Chapter 6 - Mixhaus: Dissolving Boundaries With a Community Makerspace

Abstract

This chapter reports on a social living lab project that sought to foster digital participation in a regional community. Going beyond the conventional focus on digital literacy, the study explores a participatory action research (PAR) initiative led by the local community to create and operate a community space called ‘Mixhaus’ set up in a disused shipping container. The aim was to create a mobile hack/makerspace to allow for the experimental exploration of physical and digital materials. The chapter uses the notion of ‘boundary objects’ as a conceptual framework for our data analysis. The findings reveal challenges and opportunities that community members experienced through their participation in the Mixhaus initiative. On a conceptual level, the findings reveal how Mixhaus became a well-received and concrete example of translating abstract policy imperatives around regional innovation through science and technology. It also demonstrated both context and process for dissolving community boundaries. This continuing PAR project supports participatory responses to socioeconomic decline within a particular regional community. More broadly, it addresses regional urbanization and some of the challenges it triggers, such as youth and general unemployment, brain drain, as well as training and reskilling requirements.