Integrating Maker Skills in Innovation Ecosystems
From Classroom to Workshop: Maker Safari Salzkammergut
One-day field trip connecting students with handcraft businesses through experiential learning.
Overview
What has been done
A one-day Maker Safari brought together students and teachers from the University of Art and Design Linz (Fashion Design, Fashion & Technology, Teacher Training in Craft) with regional handcraft businesses in the Salzkammergut. Participants travelled by bus to visit production sites including a silk screen printing workshop, a traditional shoe manufacture, wool and felt producers, and the Handwerkshaus Salzkammergut. At each stop, hosts shared insights into their materials, production processes and business realities – in open, informal conversation rather than formal presentations. The format deliberately avoided fixed outcomes, focusing instead on observation, dialogue and relationship building. Soft skills such as communication and active listening were at the heart of it all.
Why was it needed locally
Although the region has strong craft traditions and active R&D actors, meaningful exchange between these worlds rarely happens – partly due to high entry barriers in formal collaboration formats. There is a lack of low-threshold spaces where university students and regional makers can meet as equals, learn from each other and explore cooperation potentials without pressure or predefined results.
Target Groups: How were they activated and their benefits
University / college – University of Art and Design Linz – Fashion Design, Fashion & Technology, Teacher Training in Craft
Activation: The University of Art and Design Linz was approached directly through existing partnerships with Creative Region. Relevant study programmes were identified and faculty coordinated participant recruitment.
-
Direct outreach to faculty and study programme coordinators
-
Integration into existing university partnership structures
Benefit: Students and teachers gained direct access to real production environments and handcraft expertise rarely encountered in academic settings. The experience broadened their understanding of materials, processes and the economic realities of creative craftsmanship.
-
Direct insight into regional production processes and craft knowledge
-
Expanded professional network beyond the university context
-
Practical experience of soft skills in a real-world setting
– Regional handcraft businesses in the Salzkammergut – textile, shoe manufacture, wool & felt, cultural heritage
Activation: Handcraft businesses were identified through existing regional networks and approached personally by the Creative Region team. Trust-building prior to the event was essential – hosts were invited as equal partners, not as case studies.
-
Personal outreach via existing regional networks
-
Trust-building conversations prior to the event
-
Framing hosts as partners and experts, not as subjects
Benefit: Participating businesses gained visibility and new connections to the university and creative community. The format offered a low-pressure opportunity to explore potential collaborations and to reflect on their own work from an outside perspective.
-
New contacts with university students, researchers and designers
-
Increased visibility within the regional creative ecosystem
-
Space for reflection and informal exchange on cooperation potentials
Resources Required
Staff
Facilitators with experience in creative industries, regional networking and moderation of open-ended encounter formats
Space
Mobile format – bus transport + 6 handcraft production sites in the Salzkammergut region
Equipment
Bus/transport, documentation materials, catering
Budget
Small: below 2,000 €
Budget below 2,000 € covering transport and catering. Staff costs covered internally by Creative Region Linz & Upper Austria. Co-funded by the Interreg Central Europe Program
Methods & Steps
Core Mechanism
Formats applied
Field trip / study tour:
Participants travelled together by bus to six handcraft production sites in the Salzkammergut region. Each stop offered guided insights into real working environments – materials, tools, processes and business realities – followed by open, informal conversation. The shared journey and varied stops created a natural flow of exchange and reflection throughout the day.
Methods used: Open site dialogue: At each production site, hosts shared insights into their work in an unscripted, conversational format – no slides, no stage. Participants were encouraged to observe, ask questions and engage directly with makers in their own environment.Reflective travel: The bus journey between stops served as informal reflection time – participants exchanged impressions, made connections and deepened conversations started on-site.
Steps taken
Step 1: Preparation & Planning
~1.5 days
- Host identification: Identifying suitable handcraft businesses and initiating contact
- Trust-building: Personal conversations with hosts to align expectations
- Route curation: Designing a balanced and varied programme of stops
- Participant coordination: Aligning with university faculty and managing registrations
On-site Delivery
~8 hours (full day)
- Joint bus trip: Shared travel connecting all participants between stops
- Site visits: Guided insights into production processes at each location
- Open dialogue: Informal conversation with hosts on materials, skills and business realities
- Networking: Spontaneous exchange between participants and hosts throughout the day
Follow-up & Documentation
~0.5 days
- Feedback collection: Gathering qualitative impressions from participants
- Documentation: Photos, notes and reporting for communication and replication
- Follow-up contacts: Initiating further connections between participants and hosts
Results
Measurable and Direct Outcomes
The local action brought about the following concrete results:
- Improved transversal skills: Participants developed key soft skills – including active listening, curiosity and cross-sector communication – not through instruction, but through direct encounter. The experiential format made these skills tangible and immediately applicable.
