6)
				Researchers (2)
Kortrijk Buda LAB, BE	21 August 2015	Testing and further observations	Site visit and workshop (see section 2.3.2)	Organisers: Research team	Commercial/Educational
				Researchers (2)
Fab Lab Amersfoort, NL	22 August 2015	Participation in workshops and observation	Site-visit, Fab Fuse event	Organisers: Fab Lab Amersfoort	Grassroots/Educational
				Participants: [20–25]	Sustainability-focused
				Researchers (2)
Machines Rooms, UK	10 March 2015	Participation and observation	Launch Level 1 FMs Workshop	Organisers: Research team	Commercial/Educational
				Researcher (1)
Machines Rooms, UK	26–27 October 2015	Participation in workshops and observation	Sustainable Makerspaces – Workshop	Organisers: SPRU, STEP	Commercial/Educational
			Event	Speakers:12
				Participants: 25/30
				Researcher (2/1)
Makerversity, UK	24–25 July 15	Participation and observation	Good For Nothing Hack with Restart, Civic shop & New Citizenship Project	Organiser: Good For Nothing	Commercially-focused hardware start-up incubation focus
				Participants: Approx 30
				Researcher (1)
Central Research Laboratory, UK	4 August 2015 onwards	Ongoing - involvement in the setting-up and running of space		Researcher (1)	Commercially-focused hardware start-up incubation focus

Table

Guiding theme	‘How-to’ practices	Excerpts from interviews	Workshop data
Foster an enabling culture	Co-develop a shared circular vision and manifesto from the outset, through coordinated communication with all stakeholders	‘Stakeholder Circle’	1. Partnership approach integrating sustainability experts/skills from outset
		‘… structured initiation from the outset reduces risk …’	2. Intentions to link and build connections for strategic local alliances
		‘joining conditions are a social contract’
		‘repair days … create a culture … and fosters appreciation of design and craftsmanship’
	Publicly articulate a clear and principled vision for responsible products	‘Responsible products is [sic] part of the manifesto’	1. Explicit commitment to sustainability/circular implemented through its day-to-day e.g. tools/technology e.g. filament recycler, part of its commitment to develop ‘sustainable thinking’
		‘Our role … is to set out a principled vision to create a culture’
	Develop and seek joining commitment through clear conditions	‘joining conditions are a social contract’	1. Fab Charter
			2. Fab Charter
	Provide leadership by knowing and enacting the vision	‘Lead the vision, be steadfast’	1. Embed practices in the day-to-day e.g. circular design workshops
		‘Up to people running the space not to be driven’	2. ‘Be open because you believe it … because you want to be not because the Fab Lab tells you’
Build local connections	Facilitate links between many stakeholders (local government, citizens, producers, local community)	‘industrial ecology is slowly built up through registering skills and local materials …’	1: Key strategic stakeholders identified from the outset
		‘do a social network analysis’	2. Efforts to build local supplier database, strategic local partnerships, promoting local suppliers
	Map local suppliers in collaboration with users builds knowledge of local resources and skills	‘User mapping’	1. Local suppliers of materials for reuse identified and promoted
		‘industrial ecology is slowly built up through registering skills and local materials …’	2. Efforts to build local supplier database, strategic local partnerships, promoting local suppliers
	Understand local needs, skills, knowledge, barriers, risks	‘Don’t just buy a machine, which is what most people do, we do some local context research to understand some needs to co-develop a lab and a business plan – you need to be sensitive to the project fulfilling local needs.’	1. Local suppliers of waste/materials for reuse identified and promoted internally
			2. Efforts to build local supplier database, strategic local partnerships, promoting local suppliers
	Foster ownership in local communities through e.g. time-banking, trade-schools, skill sharing, repair days	‘enlist skills’	1. Product tear-downs/repair outreach activities/circular design challenges
		‘Business plan should include local supply from the outset’	2. Electronics ‘library’ developed and maintained by users
	Develop outward looking, inclusive and welcoming communications	‘seen as elitist … the preserve of geeks … closed to the masses’	No data
		‘clear communications with different groups that should be involved’
		‘Build credibility’
	Enlist skills for community development from the outset	Hire team members with ‘community building skills …’	2. Initial efforts to build local supplier network side-lined due to lack of local strategic relationships
		‘enlist skills’
Stimulate practical know-how	Facilitate, enable and encourage circular workshops (e.g. basic fixing skills such as plug rewiring, efficient tool us’)	‘Sustainability workshops’	1. Product tear-downs/repair outreach activities/circular design challenges
		‘repair days … create a culture … and fosters appreciation of design and craftsmanship’	2. Educational activities on energy use
	Develop/adopt circular design guidelines and good practice induction manuals	‘it’s important to take things apart’ …’	1. Circular design guidance and visual cues are commonplace
			2. Online masterclass tutorials for initial inductions/upskilling
	Signpost to external guidance on good practices in circular/sustainable design	No data	1. Circular design guidance and visual cues are commonplace, expertise brought in when needed e.g. circular design workshops, LCA
	Break things down e.g. visualize smaller pieces of the puzzle, such as the product supply chain	‘Knowledge of where materials come from, how products work, why’	1. Visualising supply-chains through easy to use online tools, product tear-downs, LCAs of specific products
		‘it’s important to take things apart’ …’	2. Educational activities on energy use
Build individual/community capacity	Foster ownership of circular issues within the community	‘Not enough to talk about things, have to engage’	1. Product tear downs, reusable materials sourced locally
			2. Electronics sharing ‘library’
	Build visibility, awareness and inclusivity by sharing experiences and good practice examples	‘Share stories … create a cultural collaborative landscape’	1. Online documentation of circular design challenge during OSCEdays allows global community to learn
		‘You should be open because you believe in it’
		‘share by necessity’
		‘One of the foundations of circular thinking is sharing knowledge’
	Enlist specialist circular expertise where necessary	‘Build aptitude rather than expertise’	1. LCA expertise supports environmental assessment, Great Recovery supplements knowledge
	Build individual confidence to approach circular issues through learning process	Provide ‘access to confidence’	1. Experience-based workshops e.g. tear-downs
		‘Build aptitude rather than expertise’	2. Experience-based workshops e.g. educational visualising energy

