top of page

Workshops

Card and Chat Workshops @ Rekindle Festival
What do we make and why?

image.png
image.png

Date: Ongoing

Workshop Description:
A fusion of art, craft, science, history, economics and critical questions using a spinning wheel and wool carders, mini generators

Street Interventions,

or prebooked workshops

Location: TBC

Participants: Passers by or prebooked

Purpose:

Public engagement on issues of production and consumption (SDG 12) using the problem posing questions: What we make and why? Who benefits, who suffers? What else can we make? and how we can make flourishing communities.?

Workshop structure:

This workshop is simple to set up and can be expanded into a much longer workshop for deeper engagement on the issues of large scale production and consumption (SDG 12)

[EM] PowerGeneration is a public participatory ‘Maker’ workshop which aims to foster public engagement & empowered community climate actions related to energy production and consumption. The workshop demonstrates & facilitates participatory small-scale 12V power generation to 'make power together'.”The workshop takes place in The Milk Market and demonstrates small-scale 12V power generation by harvesting kinetic energy generated from a traditional wool spinning wheel.  Participants will make their own simple DIY mini-generators to form a ‘temporary micro power producing community’ and ‘make power together’.  In doing so, participants can connect to the principles and practices of the +Cityxchange project in Limerick City, the concept of energy producing communities and how this practice addresses energy production and consumption issues as a climate action. Participants of this workshop may subsequently become inspired to become actively involved in a  sustainable long-term energy producing community, or even form one.[EM] PowerGeneration is an outreach initiative as part of the PhD project Public STEAM hosted by the LImerick School of Art & Design. The research aims to generate public engagement and community empowered climate actions through adult education critical art+making workshops. Public STEAM is funded by the Irish Research Council and has received funding from Limerick City Council to provide this workshop

The workshop, outlined below, can be in a one hour block with max 6 adult participants:

1. The workshop demonstrates small-scale power generation. 

2. Participants are invited to become part of the ‘temporary micro power producing community’ by making mini generators, each generator adds power to the community. These simple to make low budget DIY generators contain some recycled materials such as empty film cartridge containers and bicycle spokes, with magnets, blueback, copper windings and LED lights needing to be purchased. The mini-generator recipe is courtesy of Toys from Trash.

3. Participants engage in a conversation around energy use in Limerick city and climate action, and consider how communities can reduce energy consumption and also produce more energy than they consume by forming energy producing communties. Information literature pertaining to the key concepts of the +Cityxchange, such as,  Increased Energy Efficiency, Positive Energy Block (PEB) and the Smart Energy Grid2 will be explored at the workshop. Participants can also consider what would empower and support them and their communities to take control of their energy by becoming part of, or by forming, an energy producing community. E.g. How to connect participants to funding, local authority or community partners. 

4. Fill out a feedback survey on their key insight and takeaways from the workshop and post further comments or images to the workshop web blog.

Key Generative Themes From the Sessions

Key Really Useful Questions From the Sessions

Resources

bottom of page