Design and implementation of a FabLab in a marginalised district in Monterrey, Mexico

This project involves the design and implementation of a FabLab in a marginalised district in Monterrey, Mexico. In particular, this will be achieved through the affordances of STEM education for reducing marginalisation of disadvantaged communities in the Northeast of Mexico. The participants of this workshop will be researchers from the Universities of Bath, Leeds, and The Open University, as well as from Tecnológico de Monterrey, working collaboratively with NGOs in the region.
In North-eastern Mexico, there are major social and economic issues that are related to and underpinned by low engagement with STEM education. Similarly, deprivation is reflected globally noting a global slowdown in fast-growing STEM jobs for diverse ethnicities, disadvantaged people, and other marginalised groups. Expanding engagement and emphasis on STEM will be critical if we are to see improvements in the quality of work for underrepresented groups and communities. Inclusive STEM education has acquired importance in recent decades due to its correlation with national economic growth and human skills development and its relevance to workplaces through the promotion of competencies has been growing. Consequently, the immediate and longer-term benefits of this proposal will be:
- Generate open spaces for educational innovation to improve social conditions in vulnerable communities.
- Transform educational practices in order to create inclusive and fair STEM educational practices in their classrooms.

The design and implementation of a FabLab in a marginalised district in Monterrey, Mexico. In particular, this will be achieved through the affordances of STEM education for reducing marginalisation of disadvantaged communities in the Northeast of Mexico. The participants of this workshop will be researchers from the Universities of Bath, Leeds, and The Open University, as well as from Tecnológico de Monterrey, working collaboratively with NGOs in the region.