Growing Community Based Innovation in Nova Scotia
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Building a Culture of Innovation in Nova Scotia:
Growing the Maker Movement
Sandra McKenzie and Nicole d’Entremont
March 2021
“The world needs dreamers, and the world needs doers. But above all what the world needs most are dreamers that do.”
— Sarah Ban Breathnach
This project was developed through collaborative conversations with generous people. The way all the best things get done.
Introduction
The Maker Movement is as old as time and yet is new again. The idea that individual resilience grows from an internal trust in one’s abilities to solve problems and innovate solutions, has driven the progress of humankind for millennia.
What is new is the idea that this primal capacity must be re-grown in a population accustomed to thinking of themselves more as a “customer” than “inventor”. Eric Von Hippel, a leader in open innovation thinking, sounded the clarion call 40 years ago when he wrote about the need to “democratize innovation” by insisting that “collective invention” is the hallmark of a healthy society. (Von Hippel, Democratizing Innovation)
The distance between the general population and innovation has been fostered by the notion that innovation is something that happens in Post-Secondary Institutions, R&D divisions of corporations or start-up incubators. The word conjures images of scientists, wunderkinds and tech geeks. Innovation has become a job that other people do, in places regular people don’t go. It has become something we purchase, not undertake ourselves.
But is that really true?
The Project Team set out to find examples of Citizen-based Collective Innovation happening around Nova Scotia. The goal was to find the places where people gather to share their wisdom with others and in turn learn something themselves.
What we found is evidence of a Maker Movement that is alive but disconnected, varying in accessibility, and pocketed around the Province. What we also found is an incredible appetite to “make, learn, teach, gather, collaborate, share, mentor, innovate, build, create, try, buy, sell, and serve”. (Windsor Maker Studio)
We found tangible evidence that when people gather and learn from each other, they are happier with their own lives, their community and with each other. The desire to teach and learn fosters diversity over exclusivity, leaps age groups, does not have a gender and goes a long way to erasing disenfranchisement.
Life-style Businesses are an efficient, equitable, on-ramp to the middleclass
We also found evidence that the maker movement more closely echoes the future of work than the industrial model that is now prevalent.Lifestyle businesses, an outcome of the maker movement, support multi-threaded income strategies and are in sync with the rapidly growing GIG economy.
We also found that the growth and success of small businesses, particularly those with a focus on advanced manufacturing, can be linked to access to makerspaces and the equipment they house. Cheap innovation is a characteristic of the maker movement and its growth can be a pillar in Nova Scotia’s prosperity plan.
Why is it important that we all think of ourselves as innovative?
A population that believes that we all have the capacity for innovative thinking is foundational to prosperity and resilience.By recognizing, celebrating and nurturing citizen-based innovation we turn that capacity into a capability.People who see themselves as innovators, also see themselves as life-long learners, leading to more resilience and hopefulness.Whether we are solving our own problems, solving our community’s problems, or potentially commercializing our solutions, Citizen Innovation is linked to empowerment. It is also contagious.Talking about ourselves as innovative, causes our children to believe they are innovative, which leads to more innovation.
The Problem is We Don’t Measure or Value Citizen Innovation
Innovation used to be something we did in our garages, home workshops and craft rooms. Although we likely didn’t call it innovation. People would solve everyday problems in ingenious ways, and the neighbours would gather around and give it their highest praise, which, depending on where you live, might sound like “that’s some smart!”
Somehow, that homemade brilliance has become unhooked from the innovation ecosystem. And it turns out there may be a simple explanation for that.
In a Freakonomics podcast, a place where a “Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything”, Steven Levitt investigated home-made innovation and revealed some startling insights. In an interview with M.I.T. innovation scholar Eric von Hippel, Levitt explored a paper that von Hippel has co-authored with Wellesley economist Daniel Sichel, which summarizes much of what the two have learned over the years. The paper is called “Household Innovation, R&D, and New Measures of Intangible Capital.”
Levitt says, “If you care even a little bit about innovation, or the economy, or how the world really works, it’s hard to not be seduced by the thesis of this paper. “Household R&D (or household innovation),” the authors write, “is an important source of innovation that has to date been largely overlooked … Indeed, it is not currently counted as investment in the literature on household production and human capital.” In other words, home innovation is missing from economic measures like GDP.”
So, it’s not counted in the GDP. But is it important enough to pay attention to?
It turns out, it is.
Von Hippel and Sichel calculate that Americans invest about $41 billion a year in household innovation. “This,” they write, “is about half of what producers spend in R&D to develop new products for consumers — a sizable fraction.”
Most interestingly, the researchers found that Users (referring to the household geniuses) often drive innovation in Producers, and not the other way around, citing the personal computer, mountain bikes and the artificial pancreas as examples. The difference is that the Users are primarily motivated to solve a personal problem, which may be shared with their community, but often not commercialized. Resulting in organizations like the OECD reinforcing the notion that “an innovation is not an innovation until it’s been placed on the market.” Which means that all User Innovation, User Hacks, and User Inventions (the innovation done in basements, garages and community-based makerspaces) is effectively invisible. Which means it tends to not be incented, supported or nurtured.
Community-Based Makerspaces are More Important Than Ever Because Of Where We Live
So, what happens when those home-based innovators don’t have any place to create?
More and more of our current and future innovators are moving into apartments, condos and other forms of communal living arrangements. Often, they do not have access to basements, garages or other spaces to tinker, putter and discover. And the truth is, that although Sector-Based and Institutional Innovation Hubs are wonderful, it would be rare that a regular citizen would wander into any of those spaces with a pair of welding gloves, copper wire and a great idea.
The 2016 Census Brief on Dwellings tells us that 50.1 % of people in Halifax report that they do not live in a single detached home, with 49.9% reporting that they do. For the rest of Nova Scotia, the number not in single detached is 34.4%. These housing profiles are significant as a substantial portion of Nova Scotians are living in places and spaces that likely do not support home-based innovation.
Without places to be creative, solve problems and innovate solutions, the population no longer sees itself as a source of innovation. Citizens become customers rather than inventors and the breeding ground for entrepreneurship goes fallow.
Makerspaces, Innovation Hubs, Community Labs, no matter the name, are important places to grow and nurture innovative citizenry with all the positive economic spin-offs that brings.