- Stakeholder awareness / network extensions: Six regional handcraft businesses gained visibility within the university and creative community. Students and teachers expanded their professional networks beyond academic settings, establishing first personal connections with regional makers.
- New / enhanced cooperation: While no formal agreements were signed, several participants initiated follow-up contacts after the event. The format created a foundation of mutual trust and understanding as a starting point for future collaboration.
Indirect Impacts
The Maker Safari showed that place-based encounter formats can bridge gaps that formal collaboration structures often fail to reach. Treating handcraft businesses as equal partners shifted how both sides perceive each other. The pilot strengthened Creative Region's role as a regional connector and fed into the x-Inno Radar's evidence base on soft skill development.
Local Outlook / Follow-up
- Repetition as regular format: Creative Region plans to re-offer the Maker Safari annually, with varying thematic focuses and locations across Upper Austria.
- Follow-up with interested participants: Participants and hosts who expressed mutual interest will be supported in follow-up exchanges – potentially leading into collaborative projects or residencies.
- Integration into university curricula: Discussions with the University of Art and Design Linz are ongoing about embedding the format as a recurring excursion within relevant study programmes.
- Best practice reference for soft skill strategy: Creative Region foresees positioning the Maker Safari as a reference format in regional discussions around soft skill development and place-based innovation.
Evaluation
Satisfaction - Overview
Overall participant satisfaction was high. Both university participants and handcraft hosts appreciated the open, non-transactional character of the format – the absence of pressure to produce results was consistently highlighted as a strength. The shared bus journey and informal rhythm of the day created a relaxed atmosphere that enabled genuine exchange. Participants expressed a strong interest in repeating or expanding the format.
Satisfaction - Details
- Learning happened in between: The most cited learning moments occurred during informal conversations, on the bus, and while observing hosts at work, not at formal presentation points. Participants described this as qualitatively different from classroom learning.
- Hosts valued being seen as experts: Handcraft businesses felt respected as knowledge holders rather than case studies. Several expressed surprise at the genuine curiosity of the students.
- Strong desire for repetition: Multiple participants asked whether the format would be repeated. Interest was expressed in longer or more thematically focused follow-up formats.
Transfer Hints
- Invest in trust before the event: Personal outreach and pre-event conversations with hosts are essential. Businesses need to feel invited as partners and experts – not as showpieces for an academic audience.
- Use travel time as programme: The shared bus journey was one of the most valuable elements. It created a natural rhythm of exchange and reflection between stops – don't replace it with separate transport.
- Keep it open and non-result-oriented: Resist the urge to build in structured outputs or networking exercises. The format works precisely because it creates space without pressure. Encounter first, collaboration later.
- Mix your participant groups deliberately: The combination of students, teachers and makers from different fields created productive friction. Curate the mix, diverse backgrounds lead to richer conversations.
- Thematic focus: The Salzkammergut edition centred on textile and craft. Other regions can easily adapt the thematic lens like food production, digital fabrication or material innovation work equally well.
- Format length: A full day worked well here, but a half-day sprint or a multi-day format with overnight stay are both viable. Adjust to your participants' availability and energy.
- Host types: Handcraft businesses were the hosts in this case, but makerspaces, R&D labs or social enterprises can play the same role, as long as they have a real production environment to share.
- Too many stops: Six locations was already at the upper limit. More stops reduce depth and create fatigue. Fewer, longer visits allow for more genuine exchange.
- Forcing outputs: Asking participants to produce a result, pitch or cooperation agreement at the end undermines the format's logic. Early-stage relationship building needs room to breathe.
- Frontal presentation formats: If hosts prepare slide decks or formal pitches, the safari feeling is lost. Encourage them to simply show their space and talk about their work as they normally would.
Participant Testimonials & Impressions
Impressions
Replicate This Application?
Access the complete implementation guide and connect with the team
Contact: Wolfgang Gumpelmaier-Mach
Email: wolfgang@creativeregion.org
Need more information?
Project manager:
Franziska Görmar
IfL - Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany
Email
This project is supported by the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme with co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund.
Find more information about the x-Inno Radar project on the Interreg CE projectwebsite.
x-Inno Radar is a project of: 
Creative Region Linz & Upper Austria Gmbh, 
The Regional Chamber of Commerce of the Karlovy Vary Region, 
Padova Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture, 
Creative Industry Košice, n. o., 
BSC, Business support centre, ltd., Kranj, 
Regional Development Agency in Bielsko-Biała, 
Stebo Competence Centre Community Developmentm, 
Association of Cultural and Creative Industries Chemnitz and Region (Creative Chemnitz), Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography – Germany, Otelo Cooperative