Ideas must not just be imagined, they must also be put into practice: Parts of the SciCultureD course took place in the RUB Makerspace – a fascinating “Third Place” for co-creation and innovation.
The RUB Makerspace on the MARK 51°7 technology campus is being set up as a unique place for teaching and experimentation. In the former Opel administration building, students from all disciplines have the opportunity to put their (start-up) ideas into practice.
The 1,800 m² development space marks the change from (coal and steel) industry to a knowledge-based start-up culture. RUB Makerspace is one of the largest academic teaching and experimentation spaces in Germany. The space offers room to create innovative prototypes and experiment with practice-oriented teaching formats, aiming to cross the boundaries between science and industry.
After a thorough tour of the workshop rooms, the groups continued working together to converge the inputs and ideas collected over the past days into something literally tangible.
The ‘3D-PRINT YOUR THOUGHTS & BUILD YOUR VISION OF A THIRD PLACE” session led by Esther RÜßler (City2Science) in collaboration with Edward Duca (UM), threw participants in the heart of ‘making’. With all kinds and types of Lego bricks (yes you read it well, Lego!), groups were challenged to build their vision of an innovative third place that would support the sustainable development of a community. Through this creative and maker-based exercise, learners could gain yet another perspective on the challenge of how to design Third Places, defining each ‘ problem statement’. The problem statement is a unique scenario that you define from the information gathered so far, and this should guide the design of the solution.
Business Canvas Model
To help participants develop their concepts, the hands-on activity was combined with the business canvas model, aiming at understanding: who is the third place that you design for? What is its (main) purpose? What are the resources and partners that you need in order to turn your ideas into reality?
Presentations of the models followed, with participants observing each other’s models and visions – one step closer to the final sharing session!
See you tomorrow for day 5!
