Abstract

In this report, we summarize the progress and outcomes from a workshop we held at the 4th FabLearn Europe 2019 conference in Oulu, Finland. The workshop was held at the University of Oulu, Tellus Stage on 28 May 2019. The workshop was motivated by, on one hand, the increased interest in digital fabrication in fab labs, maker spaces, libraries, and schools and, on the other hand, the needs for considering safety issues when using digital fabrication equipment and laboratory spaces open for public and non-professional users. The aims of the workshop were manifold, namely: to increase awareness of safety issues in digital fabrication, to promote the adoption and development of a safety culture in digital fabrication, to discuss and share experiences and information about safety in digital fabrication, and to ideate, design, and prototype the promotion and communication of safety in digital fabrication. For the last aim, a co-creation activity was planned and conducted. Nineteen participants took part in the workshop, representing a wide variety of backgrounds and interests in the topics of digital fabrication, maker culture, digital fabrication education, and safety. Eighteen of the participants have been actively involved in the co-creation of instructional storyboards for presenting the safety rules in fab lab in video format, while 2 facilitators have planned, organized and guided the activities. In total 4 storyboards for instructional videos have been created, each one for a different safety rule chosen by the participants out of 9 pre-defined rules. The progress of the workshop, the storyboards and post-workshop insights are presented in this report. The feedback from participants post-workshop was very positive and the storyboards can be used further in video production.