Orange Foundation announces winners of its fourth International Solidarity FabLabs Challenge
The Orange Foundation has announced the winners of its fourth International Solidarity FabLabs Challenge.
Thirteen teams of young people on integration programmes from four African countries (Cameroon, DRC, Senegal and Tunisia) and three European countries (Spain, Poland and France) took on the challenge of using digital technology to make creations for the worlds of fashion, design and the arts.
This challenge is part of the training programme created by the Orange Foundation in 2014 with its Solidarity FabLabs (there are now 130 in 20 countries): digital manufacturing courses that the Orange Foundation provides free-of-charge to unemployed young people, to help them become more professional by teaching them digital manufacturing skills, as well as how to work as a team and on a project.
The winners were announced by Elizabeth Tchoungui, the Orange Group’s Executive Director for CSR, Diversity and Philanthropy, and Deputy Chair of the Orange Foundation, and Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa.
The jury judging the entries was made up of professionals in culture and digital manufacturing and members of the Orange Foundation as well as web users rewarded four projects in total.
The Web Users’ Prize went to “Fashion through recycling” by the Lisungi Solidarity FabLab in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). This project was made up of three women aged 19 to 23, who been forced to abandon their studies, trained in the FabLab, where they designed a line of clothing and accessories made from recycled materials such as thread, bottle tops, waste wood, bags and thrown-away fabric.
Helped by a stylist, they made dresses, jackets, jewellery and more with digital tools (PCs with modelling software, embroidery machines, cutters, 3D printers, etc.). The next steps in their project involve developing partnerships with economic actors in the city to raise awareness of recycling and the creation of a startup.
The Jury’s Prize went to “Sculpture in hand,” by the GarageLab Ortzadar Solidarity FabLab in San Sebastian in Spain. Two projects won the Orange Foundation’s Favourite Prize: the “Mobile photo studio” project by the Montreuil Solidarity FabLab (France) and the “Designer lighting” project by the Mourenx Solidarity FabLab (France):
The “Mobile photo studio” project by the Solidarity FabLab in Montreuil in France is inspired by the work of contemporary photographers, themselves inspired by African photo studios of the 1950s.
The Orange Foundation will provide each of these teams with €10,000 ($11,800) in financial support to help them develop their projects.