Maker Spaces Provide Important Access to Graduates
Nova Scotia is home to universities, NSCC campuses and public schools in communities around the province. While in school, students enjoy access to a plethora of software and hardware tools and equipment and a web of mentors and advisors. That access comes to a screeching halt when they get their diploma, only (typically) partially resuming once they've found a job in their field. Although some post-secondary institutions continue to offer access to graduates, this option is limited to those that live near-by and can access the spaces during times the institution is open.
Community-based makerspaces provide continued access, eliminating this hurdle.
Makerspaces are Place Makers
As important as citizen innovation and community makerspaces are to the Innovation Eco-System, they are equally important to building a better Nova Scotia. That is because resilient individuals collectively create resilient communities.
The International Development Innovation Network captured the importance of community makerspaces in their article “Makerspaces for Social Good: What We're Learning Working with Community Innovation Centers Around the Globe.” “That expansion of interest level (in Makerspaces) over the years has been connected to a change in how we talk about what kind of impact making can have. The maker movement started out focusing on the joys and benefits of making for the individual maker, then shifted the conversation to the potential impact on a local community; now the conversation is about how supporting making and innovation practices, and building communities around them, can lead to improved economic, social, and civic outcomes for a whole city or region.”
Effectively this means that one of the most important characteristics of makerspaces is that they are important place-makers. The Co-founders of the Wonder’neath Art Society, located in the North End of Halifax, captured the importance of their facility to the surrounding community, “Mixing problem solvers with people who have different levels of capacity leads to broad exposure to new ways of thinking and doing, collective brainstorming, celebration of resourcefulness, growth of curiosity, and the belief that we are more creative through collaboration.”
The Project Team also found strong evidence that makerspaces build resilience in vulnerable Communities. BlxckHouse, Digital Mi’kmaq and Imhotep are not only innovation hubs, they are also important “third spaces” for their communities. “Third Spaces” is a term coined by the sociologist Ray Oldenburg in the early 90s in his book The Great Good Place, “It’s a space where people meet to unwind, discuss and talk about things that matter to them, their neighbourhood and their community, where they can let down their guard, relax, be themselves, develop new friendships and deepen existing ones. It’s a space distinct both from the work environment where communication and interaction can be functional, stereotyped and superficial and distinct from the domestic space of home and family life. Third spaces have been ways that “a community develops and retains a sense of cohesion and identity”. They are about sociability, not isolation.”
Makerspaces are part of both the Economic and Social Innovation Eco-System
One of the things that happened when innovation was un-hooked from regular people solving problems for themselves and their communities, is that innovation became a commercial value in an economic model.Yet, according to Engage Nova Scotia “When we asked Nova Scotians how they think we should measure success, 58% said, “By growing the economy” and 82% said, “By improving our quality of life.”
Makerspaces are places in community that address many of Engage NS quality-of-life indicators including social isolation, sense of community, feelings of trust, and building equity. Meaning they have value that economic models miss.
Jennifer DeCoste, Life School House, perhaps says it best “I’m still waiting for the day when investment of funding (and in-kind support and even provincial celebration) is focused on those initiatives that build trust, emphasize connection, and build solid foundations for community without looking for direct links to building business or entrepreneurs.”
New forms of partnerships between community and public/private and philanthropic funders, including support for makerspaces, will contribute to economic and social health of our Province. As Jennifer notes, “The Government of Canada has begun to invest in initiatives that focus on raising the Canadian standards of living and improve quality of life, even when these innovations are service scenarios that are not revenue generating. Federal research has shown direct links from a foundation of strong and connected communities to new growth (and a strong entrepreneurial sector) and so they are supporting a broad investment, beyond those initiatives that fit neatly into the enterprise model. Ministers from Labour, Seniors, Social Development, and Employment have shown united support for the more inclusive practice of social innovation with the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy where investment is broadly offered for many different approaches to “improv(ing) people’s quality of life through collaborating with new partners, testing creative ideas and measuring their impact.”
Investment in programming that moves the dial on indices measuring the health and vitality of a nation, such as the Canadian Index of Wellbeing for example, is critical for the overall success of the social innovation ecosystem, which move us beyond GDP.”
Recognizing the social innovation value of makerspaces contributes to this important narrative.
A Curated Overview of Makerspaces in Nova Scotia
The following overview of makerspaces in Nova Scotia is based on interviews and research. We found the spaces through open-ended google searches and word of mouth, often with each makerspace pointing to the next one. They are all weird and wonderful in their own way. And, although varied, they all have the same common denominator — citizens from all walks of life gathering in local spaces to explore, make, invent and solve. They are all inspirational. They all host gatherings of people, engaged in critical thinking, to solve problems. They talk, they test, they fail, they try again. The end products can be a solution, a piece of art, or a prototype. But the outcome is community cohesion and resilience.
Process
All the makerspaces* highlighted below participated in a one-hour interview and completed a common profile.** Although the interviews had a standard set of questions, the conversation also morphed according to the makerspace being interviewed and their areas of interest. The interviews included questions about what should go into the Makerspace Toolbox.
Notes:
*not every space calls themselves a makerspace, but all of them were comfortable with the term being used globally to describe them.
**Digital Mi’kmaq was interviewed for a previous article.
Maker Space Key:
· Technology
· Community
· Art
The Makerspaces loosely sorted into three groups:
Makerspaces Foster Inclusive Innovation
In 2019 when Nunavut won the $10 M prize for Smart Cities, they did it by proposing and developing makerspaces across the territory. Their successful submission explained why the spaces were important, “Our model for Makerspaces in Nunavut is focused on building pathways to life promotion and mental wellness for youth firmly grounded in Indigenous values by nurturing creativity, fostering agency, and building positive relationships while engaging in the expanded field of technology at the intersection of art, culture, science and education. The idea that connected and accessible digital technologies and resources for Indigenous communities create opportunities for intergenerational knowledge transfer, language learning, renewal, and revitalization through multimodal forms.”
Each of the makerspaces highlighted below demonstrates that open innovation is inextricably linked to social innovation, that physical spaces matter, and that community leadership leads to communities of leaders.
