Fablab winter activities - building community for innovative urban regeneration

The Fablab Association, non-profit NGO, has been collaborating with the Faculty of Architecture University of Zagreb and the local Green and Blue Sesvete NGO for 8 years on the creation of the HUB_S in Sesvete, the eastern part of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. This peripheral neighborhood includes both urban resources and knowledge, as well as suburban and rural resources and heritage, all of which contribute to the innovative potential of the future HUB_S community-driven citizens innovation center. This is core activity of the Centrinno project (www.centrinno.eu).

The HUB_S, is planned in the administrative building of the former meat factory Sljeme, a cultural heritage site. HUB_S represents the nucleus of the future urban revitalization of the entire factory, which was once one of the largest meat factories in the world in the mid of 20 century. 

Diversity is an integral part of the HUB_S project developed in 2017, which includes components such as the Idea Factory, a makerspace open to all, the Prototyping Lab as a fablab for prototype development with most serious machines including those for digital fabrication, and a coworking space with emphasized brainstorming inspirational areas.

Before the operational creation of the space, Fablab, along with partners, is working on activating and strengthening the community and the culture of space utilization to foster innovation, and these activities are planned to be carried out at HUB_S. We view these activities as community preparation, mapping interested stakeholders, and identifying individuals who could be the drivers of activities once HUB_S comes to life because our past experiences indicate that the diversity of the user community is a strength of a successful community project.