Digital production Workshops by CDI in partnership with Porto Polytechnic Institute
This initiative seeks to bring groups of children, young people and people, specially with cognitive or physical difficulties into hands-on technological activities. It is intended that they develop an idea for a technological and creative project. This project will be run by the CDI Portugal team in partnership with Eigher Education School in Porto (ESE) from Polytechnic Institute - Fab Lab and will operate in technological and creative innovation space – Casa do Conhecimento of Valongo.
Local
Portugal
Valongo
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): CDI Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Patricia Last name of representative: Costa Gender: Female Nationality: Portugal Function: Business development manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Fundação Portuguesa das Comunicações, Rua do Instituto Industrial 16 Town: Lisboa Postal code: 1200-225 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 964 784 656 E-mail:geral@cdi.org.pt
Name of the organisation(s): Eigher Education School in Porto (ESE) from Polytechnic Institute - Fab Lab Type of organisation: University or another research institution First name of representative: Rui Last name of representative: Teles Gender: Male Nationality: Portugal Function: Assistant teacher Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rua Dr Roberto Frias, 602 Town: Porto Postal code: 4200-465 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 914 017 559 E-mail:rteles@ese.ipp.pt Website:https://www.ese.ipp.pt/
This initiative seeks to bring groups of children and young people, including with cognitive or physical difficulties into hands-on technological activities. They will develop an idea for a technological and creative project that goes through several stages of creation: from conception to experimentation and prototyping. This project will be run by the CDI Portugal team and will operate in a common technological and creative innovation space – Casa do Conhecimento of Valongo – where participants will be able to access tools to develop innovative ideas, but also essential skills such as autonomy and social responsibility. These activities are guided by three fundamental principles: Personal Empowerment – that is, the possibility to empower and emancipate individuals, translating into an increase in their autonomy and freedom; Strengthening of the Community – that is, it is sought that these activities have an impact on the community where these activities take place, strengthening the development of the local community; Service to the Earth – in other words, these are activities design with a concern for the city, the environment, and the planet we live on. This initiative presents three interconnected phases that are necessary for the success of this project. Thus, the first phase of the project will consist in the preparation of the workshops, which includes planning, designing and training the makers trainers team, who will lead the sessions with the target groups before the workshops begin. Then, the second phase will be the workshop sessions. In this phase, will be formulate an activity booklet that will remain accessible in the Casa de Conhecimento and will be available to the community, so other groups can carry out the activities, as for example schools. After the end of the sessions, the evaluation phase of the project will take place, to understand if it has met the proposed goals (in developing skills) and the level of satisfaction of the participants.
Creativity
Technology
Hands-on
Capacitation
Inclusion
One of the goals of these workshops is to raise the awareness of children and teens to environmental issues and the importance of reusing materials to fight climate change. Thus, this project seeks to raise awareness of recycling and recyclable materials through activities that promote the recycling of plastic material, with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 as a framework, which represent universal action to erradicate poverty and protect the planet.
Therefore, in order to achieve these objectives, specifically, the workshop ''Engineering Projects'' will be developed, in which the beneficiaries are challenged to design and build prototypes using digital fabrication techniques and design thinking methodologies to solve problems related to sustainability and innovation. Even so, although this is the workshop most closely linked to this theme and this objective, all of them will have the concern to alert to climate changes and the importance of reusing materials.
This is a project that seeks to motivate children and teens to be creative and to expand their horizons. In this way, it aims to introduce new tools that are not normally included in the school program, namely 3D modeling and printing, and Vinyl stamping, where the groups are challenged to create new objects that are useful and sustainable to the community. In addition, 3D tools are also used to create objects with a refined design that are accessible to people who are blind, deaf, have reduced mobility and/or cognitive difficulties. Finally, it is intended to create tactile maps and 3D building plans of the community, with the goal of returning a final product to the community, and to make children and young people feel that they have a role in society and that what they do has an impact on the world around them.
In this manner, all the different workshops will try to satisfy the beneficiaries, trying to meet their expectations and allow them to learn with new methodologies, which will be possible through the satisfaction evaluation done in all the sessions that will allow the feedback from the participants to be integrated in the following sessions.
These workshops aim to involve various age groups, each with its own specificities, in this way, the goal of inclusion will be achieved through the creation of these specific workshops for people with special needs or at risk of exclusion. Thus, there is the goal of increasing the contact of children and teens in Valongo with innovating tools that foster their creativity and their sensitivity to sustainability issues. Furthermore, it is intended that these principles and these workshops reach everyone, even if with specific needs, seeking to have inclusive sessions for young people with physical or cognitive difficulties. Therefore, there is the dynamization of sessions for groups with specific needs and the adaptation of these sessions so that they can enjoy them as much as possible. We intend to give an opportunity to young people in situations of exclusion through their integration in the workshops as beneficiaries, making them feel integrated in the community and have an active role in changing the world.