· Digital Mi’kmaq (Community/Technology/Art/Experiences)
· About: Ulnooweg’s Digital Mi’kmaq program delivers integrated programs, projects and initiatives to help build capacity and establish regenerative economies for Indigenous youth and their communities. Community Based Learning Labs bridge the digital divide providing Indigenous youth and communities with the resources they need to participate equally in the digital economy.
· Fees: No Fee
· Location: Located in 13 Mi'kmaw Communities throughout Nova Scotia, Digital Mi’kmaq Offices: 5121 Sackville Street, Suite 400-401, Halifax, NS (Ulnooweg Headquarters in Millbrook First Nation)
· Feature: Ulnooweg’s Digital Mi’kmaq offers a broad range of innovative educational programming in digital skills programs like artificial intelligence, coding and web development including additional collaborative programs with the Canadian Space Agency, developing community-based greenhouse projects to address food security, inspirational events with Indigenous leaders in STEAM and many, many more.
· Website: https://www.digitalmikmaq.com/
· Blxck House (Community/Art/Experiences)
· About: Blxck House is an urban community space designed to support the development of North Preston children, youth and families. Unique programs and services are designed to fit the needs of residents. Blxck House empowers the community through experiential learning, and spaces for holistic health and healing.
· Fees: No fees
· Location: Currently operating out of a private home in North Preston, NS
· Feature: Blxck House works with partner organizations to offer programming and experiences for youth such as the partnership with the Surf Association of Nova Scotia which resulted in the North Preston Surf program, and a partnership between Frontier College and the North Preston Literacy program which created North Preston Learners.
· Contact: LaMeia Reddick
· Imhotep’s Legacy Academy (Technology/Community)
· About: Imhotep’s Legacy Academy (ILA) is an innovative university-community partnership that uniquely mobilizes university/college students, faculty and community leaders to help improve student success and bridge the achievement gap for Grades 6-12 students of African heritage in Nova Scotia
· Fees: No membership model/ interested users can contact ILA to request access to makerspace
· Location: 1360 Barrington Street, Room J134, Main Level, Sexton Memorial Gymnasium Building, Dalhousie University
· Feature: The Imhotep Makerspace enables ILA to bring junior high and high school students to Dalhousie to have hands-on experience with general science experiments, basic electrical engineering work with circuits, 3D printing and fabrication, and introductory computer programming.
· Website: www.dal.ca/faculty/science/imhotep/about.html
Makerspaces Make Places
In the article “Making Community: The Wider Role of Makerspaces in Public Life”, the authors identify four broad themes that outline the different roles makerspaces play in the wider community:
· acting as social spaces,
· supporting wellbeing,
· serving the needs of the communities they are located in, and,
· reaching out to excluded groups.
The authors underscore the potential of makerspaces as third spaces, or multi-dimensional social spaces separate from the home and the workplace that play a critical role in public life. As a result, these spaces can have an explicit agenda beyond digital or physical fabrication, intent on creating positive change in a community.
The Project Team found makerspaces playing community building roles all around Nova Scotia. We discovered Communities of Creators, Future Fabricators and those just Gathering for the Geekery. Every single person we contacted is generous with their time and knowledge, and through that spirit, are building knowing and confidence in others. Technology and tools define many of the spaces, but they are second runner-up to shared learning. Collaborative creativity permeated every group. Through donated equipment, pooled resources and ingenuity the over-whelming mantra was “Let Me Show You How to……..”
Almost 20 years ago, Richard Florida told us that “a thriving creative class is a key feature of nearly every successful modern city. A vibrant culture is not only valuable in its own right, it also often serves to attract and inspire talented workers in non-creative fields, creating a rising tide that benefits the entire city.” By this measure, Nova Scotia has always fared well. Continuing to foster a density of creatives across the province lifts our local populations and becomes an attraction for newcomers.
Note: each of the three makerspaces featured in “Makerspaces Foster Inclusive Innovation” (Imhotep, Blxck House, Digital Mi’kmaq) also fit in this category.
· Kingston Innovation Lab (Community/Technology)
· About: New visitors to the Kingston Innovation Lab can meet with an Instructor for orientation and training on the equipment. Once proficient, participants can book the lab whenever the library is open and use the equipment unsupervised.
· Fees: The Innovation lab is supported through public grants.
· Location: 671 Main Street, Kingston, Nova Scotia
· Feature: Equipment includes 3D Printer, 3D Scanner, Cricut Maker, Cricut Heat Press, Brother 3534DT Serger, 2 Janome HD-1000 Heavy Duty Sewing Machines, EV3 LEGO Robotics and more.
· Website: https://www.valleylibrary.ca/kingston-innovation-lab-orientationinstruction-18
· Wolfville Memorial Library Innovation Lab (Community/Technology)
About: The Innovation Lab, a former CAP site, has a variety of services including computers available for public use, and a fully equipped lab with a smart digital board, digital projector, and web-conferencing capacity. The space also houses a Vive Virtual Reality system and a Media Makery Lab - Audio/Video recording and graphic design studio, as well as sewing machines, a Cricut Maker and more.
· Fees: The Innovation lab is supported through public grants.
· Location: 21 Elm Avenue, Wolfville, Nova Scotia
· Feature: The Innovation Lab is for anyone who is interested in learning or updating their computer, internet, and digital media creation skills.
· Website: https://www.valleylibrary.ca/wolfville-memorial-library-innovation-lab
· Annapolis Innovation Lab (Community/Technology/Art)
· About: The Annapolis Innovation Lab is a 'design and prototyping studio’ and teaching space, where teens, adults and seniors from the community can incorporate leading-edge computer-driven tools and technologies to solve engineering challenges in creative scientific, music and visual arts projects.
· Fees: Workshops and special Lab projects are free to participants and are funded through grants from public and private agencies.
· Location: 143 Ritchie Street, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, B0S 1A0
· Feature: The Annapolis Innovation Lab provides a Laboratory for the whole community to learn new skills and work directly with new technologies. The Lab is the hub at the centre of a 'Makers' Network' for the surrounding region.
· Website: http://annapolisinnovationlab.ca
· Windsor Maker Studio (Community/Art)
· About: The Windsor Maker Studio is dedicated to preserve time-honored skills by passing them on to the next generation. The Studio offers a full sewing studio, a fibre studio, an art studio, a pottery studio, and a woodshop. The Studio also has a large workspace for general instruction which reflects learner interests.
