FABFUSE 2012 – First event on Grassroots FabLabs – Amersfoort (NL) 8-11 aug

Most fablabs have been initiated following the MIT topdown method. In Neil Gershenfelds metaphor of ‘$100k, 10k and 1k fablabs” they are of the $100k type.

Recently however, there have been several initiatives for a ‘grassroots’ fablab: a bunch of enthousiatic people that want to start a lab with modest finance. Fablab Amerfoort was the first of this type, but now you see setups like FabLab Wageningen and the miniFabLabs.

Grassroots fablabs are a new phenomenon for which there is not yet a shareable body of knowledge nor support.
FabLab Amersfoort will organize an international event to explore this: FABFUSE 2012.
It will be held in Amersfoort (NL) from 8 – 11 August.

Grassroots is a subject that needs to be addressed in Europe now since sponsor-money for starting a full scale fab lab is becoming very very scarce. FabFuse intends to start a body of knowledge and practices for setting up and running the grassroots Fab Labs. FabFuse will also report the results of their meeting at FAB8.

More in a few weeks on www.fabfuse.org