East Community Lab

Community Lab @ UWCSEA

At UWCSEA, we are fortunate to have some of the best Design and Technology facilities and teachers in the world. The rising popularity of this subject area indicates a strong interest in making, design thinking, creativity and problem solving amongst our students. 

Reflecting on the popularity of these elements of our learning programme and the challenge of accessing suitable spaces, especially for students not taking Design Technology as a chosen subject, from the theory that collaboration, creativity and making is fun but the space, resources, time and expertise are rare commodities for our communities, we developed a vision for a new space on the campus. From this vision came the idea for a space where people from our school community and the greater community of Singapore could gather to share resources and knowledge, work on projects, network, and build. A place where some tools, materials, and enough expertise could get people started on things they were curious about or ideas that were emerging from their imagination.

Makerspaces, The Makerspace Playbook

These spaces are often referred to as ‘Maker Spaces.’ Making, rather than consuming, is the focus and so there is often a strong sustainability focus on what occurs in these spaces. There are similar spaces already in Singapore. One of the pioneers of this community-centric model is Sustainable Living Lab. They have developed and currently run informal, playful spaces that allow projects to unfold, where communities can come together around the idea that anything is possible and with a mindset of community partnership, collaboration, and creation.

To make this space a reality we partnered with Sustainable Living Lab, who manage and run the space, independently but in full collaboration with UWCSEA. Their focus is on community activities and programmes so that we provide the maximum number of activities for all.