· Fees: The Windsor Maker Studio has a full menu of membership fees and per class offerings
· Location: 21 Gerrish Street, Windsor, Nova Scotia
· Feature: The Windsor Maker Studio offers a place where the community can make, learn, teach, gather, collaborate, share, mentor, innovate, build, create, try, buy, sell, and serve.
· Website: www.windsormakersstudio.com
· Life School House (Community/Art)
· About: Folkschools are informal learning spaces in communities where neighbors become teachers, sharing arts and traditional skills in small group workshops. Life School House (LSH) is a cooperative of folk schools that pop up in hosted residential spaces where skills are shared exclusively using barter to increase accessibility and inclusion.
· Fees: LifeSchoolHouse is a not-for-profit with open, community-based membership
· Location: Located in residential spaces across Nova Scotia. Headquartered at 315 Portland St Dartmouth, NS.
· Feature: LSH aims to create a world where people feel less isolated and more connected through the act of shared learning experiences. Through sharing skills and knowledge, LSH creates meaningful connections creating more resilient and interconnected communities.
· Website: www.lifeschoolhouse.com
· Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design (Community/Art)
· About: Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design is committed to developing programs that preserve, elevate, expand, and enhance the creation of craft through education and training, exhibitions and special events.
· Fees: Membership starting at $17.50 for Youth (Current membership 300+)
· Location: 322 Charlotte St, Sydney, NS B1P 1C8
· Feature: The Centre serves the craft community from beginners and recreational practitioners to highly accomplished professionals, offering instruction as well as resource and support services. The Centre operates a retail storefront and runs an artist in residence program.
· Website: www.capebretoncraft.com
· MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning (Community/Art)
· About: The MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning empowers youth between the ages of 12-19 by connecting passion with purpose through the arts. The Centre is a community hub offering unique programs in visual and performing arts, creative writing, and technology in a safe and inspiring space.
· Fees: Free for youth 12-19.
· Location: 50 Queen Street, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 1G1, and outreach locations in community. MacPhee Centre hosted programs in 17 different locations in the Halifax region.
· Feature: By bridging the learning gap for those who are disengaged from traditional education, or with barriers to accessing creative learning, the MacPhee Centre helps in the development of confidence, lifelong learning skills, an appreciation for the value in giving back to the community and increased potential for employment in our communities.
· Website: www.macpheecentre.ca
· Brilliant Labs (Technology/Art)
· About: Brilliant Labs is a not-for-profit, hands-on technology and experiential learning platform supporting the integration of creativity, innovation, coding, and an entrepreneurial spirit within classrooms and educational curricula.
· Fees: No fees - supported through public and private grants.
· Location: Brilliant Labs currently hosts 73 makerspaces
· Feature: Brilliant Labs develops makerspaces in hopes that they will serve as a scholastic or community hub that will support the growth of an innovative population and mindset, providing opportunities for skill development relevant to the interests of the community and the demands of a future knowledge-based economy.
· Website: www.brilliantlabs.ca
· Wonder’neath Art Society (Community/Art)
About: Wonder’neath brings professional artists and local residents together to create a neighbourhood deeply connected through the arts. Through the Open Studio, community members are part of an “Art Hive” with access to equipment and materials in an environment which fosters experimentation and creativity.
· Fees: Shared studio workspace is located at Wonder’neath and facilitated by artists and open to the public. Annual membership is available; however, the public is not required to be a member to attend open studio.
· Location: 2482 Maynard Street, Halifax, NS.
· Feature: Wonder’neath provides affordable studio space for artists to develop or produce their work or craft and interact with the neighbourhood-based arts studio; fostering the role of practicing artists as creative catalysts and leaders in the community.
· Website: www.wonderneath.com
· Craig Gallery Art Carts (Community/Art)
· About: The Craig Gallery at Alderney Landing is a public art gallery programmed by a Volunteer Committee made up primarily of Dartmouth Professional Artists. The Gallery’s mission is to introduce the works of emerging and established local artists collectively providing a diversity of mediums.
· Fees: Free
· Location: Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney St, Dartmouth, NS.
· Feature: The Craig Gallery Mobile Art Carts were created to give the community a learning/making experience through interactive programming. The Art Carts are staffed by volunteers and offer unique inter-generational, hands-on learning opportunities.
· Website: https://www.alderneylanding.com/gallery-exhibits/
· Discovery Centre, Michelin Corporate Foundation Innovation Lab (Community/Technology/Art)
· About: The Innovation Lab is a creative space where science, technology, engineering, arts, and math crash together in fun, hands-on investigations and immersive activities. The Lab showcases technology such as 3D printers, a laser cutter, computers for coding tutorials, and space for making and tinkering.
· Fees: Innovation Lab visitation is included with Discovery Centre membership or admission. Lab-based club participation includes a registration fee.
· Location: 1215 Lower Water Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 3S8
· Feature: In the Innovation Lab, clubs like Maker League and camps like Digital Discovery Camp engage youth, ages 8 to 14, from the HRM. Outreach versions of the Digital Discovery Camp are held in communities across mainland Nova Scotia.
· Website: https://thediscoverycentre.ca/experience/innovation-lab/
Makerspaces are Grass-Root Economic Drivers
The 1st Industrial Revolution took the tools away from people and put them in businesses, the 4th Industrial Revolution is giving them back.
Mark Hatch is one of the Godfathers of the Maker Movement in the U.S. and the co-founder of Tech Shop (a 9000-member web of makerspaces at its peak).He agreed to be interviewed for the Citizen Innovation Project.Mark shared a central theme of why he believes the Maker Movement is central to economic prosperity.“Makerspaces are hubs of cheap innovation”.He estimates that prototypes of new products that would have cost $100,000 to develop in the past, can be made in a well-equipped makerspace for $1,000 and the cost of a membership.This belief was echoed in the interviews at both the Halifax Maker Space and the Nova Scotia Power Maker Space in Sydney.
The story is compelling. Twenty years ago, workers and their friends used shops after hours to build home-based projects. From these efforts grew some of Nova Scotia’s most successful businesses. But the practice came to an end when occupational health and safety and security concerns caused businesses to close their shops to the community.
