Building bridges between Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro: Creative Industry, Innovation, and Soft Power
Fab Lab Barcelona participates in the Rio Soft Power conference in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona are two cities that share far more than beautiful coastlines, inspiring architecture and urbanism, or the experience of hosting the Olympic Games. Both cities are global cultural landmarks, powered by strong creative ecosystems that influence territories well beyond their borders. This is the essence of soft power in the creative sector: the ability of cities to shape international narratives, attract talent, and generate influence through culture, creativity, and innovation, weaving connections across the world while transforming life at the local level.
In late November 2025, Fab Lab Barcelona / IAAC participated in the Rio Soft Power: International Conference on the Creative Industry, organized by FIRJAN (Industry Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro). The collaboration marked an important milestone in the growing collaboration between Fab Lab Barcelona and Brazilian institutions working at the intersection of creativity, technology, industry, and public policy.
Opening Dialogues: Fab Lab Barcelona meets Rio’s maker ecosystem
The first interaction in Rio de Janeiro took place on November 25, with an open session hosted at the Fab Lab Casa Firjan. During the session, Milena Juarez and Jessica Guy introduced the Fab Lab Barcelona approach, its key projects, and its long-term experience in connecting digital fabrication, open innovation, and social transformation.
The gathering created space for meaningful dialogue across the Ibero-American design, maker, and innovation ecosystems, bringing together representatives from Fab Labs and maker spaces linked to FIRJAN, SESI (Social Service of Industry), SENAI (professional training & industry innovation), UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), and also representatives of the Municipal Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation of the City of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the environmental consultancy TREBEA.
This first encounter was an opportunity to exchange knowledge, map shared interests, and explore pathways for future collaboration that strengthen collective capacities to create, experiment, and learn together.
Visiting Rio’s outstanding network of Fab Labs and Innovation Spaces
Over the following days, the Fab Lab Barcelona team visited a remarkable ecosystem of maker spaces, Fab Labs, and innovation hubs across Rio de Janeiro city.
Casa Firjan – Digital Fabrication at the heart of Creative Industry
The first visit was to the three-floor Fab Lab at Casa Firjan, located in the Botafogo neighborhood. The space hosts a wide range of activities, including short-term professional courses in digital fabrication, live online classes, workshops, and open days. The Fab Lab at Casa Firjan creates opportunities for individuals and companies to interact with market specialists, exchange experiences, and build networks with leaders from different sectors, transforming ideas into tangible projects.
PUC-Rio – Design, Digital Fabrication, and Biodesign
The second stop was the Department of Arts & Design at PUC-Rio, where the team visited the digital fabrication facilities supporting undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing education programs in design.
The visit also included the Biodesign Lab, a partnership between PUC-Rio and DASA, advancing research in 3D technologies. Initially focused on fetal medicine, the lab now extends its work to neurology, cardiology, orthopedics, and transplant medicine, showcasing the transformative potential of digital fabrication in healthcare.
Cápsula SENAC – Innovation for the Creative Economy
The third visit took place at Cápsula SENAC, an innovation hub dedicated to commerce, services, tourism, and the creative economy. Located in the heart of downtown Rio de Janeiro, directly in front of the Olympic Cauldron, the building stands as a symbol of the area’s recent urban transformation. Guided by principles of co-creation, collaboration, and experimentation, Cápsula promotes the convergence of technical knowledge, creative practice, and real market needs, reinforcing innovation as a collective and applied process.
Rio Soft Power Conference: Creativity as strategy, policy, and practice
The Rio Soft Power Conference officially began on November 26, bringing together Brazilian speakers and experts from festivals, creative spaces, public policy institutions, representatives of the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, researchers, public managers, and market professionals. Over 12 roundtables and presentations, the program covered topics such as strategic design for business, the challenges and reinvention of the creative industry, Rio de Janeiro’s positioning on the global innovation radar, and the role of data and indicators in shaping public policies for the creative economy. It also featured presentations of initiatives such as Mapa Empreendedor Pequena África, Reviver Centro and Casa Savana, all focused on revitalizing Rio de Janeiro’s historic city center valuing its rich architectural heritage, buildings, and streets through music and the arts. The initiatives are particularly connected to the Pequena África area — a key historical and cultural zone in the city’s Port Region, which was the main point of entry for enslaved Africans in Brazil and later became a center of resistance and Afro-Brazilian culture.
Fab Lab Barcelona on the global stage
On the second day of the conference, Milena Juarez, together with researcher Jessica Guy, presented the work of Fab Lab Barcelona, highlighting its role at the intersection of creativity, technology, and social transformation.
The presentation showcased Fab Lab Barcelona’s integrated approach, connecting the creative industry to open innovation projects and the critical appropriation of technology. It highlighted platforms that engage designers in developing solutions to environmental and social challenges, as well as community-based environmental monitoring initiatives that combine citizen science, digital fabrication, and territorial engagement.
🎥 Watch the full presentation here:
https://casafirjan.com.br/seminarios/design-e-inovacao-aberta-para-fortalecer-ecossistemas-locais
That same day also featured experiences from South Korea, Italy, Medellín, and Québec, emphasizing creativity as a public policy tool and a driver of inclusive urban development.
Contributing to Brazil’s Creative Industry Mapping
On the third day, Fab Lab Barcelona researchers participated in a closed session of the Creative Industry Working Group (WG) led by FIRJAN. This space enabled mutual exchange between international speakers and Brazilian researchers, fostering deeper understanding of local realities while offering comparative international perspectives.
Fab Lab Barcelona contributed observations, critiques, and strategic suggestions to FIRJAN’s Creative Industry Mapping 2025 (available here in English), drawing on its 18 years of experience in European action-research projects. The contribution brought insights from the Spanish and broader European context, reinforcing the value of international dialogue in shaping evidence-based policies.
The Creative Industry Mapping led by FIRJAN is one of the most comprehensive studies of the sector in Brazil, offering a detailed analysis of industry dynamics and serving as a key reference for public policy, research, and business strategies.
Closing the Journey: Innovation and social impact in Rocinha
To conclude the participation in Rio Soft Power Conference, invited national and international speakers, along with members of the internal Working Group, visited the Parque de Inovação Social, Ambiental e Tecnológica (PISTA) in Favela Rocinha.
PISTA is a pioneering initiative developed through a partnership between FAPERJ, the State Secretariats of Science, Technology and Innovation, Environment and Sustainability, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The visit offered a powerful example of how innovation, public policy, and community action can converge to unlock local potential in areas facing serious vulnerabilities, such as the lack of basic infrastructure, inadequate housing, and the exposure to social and environmental issues.
Accompanied by the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia (GENCAT) in Brazil, participants met initiatives and businesses supported by PISTA, highlighting innovation rooted in territory, social inclusion, and environmental responsibility.
🔗 Learn more about PISTA:
https://www.cieds.org.br/noticia/favela-alem-do-estereotipo-primeiro-parque-de-inovacao-social-em-favelas-do-brasil-valoriza-a-potencia-da-rocinha
Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro: Sister cities shaping creative futures
The collaboration between Fab Lab Barcelona, FIRJAN, and Rio’s creative ecosystem reinforces the deep connection between Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro as sister cities. Both cities demonstrate how creativity and collaborative innovation can act as engines for social transformation, economic development, and global dialogue.
As hubs of soft power, Barcelona and Rio continue to inspire each other, showing that the future of the creative industry lies not only in technology or markets, but in shared values, collective intelligence, and the ability to include diverse voices in building a common narrative.
Photo credits by FIRJAN