Innovate Dublin

Making innovation and change happen:

This summer Innovate Dublin will be working with Fab Lab Foundation Ireland to bring a mobile makerspace to Dublin. Since last year Innovate Dublin have been collaborating with DCU Alpha and Irish Maker Hub around developing a community makerspace for North Dublin. Our ambition is to ignite a culture of making among the local community, bringing new opportunities for creative enterprise and entrepreneurship. Spaces of this kind exist all over Ireland yet the city lacks a true community facility.

Many organisations find it difficult to engage beyond the usual suspects, attract certain marginalised groups, and get stakeholders involved in service delivery.  Opportunities for work can be thin on the ground in Ballymun, and many community organisations would like to see the local community skilled in delivery their services, which can also boost communication wider.  Through introducing a participatory dialogue around participation and service design we want to grow a deeper sense of place among residents and organisation in Ballymun and surrounding communities.

Post regeneration Ballymun has a number of commercial and retail spaces that are vacant or underused. The recent economic crisis has meant that plans have shifted and changed where the built environment in Ballymun is concerned. The death of the high street is an indication that we need to reconsider how we use, manage and allocate space. At the same time local authority and public funds have been reduced, meaning that numerous community organisations and others are struggling to raise budgets and find spaces for their services.