Who it is

About the organisation The academy’s origin, beliefs and purpose.
Why this work exists The conditions the work is built to change.
How the work is funded Where the money for the work comes from, and how the academy plans to pay for more of its own work.
What it runs

The DreamSpace Lifecycle How a changemaker goes from a local problem to an impact venture, and the support along the way.
Venture pathway The Lifecycle for changemakers who take the venture route.
Labs & research Specialist skills, and the groups of people who keep them going, in many places.
Ventures & incubation How a tested solution becomes a venture.
How it checks

Theory of change The steps by which the work is expected to lead to change.
Impact & the global goals The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals the work is linked to.
Measurement How the academy checks whether its work does what it is meant to.
Start here Theory of change How the work is expected to lead to change, and how strong the evidence is for each step. Read more

Who DreamSpace Academy is, why the work exists and how it is meant to change things.
Site overview
What it teaches

Programmes and domains What the academy teaches, the subject areas (domains) of the STEAM programmes, and how a course is split into levels.
Innovation & enterprise How learners in the STEAM programmes learn research, enterprise and money skills, from the first stage.
Empowerment Inside School The in-school programme running now: practical ICT, robotics and STEAM learning in government schools.
How the STEAM programmes work

Learning by making How the STEAM programmes connect knowledge, making, reflection and action.
Facilitation How teaching changes from stage to stage, and what trainers and facilitators do.
The Changemaker Journey How a learner in the STEAM programmes moves from exploring to changing their community.
Assessment How work is judged: the finished piece, the learner’s explanation and their reflection, against one standard.
Start here More than the STEAM programmes The STEAM programmes are one part of what the academy teaches. It also runs business and entrepreneurship, digital security and teacher training. Read more

The STEAM programmes are one part of what DreamSpace Academy teaches. Most pages here describe the STEAM programmes.
Site overview
The product

The MakerSpace model A community makerspace designed so that other places can set up their own.
Replication How one working makerspace becomes many.
In short Who provides what The local partner provides the space and pays for the makerspace. DreamSpace Academy provides the design, the quality standard and a licence to run its programmes. Read more

A makerspace that local partners can set up and run as a social franchise, with a licence to run the academy’s programmes.
Site overview
Read

Articles Short explanations, essays, and research reviews of the key terms the work uses.
Questions Answers for parents, learners, schools, donors and partners.
Look up

Site overview Every page on this site, with a line on what each one covers.
Glossary Words this site uses in a particular sense, and what each one does not mean.
References The books, papers and statistics this site draws on.
Records

Activities Every recorded activity, dated, one page each.
The record Activities since 2018 Every activity DreamSpace Academy has recorded, dated, with one page each. Read more

Questions, activity records, articles, terms and the sources behind them.
Site overview

Innovation, 2022

Dinacon, a hydraulic press for upcycling plastics

The DreamSpace team and Trash for Trade built a hydraulic press during Dinacon 2022 and turned plastic waste into new sheets and objects.

When: July 2022
Where: Batticaloa
Format: Build project
With: Digital Naturalism Labs, Trash for Trade

During Dinacon 2022, the DreamSpace team and Trash for Trade built a hydraulic press to upcycle plastic waste. The press fuses heated acrylic scraps into new sheets. Other plastics, such as bottle caps, were melted into sheets with a heat press.

The new sheets were laser cut and shaped into bowls, a lamp and other objects. The team also wrote guides and a zine on how to build the press and use it.

Read more on the Dinacon 2022 website: Building a Hydraulic Press and Upcycling Plastics. The photographs on this page are from that post.

Images

Sorting plastic scraps for upcycling, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

The finished hydraulic press, built from steel and a bottle jack, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

Plastic bottle caps laid out on a heat press, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

Two bowls formed from upcycled plastic, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

A sheet made from fused acrylic scraps, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

Laser-cut shapes from upcycled acrylic and plastic sheets, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

Upcycled plastic sheets, bowls and laser-cut pieces, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

A lamp made from upcycled, laser-cut plastic, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

The team with the finished press on its first day, July 2022. Photo: Dinacon 2022.

All activities