On 25 February 2026, participants from across Southeast Styria gathered in Bad Radkersburg for the first Mitmachräume Vision Workshop, co-organised by DorfUni Bad Radkersburg and FarmLab.

The workshop marked the launch of the project “Südoststeirische Mitmachräume zum Lernen, Tun und Teilen”, developed within the framework of the funding measure 77-03 Rural Innovation Systems (Ländliche Innovationspartnerschaft) under the European Innovation Partnership.

The event brought together representatives from education, civil society, municipalities, culture and business, as well as young people and regional innovators, to explore how open learning and working spaces could be developed across the region.

The morning programme featured practical examples from Austria and Europe, including makerspaces and rural workshop initiatives.

Martin Gutmann presented FarmLab in Kapfenstein as a local example of a rural creative living lab combining digital fabrication, traditional crafts and agriculture. The presentation highlighted how access to tools, knowledge and shared spaces can expand opportunities in rural areas.

In the afternoon, participants worked in thematic groups addressing:

• regional needs

• organisational structures

• thematic scope and activities

• target groups

The results were presented and discussed in a final round table, outlining first directions for collaboration and next steps.

The workshop confirmed a strong regional interest in developing distributed Mitmachräume — not as a single central institution, but as a set of locally rooted and interconnected places.

A follow-up workshop focused on action planning is scheduled for 15 April 2026.

Press coverage:

• MeinBezirk – Visionsworkshop in Bad Radkersburg
  https://www.meinbezirk.at/suedoststeiermark/c-lokales/visionsworkshop-in-bad-radkersburg_a8292290