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Tradition & Innovation: here’s the perfect maker environment!

 

What to you need to create a great innovative community? We talk about it with Yuri Vlasyuk from Ukraine and… he gave us the secret recipe! 

 

 

Kyiv Mini Maker Faire

Q. Hi Yuri, thank you for sharing with us your “maker experience”! As you know we’re absolutely curious to learn more about you and your story so… How did you end up joining the #maker movement?

A. Make magazine, my own service workshops, my children and lifelong love to make things. So at the moment our small Maker Hub NGO runs Mini Maker Faires in 5 Ukrainian cities.

Q. What do you most value in the innovation/maker environment?

A. Optimism, sustainability and constants search of new connections and ideas. The most driving environment ever.

Q. What’s the maker movement outlook in Ukraine?

A. We have education crisis so schools and universities are starving for new ideas. So at the moment we have a boom of STEM projects, new fablabs. We have pretty strong agro tech community. We also have strong but old engineer communities and labs in old factories. Our task is to connect new and old to give them new opportunities.

Q. In your opinion, what features in your country is more appealing to an innovation-oriented crowd?

A.  Fantastic energy and motivation, good traditions and huge struggle of changes.

Q. You seem to have been able to create such a nurturing environment around your community in Ukranian. What does your audience look like? Who do you mainly target – students, inventors, or… ?

A. Well, what can I say.. anyone willing to learn, create and share! Educators and students – and also parents! – inventors and startuppers, existing fabricators who are looking for new ideas and employees… there are no limits to join our community! 

 

Dnipro Mini Maker Faire

Q. What do you consider your greatest goal as EMW’s Ambassador?

A. First of all we work on putting Ukrainian maker community in international context. We’d like our makers to realise that they are a part of the huge and important movement.

Q. What kind of events are you planning to organize during the EMW?

A. This year we have open days in fab labs and stem schools, interesting engineer competition and at least one good maker party!

 

Graduate of Construction Institute in Kyiv, developed an Apple Authorized Reseller and service in Ukraine since 1998. Make reader since 2007, Yuri Vlasyuk was looking for maker community and decided to gather it. So they are now producers of Kyiv Mini Maker Faire and host of Raspberry and Arduino Meetups.

Have you already found all the European Maker Week events near you? Have a look at the map, join them and share with us your #EMWeek18 experience by using our official hashtag! 

 

Yuri Vlasyuk