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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

Event, 2025

The Routes We Take

Two days of creative workshops, talks and performances with ten Eastern Province creatives, on art, sustainability and circularity.

When: September 2025
Where: Batticaloa
Format: Festival, two days
With: Good Life X

DreamSpace Academy hosted the Batticaloa edition of The Routes We Take on 12 and 13 September 2025, with Good Life X. It brought together ten creatives from across the Eastern Province.

The programme mixed a showcase of local work with hands-on sessions:

lyric writing
photography and visual storytelling
musical instruments made from waste materials, led by Dinoj Mahendranathan
a demonstration of products made from palmyra palm, and the craft behind them

Three professors, from environmental science, drama and theatre, sat on a panel about the cultural climate of the Eastern Province. The media unit screened its documentary on the opening day. The artist Poornima Jayasinghe and the architect Anurangi Mendis led a second workshop, on taking creative work to a wider audience.

Day one alone drew more than 150 participants across six sessions.

Images

The Routes We Take, Batticaloa.

The Routes We Take, Batticaloa.

The Routes We Take, Batticaloa.

The Routes We Take, Batticaloa.

The Routes We Take, Batticaloa.

The Routes We Take, Batticaloa.