strengthening
communities from within
The Underlab Exchange Program is a three-months cycle that engages individuals, professionals and local organizations in co-creating self-sustaining spaces and developing foundational structures aimed at addressing specific community needs.
Through collaborative efforts, participants contribute their skills, resources, and ideas to help achieve specific goals and initiatives of local organizations. In return, organizations provide space, tools and opportunities to help participants develop their projects, cultivate meaningful connections and drive collective progress.
What happens during the cycle?
Initial Visioning
&
Co-Creation
1.Initial Visioning & Co-Creation
The cycle begins with a co-creation session with participants and the host organization. Together, we outline the purpose of the space, define roles and responsibilities and ensure alignment with the organization’s mission and the community needs they intend to address.
Resource & Space
Development
2. Resource and Space Development
During these three months, participants not only assist in the design, development and enhancement of the physical space (or shared infrastructure) but also utilize the same resources and facilities to further their own projects. The collaborative development ensures the space is not just functional, but also inspires innovation and serves the collective growth of everyone involved.
Additionally, if the group identifies any resource gaps—such as a specific item or infrastructure needed for the space or projects — participants can organize activities and events that help raise the funds necessary to acquire those resources. The goal is to co-create solutions and ensure that the process is flexible, resourceful and self-sufficient.
Collaboration
&
Skill Exchange
3. Collaboration & Skill Exchange
The heart of the program is the continued flow of information, resources and skills between the various participants, organizations and the wider community. While the focus is on fulfilling immediate community needs, it also opens up opportunities for networking, collaborative skill development and mutual support to ensure that each individual participant can continue their work while enriching the local culture.
Testing, Showing
& Engaging
With The Community
As the program progresses, the space serves as a platform for testing, showcasing and selling participants work — an opportunity for the broader community to engage with under-the-radar ideas, learn and provide valuable feedback.
Participants showcase not just the physical spaces they’ve created, but the innovations that have stemmed from within their own community context. Workshops, exhibitions or public experiments create dialogue between the participants and the wider community, helping unveil previously unseen local projects.
4. Testing, Showing & Engaging with the Community
Final Celebration
&
Impact Reflection
5. Final Celebration & Impact Reflection
At the conclusion of the cycle, the program culminates with a celebration that highlights both the tangible and intangible value created throughout the process.
The event acts as a touchstone for reflecting on what has been achieved within the community: sharing stories, evaluating growth, uncovering new paths for future collaboration and visualizing the transformation of the space into a lasting resource.
Continuity
6. Continuity
After the cycle, both the hosting organization and participants maintain access to valuable frameworks, tools and networks that will help sustain momentum.
Participants leave behind a legacy of collaborative infrastructure and deepened community ties, with opportunities to continue developing future projects within a shared, collaborative ecosystem.
Is this
You ?
Artists, creatives, social entrepeneurs, researchers, activists or community organizers who seek to develop their projects, activate ideas already present within their community and who believe in building sustainable solutions from within.
Local organizations, NGOs, grassroot initiatives or collaborative spaces that are focused on solving local needs and strengthening communities by supporting self-sustaining infrastructure.
If you have skills in art, design, construction, resource management, event planning or community development and you believe in harnessing local potential, join the program and help build sustainable structures from the inside out.
Next Cycle
Next Cycle
For Organizations:
For Participants:
Next dates to be released.