Fast forward twenty years and the home-based project makers have found a home again. Community makerspaces host putterers, tinkers and inventors who pay a small fee to access advanced tools--everything from laser cutters and milling machines to 3D printers and AutoCAD software. In turn they bring their creativity and positive energy. New entrants are trained on equipment by more experienced members.
Notably, a new trend is emerging. Small businesses from the surrounding communities are taking out makerspace memberships to get access to combination of online tools and off-line equipment. The other benefit for small business is the access to co-creators willing to brainstorm design problems through to solutions.
There are two makerspaces in Nova Scotia that provide an interesting case study in the power that is unleashed when maker communities come together. They also point to the importance of not limiting access to tools and machines to those who already have a business idea. Commerce can grow out of access to tools. The maker starts with a problem to solve, a home project to build or a simple desire to learn and the business idea follows.
Halifax Makerspace (Technology/Community)
· About: The Halifax Makerspace provides 24/7 access to tools, space, training, and a community of makers. HMS has a dedicated woodworking shop, CNC mills, an electronics lab, sewing machines, tools to support programming, researching and art, a laser cutter and 3D printers.
· Fees: $50/month, plus a signup fee of $50
· Location: 275 Rocky Lake Drive, Unit 19, Bedford, N.S.
· Feature: The Halifax Makerspace web-page says it all “Many of us don’t have multiple workshops populated with all kinds of tools. A Makerspace gives you that. Plus, you get access to a community of like-minded people that love to make stuff. Your project could be as simple as an LED name tag or as complex as a larger-than-life art installation. This is the place to learn how and get it done. It’s kind of like a gym for your brain.”
· Website: https://halifaxmakerspace.org/
Nova Scotia Power Makerspace (Technology/Community)
· About: The Nova Scotia Power Makerspace gives Cape Breton start-ups, entrepreneurs, students and other creative minds the place, equipment, materials and education to let them design and build innovative products.
· Fees: Variety of membership options - see website
· Location: Suite 100, 106 Nepean St. Sydney, N.S.
· Feature: A creator’s dream, the 4,000 sq.ft. space in Sydney includes a general work area, CNC and manual metal working, waterjet cutter and welding lab, a selection of woodworking tools and a 4X4 CNC router, an electronics/robotics lab, as well as 3D drawing and printing abilities, a laser engraver, vacuum former and vinyl printing capabilities.
· Website: https://innovacorp.ca/acceleration-initiatives/nova-scotia-power-makerspace
International Perspective: Lessons Learned
The Project Team carried out four international interviews to round-out the perspective on the Maker Movement.
Boston Makers (USA)
Boston Makers shares many of the attributes of the Halifax and Nova Scotia Power Makerspaces. It is membership-based and serves both tinkerers and those with potential business ideas. Makerspaces in the US are often neighbourhood-based and ubiquitous. Grants to support makerspaces are available through home cities and through philanthropic organizations. Boston Makers rents from a not-for-profit which effectively supports their business model. Noah, the Board member who participated in the interview, noted that institutions were good partners for makerspaces from a shared equipment perspective but not from an access perspective, meaning, institutions tend to limit public access to makerspaces. Boston Makers is open 24/7 which is an important feature for Noah’s participation.
Boston Makers has also introduced a “Young Makers” program which is staffed by volunteers. The Young Makers Program is designed to ensure that youth under 18 years of age can be mentored on equipment they normally wouldn’t have access to thereby building competence and confidence in the next generation.
Like Nova Scotia Makerspaces, Boston Makers volunteered to produce PPE for health care providers in the early days of the pandemic. What is interesting about the community-based production of PPE including masks, shields, and other equipment is that makers in both the US and Nova Scotia were pumping out PPE on a voluntary basis before it had been sourced through traditional supply chains. Sewing circles and 3-D printers worked around the clock to meet the need. These are the stories of local generosity and resilience that are inspiring and serve to build the social fabric of our communities.
Lesson Learned: Institutions theoretically make good partners for makerspaces from a shared equipment perspective but may not from a shared access perspective. The access issue was echoed by Nova Scotia Makerspaces who believe that once the makerspace is housed in an institution, the community has limited or no access.
Mark Hatch and Tech Shop (USA)
As noted earlier, Mark Hatch, is considered a leader in the Maker Movement in the US. His book, “The Maker Movement Manifesto” is a primer on the importance of makerspaces and their contribution to the innovation eco-system. Key themes from the book and the interview with Mark are summarized below:
· Makerspaces provide inventors with a cheap way of producing a prototype, effectively reducing the cost by, at Hatch’s estimation, 97%. Which leads him to believe that access to makerspaces can create a revolution in hardware development.
· Mark notes that niche products have an increasing cachet in retail markets leading sellers to offer “more of less”. This observation echoes in Nova Scotia where a number of makers produce high quality products in small numbers, attractive to a growing segment of buyers which has led to the growth of ETSY and other “hand-made” sites. Increasing the capacity of artisans to access equipment, such as through the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design, can not only lead to an increase in life-style businesses, but it also supports tourism opportunities. There is a growing tourist profile that not only seeks a density of creatives as a destination and which also provides experiences for tourists to learn from, and become, creatives themselves.
· Hatch noted that Tech Shop’s demise was attributable to its for-profit model which prevented them from accessing public and philanthropic grants and funding.
· Hatch notes that Co-working spaces and Makerspaces co-habit well as do Makerspaces co-housed with Accelerators and Incubators. Innovation hobbyists integrated in spaces with other innovators and businesses leads to micro innovation ecosystems which can flourish anywhere.
· Hatch believes that the transformation of software (better, faster, cheaper) has now hit hardware which aligns well with makerspaces which are effectively hardware platforms. Inexpensive access to tools and crowd-sourced funding options which have democratized access to capital means that makerspaces can act as local labs for advanced manufacturing.
· Hatch also asks important questions when he wonders if accelerators can support the development of physical projects, which results in a default to software development.
· Hatch inspires when he talks about the “personal industrial revolution” that new makers go through as they are introduced to equipment, become proficient, draw on their imagination to create something new and then become teachers themselves. It is this transformation that gives makerspaces their magic.
