Presentation of the paper: "The environmental value of the Maker movement". The aim of this paper is to explore the environmental value of the Maker movement, which is driving digital fabrication into the mainstream. Makers are inspiring each other to create smart solutions for all types of individual needs, and address societal and environmental challenges at the same time. They share their creative ideas and solutions in collaborative workspaces and Maker fairs or on social media platforms. Is this grassroots innovation the beginning of the next industrial revolution? In the framework of a case study analysis based on ten different Maker initiatives across Europe, 39 interviews were conducted with Makers and Maker initiatives managers evaluating core questions such as possible environmental impact, value chains and energy efficient behaviours. The paper investigates if the Maker movement is to be considered a valuable resource in tackling most of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, e.g. clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, responsible consumption and production.

1. The environmental value of the
Maker movement
Elisabeth Unterfrauner, Margit Hofer, Maria Schrammel
Claudia Magdalena Fabian, Centre for Social Innovation
ZSI, Vienna

2. Context Maker Movement
• Makeing = Do-it-Yourself culture
• digital tools & technique
• aiming to address social & environmental challenges
• looking for solutions for individual needs and societal
challenges
• Makers
• inspire each other to create smart tools
• act at home
• share their ideas with peers
• in collaborative workspaces
• at Maker faires
• on Social media platforms
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3. Neil Gershenfeld
• founder of FabLab initiative
• Maker movement is the next digital revolution
• the fabrication is placed on people’s desk
(prototyping)
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4. Case explorations

5. Cross-Case Analysis

6. Cross-Case Analysis
• Qualitative coding process
• 10 different maker initiatives
• Based on
• 39 interviews (managers & makers)
• 10 self-reporting sheets
• Literature
• 47 research questions addressed
• Research pillar 1: organisation & governance
• Research pillar 2: peer & collaborative behaviour
• Research pillar 3: value creation & impact

7. Results
• 63 code segments:
environmental impact of Maker communities
• Clustered topics emerged (inductive coding)
• Repairing, Recycling and Upcycling
• Environmental friendly materials
• Environmental friendly production processes
• The impact of local production and supply chains
• Awareness on environmental issues among the Maker
community
• Most of the topics are interlinked
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8. Repairing, Recycling and
Upcycling
• Upcycling:
• “Someone has a broken part, then you repair it and then
you realise you could improve the design, and you
improve, and then everyone wants an improved design“
(manager, male, CIR)
• Recycling:
• “ just taking some scrap or discarded materials from
different industries to make prototypes for bicycles, for
instance, or use whatever they had around their homes
to come up with clever, ecological solutions for home
appliances” (manager, female, AHHAA)
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9. Repairing, Recycling and
Upcycling
• Repairing with 3D-printing products:
• “You can create many resource-efficient things with
that. And also the potential to maybe be able to produce
spare parts, which are not on the market anymore. To be
able to repair things and continue using them which
don’t exist anymore.“ (manager, male, HLW)
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10. Environmental friendly materials
and products
• using environmental friendly
and re-useable material
• address environmentally
relevant questions, e.g.
• water purification
• replacement of environment-
harming materials
(picture: mycotecture elements,
pieces of architecture based on
mushroom materials)
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11. Example
• Prototype in Happylab (Vienna)
• A tool for water purification through solar energy
(https://www.trendingtopics.at/wadi-who/)
• Approved by World Health Organisation (WHO)
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12. Example
• energy-harvesting flower-pot
• Instruction, how to build your own:
https://www.greenoptimistic.com/make-solar-
power-flower-pot/#.WdKUSkz5xmA
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13. Environmental friendly production
processes
• Focus is more on the production
process & final product like
• vertical gardening
“we want to look how we can use vertical
farming effectively in the city without taking
valuable room away in the city“ (maker,
male, HRW)
• making smart use of materials
• use energy efficient machines
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14. Impact of local production and new
supply chains on the environment
• Maker movement can support and strengthen the
local production
• produce things, when they are needed
• creating spare parts for equipment
• less mass production, less waste
• leading to a more local production
“you can eliminate one step in the logistic chain, you eliminate costs
and transport movements; in that sense this leads to interesting side
effects in terms of value: lower environmental footprint and
economic value creation“ (maker, male, SBF)
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15. Awareness on environmental issues
among the Maker community
• High awareness on environmental issues
• waste production
• the use of more sustainable materials
• looking for renewable materials
• Environmental issues are coupled with
• ethical standards
• social issues of production
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16. Conclusions
• high awareness on environmental issues
• BUT some do it more unconsciously
• upcycling and recycling is the strongest trend
• BUT on the global scale, the impact is rather small
• main focus is the use of existing materials
• BUT not so much the environmental protection
• BUT still, the usage of environmentally friendly material
is of high relevance
• the strongest environmental impact can be found in
their creative ideas and products
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17. Conclusions
• Maker movement can
• strengthen the local production
• reduce mass production, traffic and transport
• Re-thinking our day-to-day living
• the way we consume, looking for individual solutions
• Global perspective
• need to get further developed
• Makers and businesses should enhance the exchange of
creative ideas and innovative solutions
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18. Conclusions
• Maker community is getting larger
• FabLab network supports 10.000 user, 1.085 FabLabs
• FabLabs.io (official platform)
• Maker movement provides inspiration, how to address
environmental issues creatively
• Neil Gershenfield (keynote / MakerFair in Rom)
• Is the Maker Community a valuable resource in tackeling
some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
• Clean water and sanitation
• Affordable and clean energy
• Responsible consumption and production
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19. Thank You!
Elisabeth, Maria, Margit, Christian & Claudia
Centre for Social Innovation
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