In the North of Portugal, at the end of 2020, there was the highest rate of NEET Youth (15-24 years old), that is, the North zone had the highest number of young people who were not engaged in any employment or training, nor were they studying.
In parallel, we will also form a team of young people trainers able to streamline the workshops, so that we can disseminate the use of these technologies. They are young graduates in education or other related fields, some of them already currently developing programming and robotic activities in schools (to kids between 6 – 10 years old) so the developed activities and know-how could be spread in the future – the effects and the impact could be larger.
The development of these workshops is intended to create an innovative and sustainable society. Due to the methodologies chosen, this articulates with new forms of education based on the Maker spirit and digital fabrication, as well as STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) contexts, which allows an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. This initiative privileges the celebration of partnerships to develop innovative and creative educational programs. In this way, this could be a pilot project for the creation of many others based on digital fabrication processes that promote the use of digital technologies for artistic creation and design innovation, which allow students to develop critical thinking and creativity that prepare them to face the challenges of the modern world. This project will also allow a final product to be returned to the community that will improve it, and more of these products can be created if the reception is positive. Finally, the activity booklet will be available in the Casa do Conhecimento, to be used by the whole community. The participation and involvement of local communities can be divided into several aspects regarding how everyone will engage in the project, but also how this project will involve the community in which it is located, so these aspects are described below: Community project development - trainees will be able to work in teams with local community members to identify problems and develop solutions using digital fabrication techniques and design thinking methodologies; Open workshops - workshops are open for local community members to participate and learn about digital fabrication techniques and digital technologies such as robotics, programming and 3D printing. By involving the local community in the training activities, we will create a more enriching and collaborative learning environment and create opportunities for individuals in the community to develop and engage with education.
At local level, the main actors in this initiative are FAB Lab Porto and CDI Portugal. The CDI Portugal team will be responsible for managing the entire initiative, defining, together with FAB Lab, the various activities, selecting the facilitators and holding meetings to monitor the initiative.
The training will take place in the CDI "Casa de Conhecimento de Valongo", that provides tools and various materials used in the workshops. The school grouping of the municipality of Valongo will be involved and will support the dissemination of this initiative. The participants of these workshops will be children and young people from the municipality's school groups. With regard to young people with special needs and at risk of exclusion, this group will be also identified from the Portuguese Association of Parents and Friends, the Porto Association of Cerebral Paralysis, the Salvador Association, Supported Social Life Groups – Fio de Ariana and the Institute of Employment and Professional Training.
Fab Lab Porto will provide technical and technological know-how, as well as experience sharing, based on its ten years of activity. This organization will be responsible for training the trainers of the workshops. The CDI has worked with the Porto Fab Lab on other projects (see CDI_FL_Protocol On-the-job Training), which facilitated the partnership for this initiative.
At a regional and national level, this initiative may be extended through the network of Knowledge Houses, to which the “Casa de Conhecimento de Valongo” belongs.
In international terms, this initiative considers the guidelines of the European Commission and UNESCO - working towards a more attractive education system, combining technology and innovative pedagogical methods, promoting greater performance, interaction, autonomy, criticality and creativity, strengthening the education of young people on the climate crisis, enabling them to take action and preparing them for green jobs of the future.
The several workshops will have the following themes:
Collaborative design projects - where participants will work in teams to develop design projects using digital manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing, laser cutting and parametric modelling;
Robotics workshops - where participants will learn to build and program robots using robotics kits, such as Arduino and Raspeberry Pi, to solve practical problems;
Art and technology studios - where participants will explore digital artistic creation using video editing, animation and graphic design tools to create interdisciplinary projects;
Engineering projects - in which participants will design and build prototypes, using digital fabrication techniques and design thinking methodologies, to solve problems related to sustainability and innovation;
Art and Technology workshops - beneficiaries learn to create interactive artworks and installations using sensors, microcontrollers and digital technologies.
With this initiative, we intend that all target groups develop important skills for their lives, for school and for professional life, namely: improved problem-solving skills; development of technical skills; creating interdisciplinary thinking; stimulating creativity and innovation - participants learn to think creatively and innovatively, which helps them develop original and useful projects for the community.
The various representatives of these fields of knowledge will receive an initial training, together, and will have weekly meetings with the project team, in which an evaluation will be made on each session, improvement actions will be identified and the performance of the participants will be shared. Thus, in the following sessions, adjustments will be integrated according to what was evaluated.
The innovative character of the actions developed in these workshops resides partly in the methodologies adopted, that is, in the search for a teaching method and exchange of information that allows the beneficiaries to be active in the search for knowledge, learn through practice, and while creating a functional product. In addition, this is a project that seeks to reach several different groups, so its innovation lies in adapting to the needs of each group, trying not to exclude anyone.
In addition, the involvement of the community in these workshops is extremely important, not only because it meets local needs, but also because it will motivate the implementation of new projects with the same goals and new partnerships. This is important and innovative because there are not many training opportunities with this approach yet.