Lesson Learned: Makerspaces cannot run on a “for-profit-model”. They all need access to public and private grants.
Lesson Learned: Makerspaces are sources of cheap innovation.
The Fab Foundation (International/US-based)
The largest coordinated Makerspace Movement is the international network of Fab Labs. Although there are 2000 Fab Labs globally, there are none currently operating in Canada. The McConnell Foundation funded an effort to garner interest in 2019 which was negatively impacted by the onset of the pandemic.
· The Fab Lab movement began as an educational outreach component of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, an extension of Neil Gershenfeld’s research into digital fabrication and computation. A Fab Lab is a technical prototyping platform for innovation and invention, providing stimulus for local entrepreneurship. A Fab Lab is also a platform for learning and innovation: a place to play, to create, to learn, to mentor, to invent. To be a Fab Lab means connecting to a global community of learners, educators, technologists, researchers, makers and innovators. Because all Fab Labs share common tools and processes, the program is building a global network, a distributed laboratory for research and invention.
· The Fab Foundation supports the Fab Lab Network through public and private donors. The Network spans more than 149 countries and approximately 2,000 Fab Labs.
Lesson Learned: Fab Labs are prescribed versions of Makerspaces. A Fab Lab in Nova Scotia would provide access to an international network of makers. Local makerspaces provide greater scope for community interests.
Fab Labs
Fab Labs provide common tools and processes in all locations. This supports the ability to network the Labs as all makers have access to the same equipment and allows makers to move from location to location seamlessly. The list of Fab Lab equipment has been generated by MIT and costs approximately $100,000. There are ongoing costs for staffing and equipment maintenance. Fab Labs that are emerging in developing countries are more reflective of local capacity but are connected to the global network.
Makerspaces
Makerspaces are places where people with shared interests gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and knowledge. Makerspaces are reflective of the community of interest who have gathered to make them which means they differ in every community.
Both Fab Labs and Makerspaces share the credo that community is built in places where people gather and create. The innovation makerspaces in Sydney and Halifax are both reflective of the Fab Lab effort to provide a technology platform to support business development.
Stipo – Partners, Hans Karssenberg and Jaap Schoufour (The Netherlands)
STIPO is a placemaking leader operating out of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. STIPO is multidisciplinary urban development team, driven by sustainable quality and the human scale with an expertise in the process of revitalization. Our conversation focused on the preservation of urban buildings and spaces for artists and creatives, using The Art Factory policies in Amsterdam as an active example. https://investinamsterdam.com/categories/art-factories__da4f271729d5
The Art Factory project grew out of a deliberate effort to provide space for creatives in a rapidly expanding urban environment.Art factories grew through a big vision and a unique funding model (mixed rental and balanced occupancy) which successfully allowed communities which had been rapidly displacing artists and other creatives to preserve buildings for a range of artistic studios, craft workplaces, artist in residencies and – in some cases – hip clubs, bars and restaurants. Basically, they are a melting pot of artists in many disciplines, craftsmen and women, and cultural businesses. They give rise to well-known artists as well as medium to large creative businesses. Many of the companies remain small, but together with a range of multitalented counterparts, they can attract and complete large assignments through their multidisciplinary networks.
Lesson Learned: The call to preserve spaces was echoed in the interviews with Nova Scotia Makerspaces. Interviewees saw opportunities to work with municipalities to deliberately develop spaces for artists and makers, enriching communities and growing innovation.
Maker Movement Roadmap and Toolbox
The following Toolbox has been developed through interviews with makerspaces in Nova Scotia and draws from conversations with other jurisdictions.
Three Big Ideas
Include Citizen Innovation in the Nova Scotia Innovation Eco-System
Reserve Buildings/Space in Municipalities for Makers and Creatives
Make Nova Scotia a Destination for Makers and Creatives
Include Citizen Innovation in the Nova Scotia Innovation Eco-System Model
Currently the predominant Innovation Ecosystem Model used in Nova Scotia looks like this:
This model reflects the traditional collection of players: entrepreneurs, investors, governments, universities and corporations. The model does not currently include citizen-based innovation which is happening in garages, home workshops and community makerspaces all over Nova Scotia.
To advance the twin goals of innovation-driven entrepreneurship and inclusive economic growth, it is recommended that the conceptual framework for the Innovation Ecosystem expand to include Citizen-based Innovation. The opportunity exists to convene, connect and catalyze the everyday brilliance of Nova Scotians as an important and necessary part of an inclusive innovation ecosystem. A population that believes they are innovators is fertile ground for entrepreneurship and creativity.
A fully realized Innovation Ecosystem looks like this:
Re-imagining the innovation eco-system can lead to more inclusive economic development. By placing citizen innovation at the centre of the model it tells all partners that grass roots innovation is central to fully realizing our collective goal of a prosperous Nova Scotia.
As noted earlier, the Maker Movement in Nova Scotia is alive but not thriving. It is disconnected, varying in accessibility, and pocketed around the Province.
What we also found is that it is a movement that will flourish with a little effort and support. There is a strong desire to “make, learn, teach, gather, collaborate, share, mentor, innovate, build, create, try, buy, sell, and serve” which contributes to healthier more resilient people and communities and is the ground from which entrepreneurs grow.
Here are some ideas to unleash the maker in all of us……
Reserve Buildings in Municipalities for Makerspaces and Creatives
We consistently heard in our interviews that finding affordable space is the single largest deterrent to growth of the Maker Movement.Project informants noted that growth of residential capacity in our cities is displacing makers and creatives from the urban core.However, the lack of space is not just an urban issue.Makerspaces around Nova Scotia noted the role that Municipalities can play in reserving spaces.Many worried that without intent and thoughtful action, we will realize too late that we have lost the cultural and innovative heart of our communities.
Fortunately, there are lots of examples of Creative Planning and Zoning Tools for Municipalities. Highlights include:
Innovation District planning should include spaces for makers and creatives.
It’s not all about warehouse space. Storefronts provide excellent spaces for makers and creatives.
Make sure to leave space for pop-up events.
Build in access to small business counseling.
Include makers and creatives in developing scalable solutions to intractable problems (see box). There is mounting evidence that makerspaces make places smarter.
