The Distributed Design Platform, coordinated by Fab Lab Barcelona at IAAC is pleased to have been accepted as an official partner of the New European Bauhaus, European Commission initiative. As a distributed network of cultural organisations, makerspaces, education institutes and research centres, the Platform believes that design has the potential to build sustainable, beautiful futures when distributed into the hands of people and their communities. With 18 members across 13 EU countries, and the support of the Fab Lab Network, this opportunity will bring grassroots, bottom-up innovation to the momentous New European Bauhaus co-design process being undertaken across Europe.

The Maker Movement has given rise to new and accessible ways to design, manufacture and produce in Europe and across the world. Enabled by digital fabrication and global communication infrastructure, Makers are changing the design and production paradigm. With such a change, in which ‘bits’ travel while ‘atoms’ stay local, a design reality is emerging that gives preference to open, collaborative, sustainable and ecosystemic practices. The New European Bauhaus, announced by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as a key recovery initiative for Europe, brings together innovation, creativity, culture, and the European Green Deal; providing an opportunity for the distributed Platform of Distributed Design and the Fab Lab Network.

The Distributed Design Platform has been coordinated by IAAC and co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union from 2017-2021. Over this period it has developed into a yearly program of activities to support makers and designers in the development of design for new economies and markets that consider the values of design to be open, sustainable, collaborative and networked. Each year the Platform hosts an Awards open call and curates a book, for which both open calls are currently available for participation. Details can be seen on the Distributed Design blog.

For the first time this year, the Platform will also support scholarship positions for designers to join the MDEF program at IAAC. This unique opportunity aims to provide designers the opportunity to expand their design practice through critical and theoretical design for emergent futures.

In its new capacity as Official Partner of the European Comission’s New European Bauhaus initiative, Distributed Design platform will host an online roundtable discussion, April 22, 12noon – 14.00 CEST.

This event aims to demonstrate the potential of global networks as a means of developing a more sustainable, inclusive, beautiful Europe, and provoke conversation around the NEB in relation to key topics of interest being developed by the Distributed Design Platform.

The public event will be hosted by the Distributed Design Platform, Fab City Foundation, Fab Lab Network and Fab Lab Barcelona. It aims to be a multi stakeholder discussion hosted online by the Distributed Design Platform, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The event brings together representatives from the Distributed Design Platform members, EIT, Creative Europe, Fab Lab Network and the Fab City Foundation as well as representatives of makerspaces, creative spaces, design educators and Fab Labs in Europe and beyond.

The output of the event will include recommendations for the inclusion of Makers and Distributed Networks in the NEB to be uploaded to the NEB co-design platform. It will also include a blogpost for Distributed Design platform blog and Fab Lab Network as well as presentation at future events by Distributed Design Platform and related projects, in particular in our capacity as an Official Partner of the New European Bauhaus initiative.

Please register to the event using this link: https://distributeddesign.eu/event/making-a-green-and-inclusive-europe/