ReeFab Atlas

A field exploration towards ecological transition

Dec 5, 2025

In an age of accelerating climate disruption, localised innovation is more essential than ever. The ReeFab Atlas is a testament to this belief, a narrative born from real-life observations and collective questioning. It captures a growing movement rooted in learning, making, and sharing, where FabLabs, makerspaces, and community-led design initiatives act as catalysts for ecological transition.

What is the Atlas?

The Atlas is not a typical research paper, but rather a live collection of stories, insights, and reflections from practitioners working across Europe with whom partners for Reefab have come to meet since the start of the project. Created collaboratively within the ReeFab project, a European initiative involving four diverse organizations (see our previous blogpost), the Atlas brings together the experiences of makers, educators, and innovators operating at the intersection of material experimentation, community engagement, and sustainable design.

Compiled from 15 site visits and dozens of interviews across Italy, France, Spain, and Luxembourg, the Atlas captures photo reports, structured conversations, and thematic reflections, to paint a picture of the current landscape: one marked by experimentation, challenges, and impactful local solutions.

Why was this created?

The Atlas was developed as a foundation for the ReeFab project, with a clear ambition: to amplify the voices of those making the ecological transition tangible on the ground.

The essence of the Atlas is to:

Uncover field-based learnings about circular innovation, youth engagement, and sustainable practices.
Highlight challenges and gaps faced by FabLabs and similar spaces.
Inspire action among practitioners and organizations committed to ecological and social transformation.
Support young adults, particularly those facing difficulties, in discovering meaningful, climate-aware pathways toward employment, training, and personal growth.
In line with the “Share” value of the ReeFab methodology, the Atlas becomes both a record of lessons learned and a tool for sparking new ideas and collaborations.

Who is it for?

The Atlas speaks to a range of readers and changemakers:

For the ReeFab project team, it serves as a synthesis of the work done so far and a strategic reference for what comes next.
For FabLabs and makerspaces, it provides inspiration and practical guidance for weaving ecological thinking into everyday practices.
For youth organizations and educators, it offers stories and entry points to design new pathways for young people navigating the world of work in a climate-changed era.
And for young adults, especially those furthest from opportunity, it opens a door — showing how creativity, community, and sustainability can lead to new roles, new futures, and new ways of living with the planet.

Looking ahead

The Atlas lays the groundwork for a deeper, more embedded role of FabLabs in local ecosystems – from transforming waste into resources, to building more circular economies, to designing futures that work for people and the planet.

As we move into the next phases of the ReeFab project, this Atlas stands as an invitation, a tool. As well as a call to action.

Dive into the Atlas and share your thoughts, questions and ideas!