Make.Works
Mapping local ecosystems: make local manufacturing openly accessible
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Mapping local ecosystems: make local manufacturing openly accessible
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by Alessandra Schmidt and Helen Voce
Make Works’ mission is to make local manufacturing openly accessible. An open access factory finder, we source manufacturers, makers, material suppliers and workshops. The online platform allows designers, makers, artists, engineers, entrepreneurs, micro-businesses and everyone that wants to, to search listings in their local area so that they can find someone who can assist them to create, build or repair physical things. We want to support small scale, local manufacturing, or distributed manufacturing, as an alternative to the consumption of mass manufactured products.
We think that the information we are gathering should be open and accessible, connecting people directly to making and repairing things, democratising access to production and investing in local economies, skills and community.
We believe local manufacturing is better for the environment, sustains local economies and supports communities. We have found that the makers, manufacturers, technicians, craftsmen and factory owners on Make Works are some of the most incredibly skilled and passionate people we have ever met. Yet, it is really difficult to find these hidden local industries online. Make Works offers a solution to this and is a big step in the right direction to:
Build small scale production networks to help us develop environmentally sustainable systems for the future. From distributed production reducing the carbon emissions released in transportation and shipping; supporting local, resilient economies; through to providing communities with access to tools and skills needed to repair existing things.
Local manufacturing creating skilled local employment and supporting other small business networks.
On a practical level, simply source local manufacturers, craftspeople, workshops and materials.
Create accessible information about manufacturers to inspire people to make, build, create and repair things in the world.
Give citizens access to information about manufacturing means they can make more conscious decisions about their consumption habits.
Enable people to easily visit and meet manufacturers, craftspeople and suppliers meet face to face to discuss projects, and build human relationships with them.
Improve the quality and integrity of what can be designed and made by understanding the materials and production processes used.
Allow businesses to take more responsibility for the working conditions and the environment that any manufacturing they commission locally affects.
Our philosophy is to open up manufacturing and make local, sustainable production accessible for everyone.
Make Works operates as a non-profit, which we run as a company limited by guarantee. This means that we don't have any shareholders or shares; so key decisions can be based on what is best for the work. New Make Works regions are run independently by people who share our philosophy and know and understand their city or area.
We think that small is beautiful and that economics should work for the people and for our planet. We believe in the power of good design providing practical, useful and inspiring tools for ordinary people.
We also have a huge respect for the possibilities of the internet; but are keenly aware of our responsibility to take care of this resource. We are inspired by internet activists like Aaron Swartz and try to get involved in open internet projects both online and through events like Mozilla Fest.
We also believe that the internet should be for everyone, so all of our manufacturing information and content can be accessed by anyone, for free. This is licenced under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International.
Make Works' philosophy is shared by many. By passionate people who want to make manufacturing more accessible where they live and work, and see the platform and growing network of Regions as the way to make it happen and have an impact.
The first of these new Make Works in the UK started in Birmingham and is run by Ruth Claxton and Sean O'Keefe of Workshop Birmingham. To find out more about Make Works Birmingham take a look here. The first European Make Works started in Sweden with partners Nordiska Textilakademin. To find out more about Make Works Sweden take a look here. And, the first international Make Works launched in the UAE in November 2017 with the team at Tashkeel based in Dubai. To find out ore about Make Works UAE take a look here. You can also find out more about Derby & Derbyshire and our partnership with Derby Museums here. More recently, in 2019, while Make Works has been transferred to the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), Fab City Research Lab Barcelona, and sits within Fab City’s Distributed Design platform, funded by Creative Europe. New regions are arising. You can find out more about upcoming regions Catalonia, Kingston NY and Paris (coming soon!) at our home page.
Make Works supports interested organisations and individuals to set up a Make Works region in their area. We support Regions with how to go about mapping manufacturers, craftspeople and suppliers locally, with filming and gathering the right information from manufacturers, as well as giving you access to our database software, resources and tools we've made that make the project easier to run. We can also provide research training to shadow-factory filming and the editing, plus the drafting of listings. As we and those running the Regions share the Make Works philosophy, we are keen to ensure there is ongoing discussion, support, information sharing and importantly learning in the network.
In exchange, we ask for an annual contribution which can go towards the shared running costs of the website. This is significantly lower than what it would cost to set up a similar platform from scratch and means that collectively we will have capacity to do things like fix website bugs, develop new features and make improvements to how the site works.
People start Make Works Regions for different reasons. They have a variety of differing circumstances that inform this, including resources, research, networks, partners and economic, environmental and community drivers. To get more of an understanding of why people start Make Works, and importantly how it fits with the other work they do in their area, you can read interviews with existing Regions.
If you are considering a Make Works Region we recommend some first simple steps:
consider the geographical area you want to cover
understand what manufacturing is already happening in your area
get a sense of demand for Make Works in your area
If it seems like something you are serious about making happen then send us an email explaining who you are and why you’d love to start your region!
