Nomad FabLab

Being located in Gatineau, the Onaki FabLab does not reach remote and sometimes isolated young Indigenous people in Indigenous communities in Quebec. To counter this inequality of opportunity, the FPIC has developed a nomad FabLab to meet these young people in their community, regardless of their isolation. The nomad FabLab began its operations in the form of pilot projects in the three Atikamekw communities of Quebec. It offers an 8-week paid training that helps to arouse the interest of young Indigenous people in the endless possibilities offered by digital technology. The nomad FabLab targets Indigenous young people between the ages of 15 and 30 who are not in school and who are unemployed. The nomad FabLab therefore offers these young Indigenous an alternative by immersing them in a world of digital creation and reconnection to their roots. The objective of the nomad FabLab is to reinforce the feeling of pride through the realization of different projects while creating a feeling of identity pride to each of the participants. Young people can then project themselves into the future and consider being able to enter the labour market or entrepreneurship. This technological caravan approach will make it possible to reach thousands of young Indigenous people excluded from the digital age.

The FPIC therefore intends to continue in the same vein by offering its short training program (8 weeks) via the nomad FabLab in the various Indigenous communities of Quebec and by improving the training of interested participants by welcoming them to the Onaki FabLab for a longer training program.

Thus, each year, the nomad FabLab technological caravan will travel to 6 Indigenous communities in Quebec and will serve 30 young Indigenous people divided into 1 cohort per community. Indigenous young people will have basic digital training (Arduino programming, 3D printing, laser cutting, vinyl cutting, digital milling machines, digital embroidery machines, etc.). The best participants from these cohorts will be able to pursue extended training at the Onaki FabLab to become assistant instructors and/or instructors.