Local Making

Local Making is a neighbourhood-scaled initiative fostering creative and resourceful zero-waste living and making, based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). They foster communities of makers who see potential in discarded materials. Through practices or creative reuse, repair and upcycling, they redesign and repurpose waste and discarded technologies into tools for resilient, convivial, low-energy and local ways of living.

Their activities include artist and designer residencies, hands-on workshops, hackathons, design competitions, exhibitions, and an online platform sharing case studies and guides. Local Making uses creativity to engage with materials, people, and places, making these systems visible, tangible, and discussable. Textile and e-waste are focus areas in the broader aim to reuse excess waste meant for landfills. Local Making also offers creative fellowships for artists working with waste materials, inviting makers to undertake micro-residencies.