These workshops can be replicated as follows:
• The trainers selected to streamline the sessions are young graduates in education and other related fields, so the contents covered in the workshops could be taken to schools in a nearby future;
• In addition, the activity booklet that will be develop will be available at Casa do Conhecimento, which allows these workshops to be replicated again in this location;
• Through the Casa do conhecimento netwok, which has similar spaces to the one in Valongo spread over several places in the country - North and Alentejo regions, it will be possible to recreate the project in other locations in Portugal.
This initiative considers three methodologies: learning by doing methodology, the lean methodology and Problem based learning (PBL). All of them fits perfectly with the principles of the New European Bauhaus.
The learning by doing methodology, which, as the name implies, means learning while doing, through which one works on projects with hands-on experience, combining theoretical knowledge with the development of competencies. Thus, this philosophy bets on education as a process of reconstruction and reorganization of acquired experiences to influence future experiences. This methodology has the following formula: encourage looking for new methods and solutions independently; ask questions, rather than answer them; create environments favourable to new ideas; sharing goals and achievements with the group. Our world is a constantly changing, practical world that can only be fully experienced through action. Teaching and learning should not be limited to the school - education and discipline are connected to the community.
On the other hand, the lean methodology that is used in companies all over the world has been adapted to the educational world. This methodology consists of the constant search for agility in the internal processes of a project, offering a series of tools and techniques that aim to streamline the entire operation process of a school, so this methodology is aligned to Design Thinking.
PBL is a teaching methodology based on the development of projects, in which the beneficiaries learn while working on practical and collaborative projects. This allows them to develop their critical thinking skills and creativity, in addition to applying the knowledge acquired in real-life situations. This methodology also encourages collaboration and teamwork, which is key to meeting the complex and multifaceted challenges of contemporary society.
The “Description of Activities” document describes the content of each of the five workshops in more detail.
This is a project that aims to improve the community where it operates by responding to global challenges and problems. Thus, this project aims to improve the problem of lack of digital skills and unawareness of new tools, by promoting the contact of these children and teen with emerging and technological tools to which they normally would not have access or would not have contact.
In addition, it aims to contribute to a sustainable community (SDG 11) through sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12), which will be achieved using recycled materials, giving new life to materials that would otherwise be thrown away.
Another challenge that has emerged recently is the lack of enthusiasm of children and adolescents for school. Quality education is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4), seeking to ensure access to inclusive, quality and equitable education. And although in Portugal education is free and equally accessible to all, it does not seem to meet the expectations of students. By the end of 2022, a study revealed that Portuguese teenagers like school less and find the subjects boring. Thus, there is a need for schools to update and keep up with young people's way of contacting with information, and this project seeks to integrate a new way of passing on knowledge and to create the means to disseminate it to other places (to schools through the instructors and to other entities through the activity manual).
As previously mentioned, this project is divided into three phases: Preparation, Workshop Sessions and Evaluation. It is expected to begin in September with the preparation phase, which will end during the month of October. After the end of the planning phase, the workshops will begin in October, and are expected to end in January. Between October and January, there will also be periodic meetings with the facilitators and partners, as well as the evaluation questionnaires. In February, the impact evaluation and the conclusion of the activity booklet will take place. Finally, the project will end with the follow-up that will take place 6 months after the end of the workshop sessions. The implementation plan is detailed in the “Implementation Plan” document.
With this initiative, we hope to achieve some tangible results that have allowed us to prove the effectiveness of the initiative. Thus, through all the sessions, it is expected to reach about 200 students from Valongo municipality, who will participate in 5 workshop sessions for each group, with a load of 25 hours, distributed over 3 months. Furthermore, as this is an initiative developed with a close connection to schools, it is expected to involve 30 teachers in these sessions, including the group of facilitators. It is also expected to reach about 60 young people with special needs and at risk of exclusion who will enjoy workshops adapted to their needs.
Finally, it is expected that these workshops will produce results that will be delivered back to the community. The final products will be tactile maps and building plans, especially of emblematic places of Valongo, and also the development of the activity booklet that will remain in the Casa do Conhecimento to support future activities and will be shared with the Network of Casas do Conhecimento, so that this initiative can be disseminated throughout the Portuguese territory.
This initiative works towards a more attractive education system, combining technology and innovative pedagogical methods, promoting greater performance, interaction, autonomy, criticality and creativity, strengthening the education of young people on the climate crisis, enabling them to take action and preparing them for green jobs of the future.
The expected benefits for the target group include an awareness of climate change, an increase in their willingness to learn, and an appreciation for these tools that they would not normally have access to, but which are determined to be essential for the professions of the future. The group of facilitators will also benefit from this initiative. This is a group that already has contact with the educational world in the Municipality of Valongo, so it is expected that they can take these methodologies and tools to their formal classes and thus enhance the education of even more students. Finally, with the development of the activity booklet, it is expected that this initiative will impact more groups throughout the country, thus increasing the number of people impacted.
