About

Schedule, lecture notes and videos

Learn how to make (almost) anything - in twenty weeks!

That is at the core of Fab Academy, the yearly worldwide education trajectory for curious makers. Since the start of Fab Academy in 2008, Waag has been one of its nodes, which means our Fab Lab is one of the now tens of places throughout the world that host Fab Academy.

Waag Futurelab

Waag was founded in 1994 by Marleen Stikker and Caroline Nevejan. Its precedent was ‘De Digitale Stad’ (the digital city), which was the first public access portal to the internet and a social media platform before the idea even existed. Stikker stood at the forefront of the digital public domain. In her book ‘Het internet is stuk (maar we kunnen het repareren)’ (The internet is broken, but we can fix it), she describes the evolution of the internet since the Digital City.

Known as the ‘Society for Old and New Media’ in its early years, Waag has since evolved into a Future Lab for technology and society. The organisation’s development and evolution has occurred gradually through many projects at the intersection of technology, art and science.

‘Technology is not neutral.’

Technology is not neutral. Waag reinforces critical reflection on technology, develops technological and social design skills, and encourages social innovation.

Waag works in a trans-disciplinary team of designers, artists and scientists, utilising public research methods in the realms of technology and society. This is how Waag enables as many people as possible to design an open, fair and inclusive future.

Mission

Waag Futurelab contributes to the research, design and development of a sustainable, just society

  • By collectively researching emerging technology, and questioning underlying cultural assumptions;
  • By experimenting with and designing alternatives on the basis of public values;
  • By developing an open, fair and inclusive future together with civil society.