Smith, Adrian, and Ann Light. 2015. “How to Cultivate Sustainable Developments in Makerspaces.” Report of workshop, October 2015 Brighton. http://steps-centre.org/wp-content/uploads/MC-report_final.pdf.

 Google Scholar

Dewberry, Emma, Lourdes Saca, Mariale Moreno, Leila Sheldrick, and Matt Sinclair. 2016. “A Landscape of Repair.” In Sustainable Innovation 2016 Surrey, November 7–8. 76–85.

 Google Scholar

Charter, Martin, and Scott Keiller. 2014. Grassroots Innovation and the Circular Economy: A Global Survey of Repair Cafés and Hackerspaces. Farnham: Centre for Sustainable Design.

 Google Scholar

Charter, Martin, and Scott Keiller. 2016. “The Second Global Survey of Repair Cafés: A Summary of Findings.” Report by Centre for Sustainable Design, Surrey May 2016. http://www.research.ucreative.ac.uk/3140/1/The%20Second%20Global%20Survey%20of%20Repair%20Cafes%20-%20A%20Summary%20of%20Findings.pdf.

 Google Scholar

Salvia, Giuseppe. 2015. “Design in the New Do-It-Yourself Age: Trialing Workshops for Repairing.” In Virtuous Circle: Summer Cumulus Conference, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, June 3–7.

 Google Scholar

Terzioğlu, Nazlı Gökçe, Brass Clare, and Dan Lockton. 2016. “3D Printing for Repair: A Paradigm Shift in Fixing Our Relationships with Things.” In Sustainable Innovation 2016. Surrey, November 17–18.

 Google Scholar

Despeisse, M., M. Baumers, P. Brown, F. Charnley, S. J. Ford, A. Garmulewicz, S. Knowles, T. H. W. Minshall, L. Mortara, and F. P. Reed-Tsochas. 2017. “Unlocking Value for a Circular Economy through 3D Printing: A Research Agenda.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 115: 75–84.

 Google Scholar

Sung, K., T. Cooper, and S. Kettley. 2015. “An Exploratory Study on the Links between Individual Upcycling, Product Attachment and Product Longevity.” In Product Lifetimes and the Environment. Nottingham, June 17–19.

