In November 2020, Fab Lab Iași association launched the first Solidarity FabLab center in Romania, in partnership with Fundația Orange România.
More than 150 young people from Iasi County, aged between 16 and 25, have access to technical training courses, where they discover and learn how to use digital manufacturing techniques and tools such as design- custom, CAD, 2D software, 3D printing, laser and vinyl cutter, CNC milling machine, all under the guidance of local specialists. There will also be an introduction to electronics and familiarization with documentation tools. In parallel, the young people included in the program will also benefit from career counseling and concrete employment opportunities by facilitating meeting sessions and discussions with a number of companies from Iași County, active in the field of technology.
“I thought of this project under the motto “access your future” and I believe that the partnership with Fundația Orange România successfully completes the range of services already offered by the makerspace area of Fab Lab Iași. Thus, we increase involvement in training or professional reconversion projects in the technological area, addressed to ambitious and passionate young people, but with limited material possibilities.” said Dan Zaharia, president of the FabLab Iași Association.
The program aims to increase employability with the help of digital technologies and is aimed at young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, many of them part of the NEET category, people who are not included in educational programs, in the field of work or in professional training programs. For them, vulnerabilities such as poverty or lack of education, often due to early school leaving, accentuate the difficulties and hinder the possibility of socio-professional integration.
See more about the project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT3oOOOUX8Q