The whole process, known as Creative Placemaking, includes local governments, community members, makers, artists, developers, and other stakeholders to shape development plans which include the spaces for makers and creatives. Spin-offs include increased vibrancy and innovation, improved economic conditions, and increased sense of community amongst residents.
Consider Making Nova Scotia a Destination for Makers and Creatives
Project informants identified two opportunities to make Nova Scotia a destination for Makers and Creatives.
Market Nova Scotia as a place that welcomes Makers.
Now that we no longer are tethered to an office, people have discovered that they can choose to live anywhere and continue to be employed.Many are choosing Nova Scotia.Lifestyle and opportunities to surf, dine and explore just minutes from your door is proving to be a popular attractor, and not just in metro.New arrivals are settling all around the Province, benefitting urban and rural communities. The recent Work From Nova Scotia campaign https://workfromnovascotia.com/ does an excellent job of explaining the benefits of choosing Nova Scotia to live, work and play.
The opportunity also exists to market Nova Scotia makerspaces as part of this effort. Knowing that your community houses a space to access 3-D printers, CNC Milling Machines and a Serger is a plus for many people. Promoting Nova Scotia as a destination for makers and creatives is an opportunity the whole province can lean in to.
View Makerspaces as part of the Creative Tourism Product Offering
Dr. Hayley Stainton notes that “the relationship between tourism and creativity has changed in recent times. Traditional cultural tourism has transformed, moving towards a greater involvement with the everyday life of the destination–an authentic experience–which is one driver for the growing importance of creative tourism….. Creative tourism itself is closely linked to the increasing role of both the creative industries and cultural tourism in urban regeneration, which has led to the re-conceptualization of cultural tourism to include creative tourism”. Although the notion of Creative Tourism is on the rise, Stainton notes that the concept itself is still vague, noting the difference between Creative Tourism as an experience as opposed to taking a creative approach to tourism.
Nova Scotia is actively exploring the development and promotion of Creative Tourism products and experiences. It is possible that local makerspaces can be part of the creative offering.
Two Big Truths· Truth #1 - Makerspaces will always need Financial Support.
Although every Makerspace that participated in the project has found a way to operate, all of them relied on grants and multiple sources of funding. Some, like the Nova Scotia Power Makerspace, Imhotep, Digital Mi’kmaq and the Cape Breton Centre for Craft have multi-year funding commitments. Others operate on membership fees and apply for grants for equipment. Some are co-located with other organizations which helps with rent but can impact access. Several makerspaces receive philanthropic support.
What is clear is that the role and benefits of makerspaces is not well understood, and support is piecemeal at best.It is important to note that no makerspace asked commitments of full government funding.They did ask for more access to affordable spaces, broader access to grant programs and came up with creative ways to access equipment.The makerspaces that participated in the project are proud of their ingenuity and want to continue to reflect the collaborative community-based essence of their stories.They all want their importance as place-makers to be recognized.
· Truth #2 – Makerspaces must be staffed and programmed.
Every makerspace that participated in the project had a staff person or dedicated team of volunteers to animate the makerspace. The voluntary efforts were significant even in the cases where a staff person was in place. The communities defined the spaces, operated the spaces and used the spaces. This is the essence of the Maker Movement; it is of the community. Which means the growth of the movement must be community-led and supported by the public/private/philanthropic sector. Opening a space or dropping equipment into a community and hoping for the best does not work. (See box)
Makerspace Toolbox
The Makerspace Toolbox was developed through research and interviews.
Programming
As noted above, staffing makerspaces is a challenge. It is not uncommon, and should be expected, that some of the staffing comes from volunteers. However, a dedicated resource (for a negotiated number of hours per week) goes a long way to animating local makerspaces. Allowing makerspaces to apply for Co-op and Internships and to qualify for summer students can help provide some of the coverage. Grant applications to cover staff should include details on volunteer commitment and coverage.
Several makerspaces wondered if universities could offer part-credits for community service hours, including staffing and animating makerspaces. Others noted the time it takes time to bring students up to speed which is onerous if required multiple times. This is a possibility that could be piloted to determine viability.
Depending on where vulnerable communities are located, it may be difficult to find skilled mentors. This is an opportunity to leverage University Sandboxes and local business associations to act in a mentoring capacity on technology and equipment. Calls can also go out through local Chambers of Commerce to “adopt” makerspaces for both mentoring and equipment donations.
Networking/Linkages
Every makerspace that participated in the project noted the strength and learning that come if makerspaces in Nova Scotia were networked to each other. Makerspaces could share projects, mentoring, best practices and brilliant ideas. A designated resource, acting as host, could serve as the backbone.
Currently only the Nova Scotia Power Makerspace and the Halifax Makerspace offer memberships and equipment that meet the needs of small business interested in accessing on-line and off-line tools. This is a business development tool that deserves further exploration.
Seniors were identified as positive contributors, mentors and active learners by the makerspaces who participated in the Project. Equally interesting was the number of seniors who rehomed equipment (wood-working and shop tools, sergers and sewing machines) with local makerspaces. The inclusion of seniors in makerspaces across the province ensures inter-generational learning and more cohesive communities.
The Valley Library system is partner to three makerspaces in the Valley and home to two of them. Traditional library cards with special stamps indicate whether the person has been trained on the equipment and can use them independently. The whole system operates on “Radical Trust” and is worth replicating in other parts of the Province.
A few makerspaces navigated COVID by developing Maker Kits and sending them out to families who tuned in on family maker nights to carry out the project. The popularity of the kits hold promise for more remote parts of Nova Scotia being able to participate in the Maker movement.
A Metropolis paper “Municipal Best Practices for Attracting and Retaining Immigrant Artists and Cultural Workers” outlined best practices in attracting and retaining immigrant artists showing how municipal plans and policies can enhance and support cultural industries by attention to the linkages between immigration and cultural plans. More work is required on this topic, but it appears that municipal efforts to reflect creatives in planning is a positive measure to attract and retain immigrant artisans and makers.
Best Practices
Networked makerspaces can share operating procedures, safety practices and provide guidance on financial management and reporting.
