Watch the Stream! GIG 10th anniversary

Watch the Stream! GIG 10th anniversary

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Check the online transmission! GIG supports the work of its 155 members in 47 countries. GIG facilitates global exchange between innovators and innovation spaces, and implements various projects. As the world becomes more complex and fast-paced, so do the challenges, threatening the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Therefore, GIG enables cross-cultural connections and global knowledge exchanges, in order to support our members and their communities to develop solutions that best suit their local needs. We co-create and implement long-term projects that offer collaborative solutions to systemic problems in different localities.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgx5azRaagE ...
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Filling the gaps in Iraq

Filling the gaps in Iraq

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
We sat down to talk with Nawres Arif this past Thursday to discuss his maker program in Iraq. Nawres is a trained pharmacist but considers himself to be more than that. He is also an artist, designer, and robot maker. In around 2003, Nawres became a part of the global maker movement. His passion for making things and his hope to share his passion with others led him to found ScienceCamp in 2013. ScienceCamp became the first-ever maker space in Iraq. Nawres says that among many other goals, this maker space's main aim is to develop ways to “use science to make life better.”  Listen to the interview: Nawres told us that the traditional education model in Iraq does not allow students to explore their passions. Learning tends to be more theoretical than hands-on, “education needs to be more practical, interactive, and fun.” He found a solution to this problem in the maker movement. He tells us that the maker movement mixes...
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The Makerspace: A Global Miniature of Innovation

The Makerspace: A Global Miniature of Innovation

By Chaïma Attia Comment Closed
  Can technology promise to heal and reconstruct what previous technological revolutions have destroyed? Current technological advancements are no longer powered by steam, but what are they powered by? Amidst the wake of an AI revolution, how do we examine the medium before the message and avoid another retrospective into the impact of technologies on society? In the Makerspace at re:publica23, The Digital Doughnut Model workshop explores how technology sectors and the technologies we use can get us to thrive and not only to survive as humans without over-crossing the boundaries of the Planet.  What do people in Iraq - arguably one of the hottest spots on earth - do to mitigate climate change? The innovation for climate change session shows how they make water from thin air and utilize the blazing heat from the sun to help their society. As we pose all these questions, we can not but wonder, were the answers there all along in indigenous knowledge and traditional knowledge...
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Noni Hub: Equipping Youths to Prototype for Local Needs

Noni Hub: Equipping Youths to Prototype for Local Needs

By Melanie Chan Comment Closed
Equipping young people with technological and entrepreneurial skills to solve local community problems is the mandate of one particular makerspace in the Northern region of Ghana.  Noni Hub, located in Wa, is a budding innovation that aims to foster innovation, creativity, and making scalable technological solutions. Mustapha Dauda, an African Maker and Engineer in electronics and robotics, leads the maker space's activities. Welcoming individuals enthusiastic about bringing their ideas to life, the activities of the makerspace include a three-week training program encompassing sessions on design, ideation, prototyping, and constructing. Participants are taught the design thinking process to develop functional solutions and trained on relevant maker techniques such as 3D modelling and woodwork to prototype their solutions. Check the Interview with Mustapha Dauda below: For Mustapha, seeing people embrace the maker movement and bring new ideas is exciting. Recounting an experience where one participant in the program wanted to set up a bee farm but could not afford to buy a beehive, he...
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BiT Makerspace: Building a Robust Ethiopian Innovation Culture

BiT Makerspace: Building a Robust Ethiopian Innovation Culture

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
How can we foster a robust innovation culture that contributes meaningfully to developing a sustainable Africa? The Seifu-Bit Makerspace at Bahir Dar Institute of Technology in Ethiopia is paving the way for this. The makerspace, founded in 2019 by Professor Seifu and Dr Lara Arlen, CEO of the Centre for Global Equality in the UK, has been making waves in the African innovation scene. It was named "The most active makerspace of the year" at the 2022 African Makerspace Gathering in Cape Town, South Africa. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the partners of the Centre for Global Inequality, the Seifu-Bit Makerspace has become a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. With a strong community of senior and undergraduate engineering students, it has since merged with the business incubation component of the university’s techno-entrepreneurship centre. Leading the charge at Seifu-Bit Makerspace is Ms Bezawork Tilahun, a software engineer, a lecturer at Bahir Dar University, and an inspiring ambassador in the Women...
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Revolutionizing STEM Education in the Philippines

