The role of Makerspaces for crisis-affected communities: benefits and challenges

The number of Makerspaces around the world has grown exponentially in recent years. These creative spaces offers non-expert users the opportunity to engage with digital fabrication tools alongside traditional craft tools. Recently, the humanitarian sector has become interested in Makerspaces as a way to empower people to meet their own needs. A number of Makerspaces specifically aimed at crisis-affected communities have emerged. However, to date there has been virtually no research on how these spaces operate. The current research addresses this gap and documents the results of an ongoing study. This study conducts interviews with five providers of Makerspaces for crisis-affected people, using grounded theory to reveal the benefits and challenges of operating these spaces.  In addition, a systems thinking lens is applied to identify common problem-generating patterns across the four Makerspaces investigated in the study. This study has practical implications for the management of Makerspaces for crisis-affected people. It also reveals the need to understand the behaviour of the Makerspaces in more detail in order to identify further opportunities to counteract the challenges highlighted.  Future research will validate current findings with other perspectives, from users and other contexts.