For those makerspaces that are launching businesses there are questions around intellectual property. The Nova Scotia Power Makerspace is providing leadership around this issue by hosting a Dal Law student who will be researching and preparing a "Makers' Guide to Intellectual Property". This is the type of resource that are other makerspaces in Nova Scotia would benefit from.
Tools and Equipment
Adding Nova Scotia makerspaces to provincial and municipal government surplus lists can support access to equipment.
Teaming makerspaces with Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations can help with rehoming equipment and supporting the Maker Movement.
Encouraging seniors, local businesses and others to rehome tools and equipment with makerspaces is a smart community building idea.
Many responders believed that there is only a handful of municipalities which provide grants to purchase equipment and that no such grants exist at the provincial or federal level. This issue needs exploration to see if there is more flexibility than widely believed.
Bulk purchasing could help makerspaces in limited instances. At the present time, very specific group purchases such as CAD licenses would support local makerspaces.
Financial Model
Invest in makerspaces for their economic and social innovation value. Measure the impact of makerspaces on financial and quality of life measures.
As previously noted, all maker spaces exist with some support from external organizations. Some receive grants for equipment. Others are fully funded.
To maintain community ownership of makerspaces, any government funding should be contributory and not single source.
Communities will develop makerspaces with partnerships that are as unique as the people that come together to develop them. A Community Makerspace Fund that requires partnerships in a “Stone Soup” model will produce longer lasting, community-rooted spaces.
Makerspaces need advice and guidance on becoming non-for-profits possibly offered through programs like CEED or local REN’s
Buildings
As outlined above, Municipalities have large roles to play in reserving space for Makerspaces and Creatives. Further work is required on the policy and taxation framework that can support this goal.
Makerspaces need inexpensive rent. Every municipality and community may have a different way to approach this goal. Partnerships with other NGO’s may help to alleviate the rent challenge. Partnering up with funded community-based accelerators like Ignite and Volta may also address the rent challenge.
Makerspaces noted that partnerships with institutions, public schools, libraries, universities and the community college seems like a natural fit for access to equipment. However, access issues can out-weigh the upside. This concern rang true in all the international conversations including Fab Labs who found that co-locating in universities curtailed or cut-off access to communities. Having an open conversation about whether Nova Scotia Institutions can play a “third space” role for the maker movement is important and timely.
Brilliant Labs currently has some version of a makerspace in 73 schools in Nova Scotia. Surrounding communities cannot access the labs. A pilot of shared spaces in willing schools could spread the good of the labs and potentially add more mentors for the students.
Celebration
“Maker Faires” are big deals all over the world. These gatherings showcase local ingenuity and inspire new generations of makers. When we can gather in large numbers again, it is highly recommended that we pursue Maker Faires in all regions of the Province.
Politicians, government leaders, local business and the press need to become familiar with the local makerspaces and spread the word. Talking about everyday citizens as innovators, leads to more innovation.
Invite makerspaces to innovation events as eco-system partners.
Conclusion: We are All Makers
Edmund Phelps, a Nobel Prize winning economist had this to say about traditional economic thinking:
“(the) idea was that when scientists and navigators discover something new, then countries with very zealous, eager entrepreneurs will work out the commercial applications of the scientific discovery. In that vision of the economy, nobody has got any really deep imagination. They might be good at figuring out how to make some gadget work. But they don’t have great imaginative powers. Only scientists have imagination. And I’m repelled by that idea. Horrified by it, really. And I like to insist — probably I go too far — but I like to insist that the great masses of people have imagination. And if they’re in the economy and in firms that are receptive to new ideas, many of them, much of the time, will have ideas of their own.”
Fortunately for Nova Scotia, we have lots of people with imagination and ideas of their own. By thinking beyond institutional and sector-based innovation, we begin to see the genius that is happening every day in makerspaces, communal workshops and garages everywhere. We can work hard to find ways to network the brilliance, encourage the grassroots, and give access to equipment, materials and knowledge.
“Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Oh, the things you can think up if only you try.”
–Dr. Seuss
Makerspace Interviews and Respondents
Halifax Makerspace (Shawn Wilson) https://halifaxmakerspace.org/
Nova Scotia Power Makerspace (Bob Pelley and Matt Swan) https://innovacorp.ca/acceleration-initiatives/nova-scotia-power-makerspace
Imhotep (Sidney Idemudia) https://www.dal.ca/faculty/science/imhotep/about.html
Wonder’neath (Heather Wilkinson and Melissa Marr) http://www.wonderneath.com/
Blxckhouse (LaMeia Reddick) https://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/building-blxckhouse-in-north-preston/Content?oid=20921386 (don’t have a website)
Alderney Landing Craig Gallery Mobile Art Carts (Lee Cripps) https://www.alderneylanding.com/gallery-exhibits/
Brilliant Labs (Jeff Willson and Sarah Ryan) https://www.brilliantlabs.ca/ (200+ sites)
MacPhee Centre (Heather MacDonald) https://macpheecentre.ca/
CB Centre for Craft and Design (Lori Burke) https://capebretoncraft.com/
Life.School.House (Jennifer DeCoste) https://www.lifeschoolhouse.com/
Windsor Makerspace (Kathy Monroe) https://www.windsormakersstudio.com/
Discovery Centre, Maker League Club (Ryan Jameson) https://thediscoverycentre.ca/events/camps/maker-league/
Digital Mi’kmaq (Andrea Durfee) https://www.digitalmikmaq.com/ (from a previous interview)
Annapolis Regional Library (Charlotte Janes) (three locations)
· http://annapolisinnovationlab.ca/#contactus
· https://www.valleylibrary.ca/kingston-innovation-lab-orientationinstruction-18 (located in the library)
· https://www.valleylibrary.ca/wolfville-memorial-library-innovation-lab
Additional Conversations
Doug Jones, Founder and CEO, Ignite Labs https://igniteatlantic.com/
International
Boston Makers (Noah King) https://www.bostonmakers.org/
Stipo (City Planning - The Netherlands) Jaap Schoufour and Hans Karssenberg
hans.karssenberg@stipo.nl jaap.schoufour@stipo.nl
Fab Lab International (Jean-Michel Molenaar) https://fabfoundation.org/
· Fab Lab Map https://www.fablabs.io/labs/map
Mark Hatch https://markrhatch.com/