KONEKTA – La perrera

Creator: Media Attack|Art form: Design, Digital media, Video games|Knowledge valorisation : Co-creation|Place: Bilbao,Spain|Location : Offline|Target group: General public, Students, Youth|Domains: Digital Age|Duration : Long-term

Citizen laboratory for social and creative innovation

Challenge: MAKER GUNEA, within Konekta, aims to be an opportunity for the creation of groups and communities related to projects that combine research, art, development, innovation, curiosity, leisure, technological vocations, social commitment, entrepreneurship and initiative.

La Perrera-Konekta is a socio-cultural space supported by the Department of Youth and Sport of the Bilbao City Council. The aim is to combine learning and technology with projects that give rise to initiative, participation, creativity, art and culture, critical and divergent thinking, addressing the concerns of teenagers and young people in the Basurto neighbourhood and Bilbao, through the KONEKTA programme. It also offers various services such as study rooms, a Municipal Library, meeting rooms, coworking space, Youth Information and Support Services, KZGunea, and the offices of Zinebi, Mendi Film Fest, Musika-Música and BIAAF are also located here.

Resources needed

Robotics materials, 3D printing, AI, video games, as well as computers, touch screens, various technological creation tools and multi-purpose rooms.

Purpose of artistic intervention

MAKER GUNEA is a space in the basement of LA PERRERA aimed at acquiring and developing STEAM-AV skills (including art as the main matrix for the use of technology) based on the DIY (Do it yourself) philosophy, participating in workshops or independently developing collaborative projects that combine scientific-technological disciplines with artistic-cultural ones. The idea is to blur the lines that divide science and technology from artistic creation, and to create an innovative space where both can be hybridised and encourage experimentation by young people.

Positive impacts

In its first year of operation, La Perrera has established itself as a centre of reference for the youth of Bilbao; since its launch in December last year, more than 10,000 young people have used its various services and facilities. This space is also used by schools at complementary times and will also host a socio-educational space (Gaztegune), aimed at young people aged 12 to 17.

Replication

La Perrera is an innovative initiative that can set a precedent at local and international level, as it can be replicated in any municipality that has an unused space and wants to give a boost to the educational and socio-cultural offer of new technologies and artistic creation.