Revolutionizing STEM Education in the Philippines

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Imagine a welcoming and imaginative space, with the floor resembling grass and trees serving as tables. It's a place where kids can collaborate to design, create and think. The students use circuits, 3-D printers, and crafts to create creative projects. Based in the Philippines, that is precisely what SparkleLab presents. Founded by Rosanna Lopez, SparkleLab began as a small clubhouse for kids. Having evolved into after-school and summer camps over the years, one of its flagship programs, Game Makers, teaches game design, with kids creating their games using Python. The whole learning experience is imbued with fun, creativity, and storytelling. Before classes begin, a letter is sent to the kids warning them of an evil pirate bunny trying to outlaw fun. The kids must act like a rebel army against the evil bunny to restore fun. Other programs include Stitches and Circuits, which focuses on getting girls to code, and Toy Mill, which teaches design thinking and critical making.  Set within the...
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<strong>Celebrating the Innovation Global Project and Its Online Exhibition</strong>

Celebrating the Innovation Global Project and Its Online Exhibition

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Innovation is a powerful force that can drive social and economic development, especially in the Global South. Unfortunately, the distorted image portrayed by media often obscures the potential of digital innovations in countries in the Global South. As a result, Global Innovation Gathering (GIG) took on the challenge of highlighting the developmental potential of digital innovations from countries in the Global South. Fab Lab Nepal - Picture by Pradita Pradham The GIG's Innovation Global Project is now in its last month, culminating in online and offline exhibitions showcasing Global South innovations. The project addressed the problem of the distorted image of the Global South in the media and the need for more information about inventions from the Global South. Changing this perception is essential to promote collaboration and partnerships to drive social and economic development. The project targeted three groups: development cooperation organizations, innovators and hubs, and digitally interested public members. Development cooperation organizations are already aware of the potential of bottom-up approaches...
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Building an Inclusive Future: The Africa Makerspace Network

Building an Inclusive Future: The Africa Makerspace Network

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
In recent years, makerspaces have emerged as a powerful force for innovation and community building in cities worldwide. These shared workspaces provide access to tools, technology, and resources often out of reach for individuals and small organizations. They also serve as a hub for collaboration, experimentation, and skill-sharing. But while the benefits of makerspaces are clear, they are not equally accessible to everyone. In many parts of the world, makerspaces are concentrated in urban areas and are often dominated by privileged groups. This creates a significant barrier for individuals and communities who need more resources or connections to access these spaces. The Africa Makerspace Network (AMN) is working to change this. AMN is a network of makerspaces and innovation hubs across Africa committed to creating inclusive spaces for innovation, learning, and entrepreneurship. Their mission is to build a network of African makerspaces that are accessible and sustainable and connect them with the global maker movement. AMN was founded in 2019 by a...
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Africa Lawyers Hub: Empowering African Lawyers to Drive Positive Change

Africa Lawyers Hub: Empowering African Lawyers to Drive Positive Change

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Africa Lawyers Hub is a non-profit organization that aims to empower African lawyers to drive positive change in their communities. The organization was founded in 2020 to connect lawyers across Africa and provide them with the resources and support they need to make a meaningful impact in their countries. One of the critical ways Africa Lawyers Hub achieves this goal is through its mentorship program. The program matches experienced lawyers with young professionals just starting their careers. The mentors provide guidance and support to the mentees, helping them to navigate the legal profession and to develop the skills they need to be successful. In addition to the mentorship program, Africa Lawyers Hub provides various other resources to its members. These include access to legal training, continuing education opportunities, and a network of legal professionals who can provide support and advice. The organization also hosts events and workshops to bring its members together and to provide them with opportunities to learn from one...
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Celebrating three years of CoAct: Ending Cycles

Celebrating three years of CoAct: Ending Cycles

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
During the last 36 months, the Global Innovation Gathering helped CoAct project deliver Citizen Social Science concepts and practices to more than 1,6 million people, using a wide range of communication strategies and tools, combined with intense resilience and creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic.  CoAct (Co-designing Citizen Social Science for Collective Action) proposes a radically new approach to facing global social issues by engaging vulnerable citizens as co-researchers. The strategy represents a new account of Citizen Social Science, understood here as participatory research co-designed and directly driven by citizen groups sharing a social concern. CoAct's research approach, where citizen groups and their problems are at the core of the research questions, requires translating those attributes for its communicative and dissemination activities. Furthermore, CoAct's shared values - Inclusiveness, Horizontality, Equity, Trust and Respect, Open Science, Co-ownership, Empowerment, and Reflexivity - underlined the direction and structure of CoAct's communication, dissemination and exploitation Work Package, led by the Global Innovation Gathering inside a consortium partnership. The first year...
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