Ashton Community Trust and Fab Lab

FabLab NI invites tenders from qualified individuals and organisations to conduct a review and evaluation of the FabLab Intervention Programme . 

A Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory) is a fully kitted fabrication workshop which gives everyone in the community from small children through to entrepreneurs and businesses, the capability to turn their ideas and concepts into reality.

Fab Labs were born from an outreach project by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in inner-city Boston in 2005. Since then Fab Labs have quickly spread around the world. Now there are over 400 Fab Labs from the inner cities of the USA to the remote villages of Africa.

FabLabs are spaces for community empowerment, peace-building, delivery of new learning and skills and locally rooted problem solving. In Northern Ireland, the shared skills development and practical problem-solving will help address the community divisions and legacy of the conflict in these areas.

In 2012 the Ashton Community Trust and the Nerve Centre established two FabLabs in Northern Ireland, funded by SEUPB Peace III programme and deliver a three year intervention programme. 

Aim

To conduct an in-depth evaluation of FabLab NI, taking into particular consideration:

• Progress against SEUPB outputs and outcomes as listed in Appendix one
• The impacts and benefits of FabLab NI model on peace building, community impact, education & enterprise
• The structure of the current model of FabLab NI’s delivery and management

• To identify areas of value, strengths and threats to the current model of the project that will benefit the sustainability of the project 

Closing Date is Friday 12th December @ 4.00pm