Makerspace is based on residency and makers volunteers from the very beginning

Since August 2016, a group of young individuals are running this extraordinary makerspace for refugees and locals in the north of Greece. In a context in which sustainable responses are rare, the project provides platforms for education, empowerment and encounter.

The makers residents have access to 8 well equipped working areas, among them a wood workshop, a metal workshop, a sewing atelier and a Media Lab with access to advanced technology such as 3D printer and laser cutter.

Being a maker wipes off the stigma of being passive or helpless and offers caring individuals, brilliant minds and hard working hands new opportunities.The approach of creating solutions instead of waiting for solutions has an incomparable impact on people’s current living situation, on their motivation to continue or use their education and on their confidence to build an independent life within the European societies.

It works.

Applications are open all year round!
We are always looking for experts to strengthen our team and supervise the different working areas. Are you interested in joining us? Please read through the introduction guide.

Subsequently, send us an email on recruiting@soupandsocks.eu including the following information:

• Your skills
• The working area you would like to work in
• Your past experience
• The time period you would like to join (beware, the minimum stay is three weeks)
• Your motivation

Our story or what are Soup and Socks e.V. and how Habibi.Works started

Soup and Socks e.V. is a non-profit German organisation founded in 2015 by a group of young adults who wanted to get active and set signs of solidarity with people who fled their countries. This led to our current project: the intercultural makerspace Habibi.Works.

Today, Habibi.Works is a makerspace located close to a refugee camp in Ioannina, Greece. The ten different working areas (community kitchen, carpentry, metal workshop, sewing atelier, creative atelier, media lab, bike repair station, library, community garden and gym) are platforms for empowerment, education and social encounters. People from the nearby refugee camps and Greek local are getting together with international experts to share experience, gain new skills and create solutions. See more about us.

What we believe in

People are the experts of their lives. We don’t see people who fled their countries as helpless victims, but as talented and experienced men, women and children who can be an enrichment for our societies – if we provide the structures that allow them to integrate. This is what Habibi.Works aims to do on a small scale.

What we do

Habibi.Works is a makerspace, a space of open workshops. For refugees and locals living in the region of Ioannina, our community kitchen, the wood workshop, the metal workshop, the sewing atelier, the creative atelier, the media lab/FabLab and other working areas are platforms for education, empowerment and encounters within a context, in which many other doors remain closed for people.

Besides the practical support in Greece, it is our goal to raise international awareness for the talents of people and for the challenges they are facing.

How we do it

We support people to create solutions themselves. We listen to their ideas instead of telling them what to do. We encourage them to share their skills and teach; we empower them instead of carrying out something for them. We live the values we would like to see in our societies: respect, solidarity, equity. In our decision making, we try to be as transparent as possible. Open and honest communication is key.

To better prepare your residency, take a look on

Workshops already existing in Habibi.Works

• Kitchen
• Metal
• Sewing
• Creative
• Media lab
• Community library

Take a look on projects already done in Habibi.Works

• Home.Work
• Habibi.Dome
• Women’s sport

…and get an inspiration!