Inclusive Makervan
Associate Professor Kirsten Ellis, Dr. Swamy Ananthanarayan, Jacqueline Johnstone and Madhuka Koralalage Dona.
Featured in the Australian Government’s Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review, the Inclusive Makervan is a mobile makerspace co-designed for, and with, people with intellectual disabilities.
The makervan was created in collaboration with Wallara, a multisite Disability Support Organisation (DSO), who deliver a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) program of support to individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Overcoming several limitations faced by a multisite DSO with distributed locations, the makervan affords Wallara the flexibility required to adapt to the diverse needs and capabilities of local learning environments while promoting inclusive participation and exposure to STEAM resources.
People with intellectual disabilities, Wallara's support workers and leadership team participated in co-designing the Inclusive Makervan through interviewing and the embodied method of bodystorming.
The outcome is presented as an accessible makervan, equipped with standard makerspace equipment such as a 3D printer, electronic kits and a laser cutter, made available through accessible resource shelving and storage containers, for daily use across six of the DSO’s sites.