Inspiration, collaboration & a journey through Portuguese FabLabs
The development of cooperation in the field of cultural and creative industries with organizations in Portugal began in the NEWAVES project, where in an international team we are solving the future of local radios in Portugal, Croatia, Slovakia and Macedonia.
During the month of September 2023, we visited 4 creative centers in Portugal and are communicating about establishing project cooperation.
And why Portugal? It is similar to Slovakia in terms of area and population and is happy to establish cooperation with countries that, like them, are partly on the edge of the geographical and “project” borders of the EU.
Visit to the FabLab operated by the Instituto Politécnico da Guarda.
The Polytechnic Institute of Guarda is our partner university in the NEWAVES project. We visited their FabLab, which focuses primarily on prototype production for students.
We were interested in 3D printing, which uses filaments that are directly produced from 3D PET bottles. The transformation of PET material from a recycled plastic bottle into another useful object in real time in a single facility is an ideal example of a circular material economy without loss.
Visit to a FabLab run by the city of Lisbon.
On September 23, 2023, we visited FabLab Lisbon, which is operated by the city with the aim of expanding services to residents and creatives of the city of Lisbon and supporting the local circular economy.
We were accompanied by Mr. José Vaz, technical coordinator. We toured the premises, which originally functioned as a meat processing plant and are currently, in the spirit of revitalization of industrial architecture, converted into a city Fablab consisting of craft creative workshops.
We were greatly inspired by the specialized BIO FabLab space, where they connect biotechnology with creative creation through 3D modeling, e.g. they use the mycelium of mushrooms, which they use to strengthen structures of organic origin into the shapes of model interior utility objects.
In the near future, we plan to establish cooperation in both the project and technological areas and invite them to be guests at our university Fablab as part of Trenčín EHM 2026.
Visit to the university FCT FabLab at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.
On September 22, 2023, we visited the university FabLab Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, which is among the best universities in Portugal and also ranks among the top research universities within the EU.
We were accompanied by Susana Neves, architect and designer of the FabLab. We were interested in a service called “Hacking space”, where new electronic devices are created from e-waste. We consulted on the way it works within the academic environment and involvement in the global FabLab association. In the future, cooperation in the field of high-tech in creative work would be possible. The EU is creating a concept for so-called super technological FabLabs, which would be in contact with the latest technologies and would also have the technological know-how to use them.
Visit to FabLab Benfica at Lisbon School of Education
On 22.9.2023 we visited Benfica FabLab Lisbon School of Education, guided by Mr. Nuno Monge. We went through the technologies, he introduced us to the concept of FabLab functioning and the principle of multi-source financing of activities to support the creative industry in Portugal. We planned a possible project collaboration in the field of furniture design from waste wood materials and structures. We were inspired by the recycling of natural cork and its reuse in creative work.
