Maker Ecosystem Building Toolkit
The MakerUSA Maker Ecosystem Building Toolkit is a free and publicly available resource for communities and organizations that are looking to foster a sustainable ecosystem that supports inclusive maker education and maker entrepreneurs. The Toolkit contains case studies, best practices, relevant research and a set of fundraising and communication tools designed to support leaders that are looking to grow, scale and sustain programs, models, makerspaces and develop policies that enable members of their communities to leverage these resources in ways that foster hands-on STEM and STEAM education, entrepreneurship, local manufacturing and economic innovation.
The elements of the Toolkit are designed and developed by individuals leading these efforts in their own communities, including members of the MakerUSA Learning Network and key partners.
Case Studies
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FabFolio is a web-based application designed to provide an innovative and effective feedback tool for both instructors and learners. By integrating micro-credentials aligned with national industry certifications and local employers’ needs, FabFolio empowers learners to track their progress, develop essential and technical skills, and curate digital portfolios.
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The Maker Access Pass is an educational program designed by the Innovation Wyrkshop to provide foundational training on the use of various makerspace equipment. Initially created for the University of Wyoming’s makerspace, the program has expanded across the state of Wyoming to various other makerspaces, offering both practical skills and safety knowledge to individuals engaged in the making community.
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This case study focuses on the process of conducting an initial research and assessment of the maker landscape in Knoxville, TN, in 2023. The primary objective of this Landscape Assessment was to identify and highlight the existing maker community, uncover gaps and unmet needs related to maker opportunities, and explore potential avenues for the Tennessee College of Applied Technology to expand its programming to better serve these needs.
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Makers in Education is a collaboration between the Ground Floor Makerspace and the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative at the University of Cincinnati. This case study focuses on the creation and implementation of a maker-centered professional development program for K-12 educators. The program is implemented as a 2-week intensive professional development training program on makerspace technologies in tandem with mentoring on how to incorporate maker pedagogies in the classroom. The intensive is further supported by a Community of Practice meeting quarterly to share ideas, strategies, and skills.
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The Spark Lab program was designed to empower young entrepreneurs and makers in rural communities in West-Central Colorado by providing mentorship, hands-on activities, interactive discussions, and networking opportunities. Over six weeks, participants refined their business ideas into 3-minute pitches, culminating in a pitch event where seed funding (over $10,000 raised) and professional development opportunities were awarded to support their ventures. The program was developed and implemented by Homegrown Pathways, in partnership with Startup Colorado.
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STE(A)M Truck provides hands-on, project-based STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) learning experiences that ignite creativity, foster critical thinking, and prepare students for future careers. STE(A)M Truck serves primarily students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds in the Metro Atlanta area, ranging from elementary to high school age. This case study highlights how a non-profit can effectively counteract generalized and rushed content, developing meaningful, long-standing multimedia narratives to solidify its brand as a community staple.
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This case study focuses on the design and implementation of a community-driven makerspace design workshop. This workshop was designed to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders in the Knoxville region to share their ideas and voices around an inclusive makerspace on the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Knoxville’s main campus.
Research
This section features a selection of research papers and studies focused on the impact of makerspaces and maker education. A brief summary of each paper and five key findings are provided for each piece, along with the link where you can find the full paper. You can use these summaries developed by MakerUSA in making a case for your efforts with potential partners and funders.
Economic and Workforce Development
Entrepreneurship
Policy & Advocacy
Education
Fab Lab Tulsa has developed a helpful model for measuring the economic impact of your makerspace, which includes the combined value of all direct spending, plus the additional business and household activity that spending generates in the local economy. These calculations can help you to economically quantify the impact of your makerspace, which can be helpful in speaking with potential funders and partners. Please see this slide deck and template for more details.
Tools and Resources
A curated set of helpful existing resources from other organizations and institutions connected to workforce development, entrepreneurship, education and policy.
The Prototyping Equity report documents the first two years of the Equitable Innovation Economies initiative. The report examines how local leaders identified and tackled systemic barriers to equity in economic development and real-world examples of how cities integrated equity into their industrial and workforce strategies.
America Makes Education and Workforce Development Assets is the central repository for all of the workforce development assets focused on additive manufacturing that have been developed by America Makes and partners through projects over the last decade.
The Maker City Directory represents artisans, makers, small-scale manufacturers, and creatives from all over Knoxville. This a great example of how to uplift and showcase maker entrepreneurs locally. Today, more than 900 makers belong to The Maker City and the directory houses to more than 350 makers.
The “How to Develop a Locally-Made Brand Platform” toolkit developed by Mechanism (formerly the Urban Manufacturing Alliance) provides a step-by-step guide for cities interested in leveraging their place-based identity to grow sales and develop export markets for their local manufacturers.
In 2022, Open Works led an effort to pass SB 453, the Maryland Makerspace Initiative Program. The state legislature appropriated $5M over five years to "expand or establish" makerspaces throughout the state, and is the first bill of its kind in the US. The Maker Policy Playbook uses the story of that process to illustrate how to advocate for maker-friendly policies in your community! At the end of the book, an open-source toolkit includes the policy paper, legislation, social media graphics, and op-ed used in our successful campaign.
Making the Case for Investing in Maker Approaches is a set of case studies developed by Nation of Makers across education, workforce development, economic development and emergency response and community resilience make the case for why investment in makerspaces and programs is critical for U.S. global competitiveness and domestic priorities.
The CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines are a tool that can be applied in any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners are able to access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities. The Guidelines are a set of concrete suggestions rooted in the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an educational framework developed by the education non-profit research and development organization, CAST.
Fab Foundation’s Scaling a Community of Practice for Education in STEM through Digital Fabrication, or SCOPES-DF, offers educators new models and methods for teaching, including open source lessons and projects.
MakerEd’s Resource Library and Publications span nearly 7 years of the national non-profit’s work in providing training, support, and resources to individuals, institutions and communities who are integrating maker education into their learning environments. This includes resources such as the Youth Makerspace Playbook, the Open Portfolio Project and Shaping Educator Learning Communities: A Quick Guide.
UTeach Maker Lesson Bank is a repository that contains maker-centered STEM lessons from UTeach Makers and Maker Fellows. This set of resources also includes additional tools that could be helpful to integrating maker learning into classrooms and informal learning settings, including an Elements of Making Matrix, a framework that aligns maker learning with NGSS and a maker lesson planning guide.