From industrial neighbourhoods to regenerative territories: blueprinting the practices of (emerging) distributed networks of fabrication

Many cities across Europe, regardless of their size, face the challenge of revitalising former industrial sites. These areas, once hotspots of infrastructure, workers, and knowledge, have often been abandoned, reduced or relocated due to urban changes, and the rise of a global extractive economic model. Within this context, this article presents and discusses a set of blueprints and summarised results of nine European pilot cities that explored through the CENTRINNO H2020 European Project, different methods and strategies to support local regenerative practices by leveraging on the skills of fab labs and maker spaces as catalysts of systemic changes. The CENTRINNO pilots’ blueprints represent a range of possibilities and opportunities for cities seeking to adopt regenerative practices. By delving into the challenges and journeys of the local projects connected to the maker approach, these blueprints highlight practical cases that have the potential to inspire other maker spaces and fab labs globally. They advocate for the adoption of circular economy strategies, the integration of industrial heritage elements from their locality, the promotion of alternative methods of education and the embrace of inclusiveness and equity aspects in local interventions.