 Google Scholar

Hunt, Rhiannon, and Martin Charter. 2016. “3D Printing Applications for Creating Products Made from Reclaimed Fishing Nets.” In Sustainable Innovation, 150–164. Farnham, UKThe Centre for Sustainable Design.

 Google Scholar

Cohen, Boyd, and Pablo Muñoz. 2016. “Sharing Cities and Sustainable Consumption and Production: Towards an Integrated Framework.” Journal of Cleaner Production 134 Part (October): 87–97. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.07.133.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Smith, Adrian, Mariano Fressoli, Abrol Dinesh, Arond Elisa, and Adrian Ely. 2016. Grassroots Innovation Movements. London, New York: Earthscan from Routledge.

 Google Scholar

Kohtala. (2016) 2017. “Making ‘Making’ Critical: How Sustainability is Constituted in Fab Lab Ideology Making.” The Design Journal 6925 (January): 1–20. doi:10.1080/14606925.2016.1261504.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Gregson, Nicky, Mike Crang, Sara Fuller, and Helen Holmes. 2015. “Interrogating the Circular Economy: The Moral Economy of Resource Recovery in the EU.” Economy and Society 44 (2): 218–243. doi:10.1080/03085147.2015.1013353.

 Google Scholar

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2013a. “Towards a Circular Economy: Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition.” http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications.

 Google Scholar

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2013b. “Towards the Circular Economy: Opportunities for the Consumer Goods Sector.”

 Google Scholar

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2015. “Growth within: A Circular Economy Vision for a Competitive Europe.”

 Google Scholar

Dickel, Sascha, Jan-Peter Ferdinand, and Ulrich Petschow. 2016. “The Multiple Applications of 3D Printing: Between Maker Movements and the Future of Manufacturing.” In The Decentralized and Networked Future of Value Creation, edited by Jan-Peter Ferdinand, Ulrich Petschow, Sascha Dickel, 9–26. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-31686-4

 Google Scholar

Ferreira, Edy. 2008. “Open Hardware Business Models.” Open Source Business Resource, April 2008.

 Google Scholar

Kohtala, Cindy. 2015. “Addressing Sustainability in Research on Distributed Production: An Integrated Literature Review.” Journal of Cleaner Production 106: 654–668. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.09.039.

 Google Scholar

Holman, Will. 2015. “The Open Source Object.” Medium. https://medium.com/@objectguerilla/the-open-source-object-8ceac1c8ef55#.n7diyshis.

 Google Scholar

Fleischmann, Katja, Sabine Hielscher, and Timothy Merritt. 2016. “Making Things in Fab Labs: A Case Study on Sustainability and Co-creation.” Digital Creativity 27 (2): 113–131. doi:10.1080/14626268.2015.1135809.

 Google Scholar

Bakker, Conny, Marcel den Hollander, E. van Hinte, and Y. Zijlstra. 2014. Products That Last: Product Design for Circular Business Models. Delft: TU Delft Library/Marcel den Hollander IDRC.

 Google Scholar

Bocken, Nancy M. P., Conny Bakker, and Ingrid De Pauw. 2016. “Product Design and Business Model Strategies for a Circular Economy.” Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering 33 (5): 308–320.10.1080/21681015.2016.1172124

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Moreno, Mariale, Carolina De los Rios, and ZoeRowe, and Fiona Charnley. 2016. “A Conceptual Framework for Circular Design.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 8 (9): 937. doi:10.3390/su8090937.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Prendeville, Sharon, Emma Cherim, and Nancy Bocken. 2017. “Circular Cities: Mapping Six Cities in Transition.” Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. doi:10.1016/j.eist.2017.03.002. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422416300788.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Troxler, Peter. 2011. “Libraries of the Peer Production Era.” In Open Design Now: Why Design Cannot Remain Exclusive, edited by Bas van Abel, Roel Klaassen, Lucas Evers, Lucas, and Peter Troxler, 86–97. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers.

 Google Scholar

Nesta. 2015. “Open Dataset of UK Makerspaces: A User’s Guide.” http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/open-dataset-uk-makerspaces-users-guide.

 Google Scholar

Bakker, Conny, Feng Wang, Jaco Huisman, and Marcel den Hollander. 2014. “Products that Go Round: Exploring Product Life Extension Through Design.” Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (April): 10–16. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.028.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar