MakerThek Börde – Mobile from Place to Place

Young people are consuming media very differently today than in years past, and personal encounter and exchange outside digital space have noticeably decreased. This trend is especially prevalent in rural regions which offer fewer cultural and social events compared to cities, and limited mobility for lack of adequate public transportation. The Wanzleben municipal and district library and its partners decided to respond to this situation and create occasions for community-based, cross-generational creative activity. The “Maker Mobile”, a mobile digital workshop specially designed for this project, visited 11 parts of the city on a rotational basis and offered several dozen target-group-appropriate workshops in cooperation with the local German Red Cross (DRK). The initiators set out to get children, adolescents and young adults interested in artistic design using digital tools, while raising their awareness and acceptance of upcycling processes.

Students in the degree programme “Cultural Engineering” at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg accompanied the project, conducting interviews, participant questionnaires, follow-up surveys and open citizen forums. The purpose of these measures was to incorporate the residents’ wishes, needs and expectations into the further development of the mobile creative workshop. At the same time, students developed an economically sustainable operating concept that will allow the organisers to continue operating the Maker Mobile in the long term. The resulting methods and experiences will later be included in the extensive spatial and conceptual modernisation of the Wanzleben-Börde municipal and district library.

Project title: MakerThek Börde – Mobile from Place to Place

Partners: German Red Cross (DRK) district association of Wanzleben, “Cultural Engineering” degree programme of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, TinkerToys GmbH Magdeburg, Association of Patrons of the Wanzleben municipal and district library