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STEM Participation & Social Justice Research Newsletter
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Hi <<First Name>>
The Making Spaces project works with youth engagement programmes at makerspaces and hack spaces across the UK. The project aims to empower youth to participate in STEM and innovation activities.
Last month we shared four Springboards from the project. This series of Springboards are resources designed for makerspace practitioners to equip them to better support equity and social justice through their youth engagement programmes and activities.
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Re/imagining makerspaces to support equity and social justice
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The Making Spaces Springboard series aims to be a useful jumping off point; for re/imagining practice and starting a conversation within the sector to help steer the makerspace community on course for a more equitable future.
There are four publications in this short series:
- Springboard #1: Introduction - Re/imagining makerspaces to support equity and social justice: introduction to the springboard series.
- Springboard #2: Values - Re/imagining the values and purpose of makerspaces.
- Springboard #3: Spaces - Re/imagining space and where making happens in makerspaces.
- Springboard #4: Objects - Re/imagining objects and what gets made in makerspaces.
Each publication explores a range of topics relevant to creating inclusive spaces for marginalized young people. The Springboards introduce the Making Spaces project, the rationale behind makerspaces, and examining the role of power in makerspaces through programming, planning and activity design.
The Springboards mark the end of phase one of the Making Spaces project. We hope to continue into phase two of the project where we will develop and refine equitable practices with our makerspace partners to produce a final model for practitioners and policy makers to use.
We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences using the Springboards. Please get in touch!
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About the project partners
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Making Spaces works with Knowle West Media Centre (in Bristol), MadLab (Manchester), and the Institute of Making (at UCL in London).
During lockdown, Knowle West Media Centre has moved its Maker City programme online. They’ve been working with young people to develop their 2D and 3D design skills and empower them to tackle social issues through design.
The UCL Institute of Making have been developing a new youth programme in partnership with London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). They co-designed workshops with a steering group of young people covering a range of topics from designing and creating re-purposed bags to learning about facial recognition technologies.
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We've created a glossary of social justice language for practitioners. The full glossary is on our website or you can find and share some of the terms on our Instagram, @m4kingspaces.
The Making Spaces project is just over a year old and we're still growing our online following. You can find us online, on twitter or on instagram. If you'd like to join the Making Spaces mailing list, you can sign up here.
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The Youth Equity + STEM (YESTEM) project is an international collaborative project working with informal STEM learning organisations in the UK and the US.
The four-year project is coming to an end and publishing a number of practitioner Insights. These resources are designed to help informal STEM learning and STEM engagement professionals create equitable practices, policies and programming.
The latest Insights give more detail on the YESTEM Core Equitable Practices and we'll be sharing more resources online soon.
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The first of the latest two Insights focusing on the importance of co-designing. It explores examples of how programmes can be co-designed with young people rather than being designed for them.
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Shifting Narratives looks at the importance of how we talk about what and who 'counts' as STEM. As with all Insights, it shares real case studies of organisations who have adjusted their practices.
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