Repair Cafe

@CEP

Repair Cafes are public events where people can repair objects together. Visitors bring their broken items from home to repair with the help of volunteers with skills in all kinds of fields. At a Repair Café there are tools and materials to repair various items, such as clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances and toys. This not only helps prevent waste, but also creates a sense of community among the participants. Furthermore, Repair Cafés provide a collaborative learning opportunity for everyone! There are over 2,500 Repair Cafés worldwide, organized by various types of local organizations, often run by volunteers.

CĂ³mo pueden participar los jĂ³venes

  1. Organizing a Repair Café by getting in touch with local institutions that organize Repair Cafés, or starting one themselves in their neighborhood. (There is a manual available on how to organize a Repair Café in Portuguese and maybe in other languages as well)
  2. Joining a Repair Cafe as a participant or a volunteer in different areas

Habilidades y competencias

By joining a Repair Café, young people can develop several competences:

 

Hard Skills

  • repairing electronics and electrical equipment
  • sewing (mending clothes)
  • carpentry (fixing furniture)
  • fixing bicycles
  • using tools

 

Repairing objects can be complicated and may require technical training and specialised courses, but sometimes just experimenting and practice can already make things work. There are various sources available online that provide repair tips and tricks, such as iFixit.

 

Soft skills

  • organizational skills (in a volunteer setting)
  • problem solving
  • teamwork
  • intergenerational relations
  • communication