About Us
Create Innovation is a Community-Led Development (CLD) initiative dedicated to expanding access to science, technology, and hands-on learning. We work at the intersection of STEM education, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), citizen science, environmental technologies, and maker movement advocacy to help people apply digital skills to real-world challenges.
Our focus is on learning by doing. Our workshops aim to build personal resilience through iterative design processes, and to foster collaboration through “Do-It-Together” and “just-in-time” learning. We encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and responsible use of technology. In recent years, our work has increasingly shifted toward the design and field testing of environmental technologies, and low-cost tools for citizen science.
Our Origins
Create Innovation began in 2015 as a small, parent-led initiative in Auckland, New Zealand. What started as informal coding, digital design, and 3D printing sessions for a small group of students quickly grew into a structured program responding to a gap in hands-on digital learning within the New Zealand Curriculum: Digital Technologies would later be implemented in the revised 2017 NZ Curriculum.
By 2016, weekly workshops were underway with support from Auckland Council and the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Auckland Council provided community space and mentorship, while AUT contributed undergraduate and postgraduate students from its Bachelor of Creative Technologies program. The workshops operated under the banner AKL Mini-Makers, fostering an inclusive and creative environment for young people to explore emerging technologies, that are recognised by industry.
Impact and Recognition
Between February 2016 and October 2019, AKL Mini-Makers workshops ran weekly and supported students in developing original projects across science, engineering, and digital fabrication. Several students received commendations, and top prizes, at regional and national events – the Auckland NIWA Science & Technology Fair and ASB Brightsparks competition. Workshop activity was paused during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
NZ’s national technology competition, Brightsparks, ceased due to Covid-19. The Auckland NIWA Science & Technology Fair, however, continued as it had done for 50 years, supported by staunch teachers and mentors. During the Covid lockdowns, one student continued her research and development, testing freshwater quality within the Auckland Region, and received a Platinum Award (top prize).
Post-covid, the student became immersed in the VEX Robotics programme for three years, privately funding her all-girls VEX robotics team. They succeeded in winning top awards each year, were the top all-girls NZ VEX team, and in their last year qualified to represent New Zealand at the VEX Worlds in Dallas, USA.
In parallel with supporting VEX robotics, Create Innovation continues to test and develop environmental technologies for water testing, machine learning (camera), and building open-source drones for aerial photography.
Our Approach Today:
Create Innovation builds on this foundation with a broader mission. We continue to advocate for:
- Accessible STEM education
- Free and open-source software and hardware
- Citizen science and community data collection
- Environmental monitoring and experimental technologies
- Maker Movement principles as a tool for empowerment and learning
We believe open knowledge, shared tools, and collaborative experimentation are essential for addressing environmental and technological challenges. Create Innovation exists to support communities to participate in that process.
We welcome collaboration, learning, and conversation as we work toward recommencing workshops under the Create Innovation banner.
What we do:
Create Innovation supports community-led learning and experimentation at the intersection of science, technology, and the environment. Our work is grounded in open knowledge, hands-on practice, and collaboration. We focus on practical skills that empower people to understand, build, and improve the systems around them.
We currently work across five interconnected areas:
- STEM Education
- Free & Open-Source Software (FOSS) Education
- Environmental Technologies
- Community-Based Monitoring (CBM), and citizen science
- Maker Movement Advocacy
