Written by The Makerspace remains the heart of the ever-growing re:publica conference. While we talk about big tech and the next breakthrough, we know that nothing truly grows without a community behind it. For us this is certainly the case, with the GIG community growing over the past 12 years, bringing together tinkerers, grassroots innovators, and social change makers from all over the world.
GIG’s ethos about the Makerspace departs from the understanding that meaningful innovation responds to real-world needs, and is developed with the community that uses it firsthand – not for it, but with it. This understanding opens the space up to brilliant people every year, showing what 3D printers can do, how zines can be a collective visual investigation into economies of care and much more…
At the Makerspace in 2026, sustainability is more than a word, it’s a day-to-day practice. We speak up for our right to repair our devices, and we introduce shared manufacturing is an achievable reality.
Missed last year’s Makerspace? No worries — we’re back this year with even more.
Here are some highlights from this year’s Makerspace you don’t want to miss:
- We’re hosting a zines workshop every day in the Makerspace — a collective visual investigation into diversity.
- The make-a-thek Textile Bar, with kits and sewing machines, asks ‘how can we turn libraries into hubs for repair and circularity’? Pass by and get involved in sustainable textile and slow fashion making with Fashion Revolution Germany, Fablab Barcelona, Fab City Foundation and GIG as members from the project team.
- The pop-up workshop table is new — we will have continuous workshops you can drop by to learn how small, pocket-sized sensors can connect remote communities through finger-sized devices.
- Come play around with “infinity tools” — wax, straws and stone paper — materials that invite you to play, experiment, and build. Both offered by Solarpunk from Berlin and Seeed Studio, all the way from China.
In a world under climate stress, don’t get anxious — get involved in monitoring and communicating environmental issues. Many communities of the Global Majority are at the front-lines of climate change and environmental pollution. The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) shows us how digital tools can help identify and denounce illegal logging or unhealthy industrial impacts, to better understand micro-climates or to counter desertification.
Last but not least, don’t forget to pass by our exhibition to see this year’s incredible collection of devices that will make you think and engage in a light bulb moment with a good mate!
