MAKERSPACE LEUVEN: CREATING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

CAMPUS NEWS

In the old industrial heart of Europe’s most innovative city, a ‘making & learning space’ has recently been set up. Those who expect a studio for technicians, hobbyists or do-it-yourselvers should revise their opinion. The building is more than just a space. The Leuven making & learning space presents itself as an innovation mindset that relies on the potential of multidisciplinary collaboration and co-creation. Group T Campus is present with a High-Tech Lab and a STEAM studio. Coordinators Jeroen Buijs and Stijn De Jonge tell the story.

The Vaartkom area in Leuven has undergone a complete transformation in just a few years. “It seems as if from the first industrial revolution we have immediately moved on to Industry 4.0”, Jeroen believes. “The technological revolution that the making processes have recently undergone puts building and making back in the spotlight. All over the world, makerspaces are popping up like mushrooms as centres of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking. In Leuven, the city has taken the initiative to bring together a wide range of actors. These are certainly not only knowledge institutions and businesses, but also social organisations, youth centres, artists, ... in short, everyone who has made the city what it is and contributes to what it will become. The Faculty of Engineering Technology will also be present with its Leuven campus, but also with Technovation Hub and CORE, the cooperative of engineering students that develops concepts around rational energy use and the circular economy.

Practices

“You can best compare the making & learning space to an ecosystem where across all ages, backgrounds, disciplines and sectors people work together on the challenges of today and tomorrow,” Stijn continues. “The participants not only share the space, but also ideas, materials and expertise. In this way, they help shape and give substance to practices where everyone learns from each other.”

“To realize such practices, you obviously need materials,” Jeroen notes. “We work with four essential raw materials. These are ‘people-in-relation’ with other people and the environment, ‘materials’ (from wood to vegetables), ‘energy’ (gas and electricity but also muscle power) and finally ‘knowledge and skills’. These raw materials must not only be used sustainably, but also in a circular manner. In other words, nothing must go to waste. What is used is reused or given a new purpose. This also applies to the spaces in the building. The layout of these spaces can change according to the needs and circumstances. That is why there is also a ‘white space’ with which you can figuratively go in all directions”.

Andreas Monsieur, Mostafa Elkhouly, Hannah Gunsch, Bram Van Bogaert & Antoine Devroe

© Julie Feyaerts

Subspaces

The making & learning space is located in the mills of Orshoven and the silos of the old Stella Artois brewery. “There you will find eight so-called sharing places,” explains Stijn. “These are art studios, a co-working space, a Low-Tech Lab for tinkerers and repairers, a New Media Lab for beginners and professionals, a vegetable garden and of course a canteen, the beating art of the building”.

“Group T Leuven Campus has committed to two sub-places,” Jeroen adds. “The first is the High-Tech Lab. There we are tackling the problem of plastic pollution. Our goal is to install a circular manufacturing lab where plastic waste serves as a raw material for innovative materials and products. We are also going to build a recycling machine for plastic there”.

“Our second subplot is the STEAM studio. STEAM is STEM with the A of ‘arts’ added. This totally matches our vision of linking sciences, technology, and maths with the creative and the artistic. There is also a perfect connection with the location. The Vaartkom has grown into the creative hotspot of Leuven, with numerous creative businesses and art studios. It is a biotope where our students, teachers and researchers immediately feel at home”.

Two-way traffic

The partners of the Leuven making & learning space also do not recoil to question the concept of the makerspace itself. “We want to break the traditional pattern of ‘citizen science’ or even turn it around completely,” Stijn confirms. “Usually, it is scientists who involve citizens in their research, just think of counting birds or capturing fine dust. Our space wants to challenge citizens and young people, to come up with their own research questions. They do not have to look far. Mobility, traffic safety, noise pollution, health, energy use, food safety, ... the topics are up for grabs.

www.maakleerplekleuven.be

Yves Persoons