Buinho Associação

Buinho is a non-profit association, based in an economically and socially depressed territory (Baixo Alentejo).

Buinho was established in Messejana (a small town of 800 peoples) in December 2015, and in just 5 years of activity it
became a reference in the European Maker Movement due to its innovative nature and geographic location.

In 2016 we opened the first rural fablab in Portugal, and in 2017 we became the first fablab in Europe to organize an
inhouse artist in residency program. While these factors helped us in gaining visibility, it was the projects developed in
the last 3 years that helped Buinho to become a flagship project in the area of rural innovation. More than a fablab,
Buinho rapidly became a creative hub, attracting creative minds from all the different continents, and also disruptive
projects related to digital fabrication.

In a rural town that lost more than 50% of its population in the past 50 years, and deep inside a territory weakened by an
ageing population and lack of qualified employment for young people, Buinho is carrying out an ambitious agenda.

We created the first Community Plastic Recycling Center in Portugal, where we teach local communities to separate
different plastics and transform the waste into new products. We built the machines for the recycling center, and we are
building machines for other regional and international organizations as the United Nations Development Program in São
Tomé e Principe.

Buinho is establishing in Messejana the first Makerspace Network in Portugal, running educational activities in other
three makerspaces created by us in three separated institutions of Messejana – kindergarten (CAPI), the local
elementary school, and the daycare (Santa Casa da Misericórdia), where our staff currently provide voluntary teaching
services to children and young people (ages 3-18 yo) in digital fabrication, robotics, and programming.

We are currently establishing the first teacher training center in digital technologies for education of Baixo Alentejo.

Buinho has been successfully participating in the Erasmus program since 2017, most notably having coordinated six
KA105 projects and being a partner in a KA2 dedicated to the role of fablabs in adult education. Erasmus+ projects
allowed us to gain visibility, credibility, and reinforce the scope and quality of our actions in the territory. Erasmus+ has
equally been important to reinforce the internationalization of the territory and offer exchange opportunities for the local
Youth.

The success of our actions as been recognized by different institutions. Buinho has been named best practice and has
collaborated in special development projects and policy-making clinics with National entities (CCDR Alentejo, Ministry of
Economy, local Municipalities), and International organisms (United Nations, EU Joint Research Centers, and DG
Education, Youth, Sport and Culture).

In 2019, we carried out a needs analysis to develop a strategy for the next 4 years. We involved consultations with
partners from the local community, local youth, international partners, among other groups and institutions. For
Erasmus+ future activities, we sought to update main local priorities, update thematic preferred by local young people,
and identify projects that could help us to consolidate and increase existing knowhow.

Today, Buinho is already developing that strategy, aiming to consolidate a portfolio of specific digital competences, and
capacitating a future creative and qualified critical mass in Baixo Alentejo. We want to develop regional capabilities that
reduce structural Youth digital gap between rural and metropolitan areas. We want to accelerate a process of change,
extending our capabilities to other communities in Alentejo, while focusing more in the field of climate change and
sustainability.

We believe these will be the main challenges for the future of Alentejo: Becoming more resilient to Climate
Change; Qualify its Youth and retain them in the territory; Being able to attract talent and economic opportunities to the
region, moving from an extractive to a transformative and digital model of economic development.
establishing the first teacher training center in digital technologies for education of Baixo Alentejo.