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New grant cycle this September!
The time has never been so ripe for teaching about repair and for integrating the mindset, technologies, thinking skills, systems understandings, and value of repair
into core K - 12 subject areas.
We believe repair is a gateway for learning far more than how to solder and sew. While we celebrate students’ learning technical skills, our objective is more fundamental.
Here’s where we are:
The Earth is burning.
Repair directly reduces carbon release.
The World is reeling.
Repair empowers people.
The ecological, social and spiritual devastations of our era’s dominant extractive - hyper-consuming mindset are painfully obvious. Repairing our stuff keeps it in service longer, reducing our carbon footprint. Support for repair is surging around the world - Repair Cafés and other community repair events are wildly popular and Right to Repair policies are being embraced with overwhelming majorities in state after state, country after country.
The power of repair is something we can ALL deploy, and that's why we’re excited to announce:
On September 1st The Culture of Repair Project will
open the Fall 2023 grants cycle for proposals
to develop programs and materials for teaching
about repair in K - 12 educational settings.
The grants program provides resources to K-12 educators and advocates who are teaching the undergirding of a culture of repair.
Standard grant amounts range from $1000 to $5000. Exceptional projects will be considered for up to $10,000. Total funding for the Fall 2023 grant cycle is expected to be $30,000. The final total amount granted will be determined by the applications received — the proposals’ requests, their number, and their quality.
Applications will be accepted in September; notifications are planned for mid-November with funding released in January.
Important note: To be eligible for funding, grantees must be registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3), or be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3). Alas.
The Culture of Repair Project collects and aggregates links to educational resources from around the world. Materials range from fully-developed programs, such as the three highlighted below, to resources designed to support teaching about repair, such as tool kits, lesson plans, videos, maps, schematics, etc.
“Make It Work!”
The "Make it Work" education packs center repair in teaching about sustainability. The impact of the choices students make in their lives is highlighted throughout discussions about consumption, the circular economy, sustainable development, and the role of repair in caring for resources.
Published in Belgium by Djapo in collaboration with Sharepair, the two education packs offer learning outcomes, materials required, planning support, lesson plans, and activity pages, as well as background didactic materials. Designed for 10-12 year-olds, and 14-18 year-olds.
"Cultivating a Repair Mindset"
Grounded in research and iterative classroom testing, Agency by Design Oakland and Maker Ed created the “Cultivating a Repair Mindset Toolkit” in Oakland, California, USA. The Toolkit includes teaching strategies, tactics, and classroom materials, and a pedagogical framework for bringing repair into the classroom.
"Fixing Things for the Future"
The Rudolf Steiner School in Munich, Germany published "Fixing Things for the Future" based on their student-run repair shop for 5th-11th graders. Centered on repairing objects, the program not only teaches diagnostic and hands-on skills, but also incorporates many aspects of repair relevant to students’ development as healthy and responsible citizens of the world.
Soon to be published in Spanish!
While you’re on the website, check out other resources.
And please send us suggestions for additions.
Practical and Technical Resources
We look forward to hearing about exciting repair programs, materials, and plans.
For the Future!
Vita