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What is syn₂cat?

Founded on February 3, 2009, syn₂cat is a non-profit association with the purpose of creating, exploiting and maintaining a so-called hackerspace.

Definition by Wikipedia:

A hackerspace or hackspace (from Hacker and Space) is a real (as opposed to virtual) place
where people with common interests, usually in science,  technology, digital or electronic art
can meet, socialise and collaborate. Typical activities in hackspaces include
o learning and sharing knowledge
o presentations and lectures
o social activities including games and parties

syn₂cat, what for?

Spreading knowledge on a wide basis being one of the major goals of syn₂cat, we strongly believe that this can be achieved best by sharing one single infrastructure, where everybody shares not only their know-how but also responsibility over the premises. The hackerspace should function as an open space for sharing opinions, technology, and knowledge. The space should spread enthusiasm, encourage learning and mentoring, and inspire the attending crowd with all sorts of new ideas.

Additional information on the motivation behind syn₂cat can be found in our Info-Folder.

This is our leisure

Whereas most kids and teenagers have had their soccer-practice, chess-club or dancing-school, some were not that fortunate: Geeks, Nerds or whatever you may want to call people with an obsession in technology have been excluded from most social institutions, simply because there was no appropriate organisation. This is going to change with syn₂cat. We're aiming at getting people out of their rooms and cellars, into the hackerspace to join their peers and socialise.

Although we do play games occasionally to relax, this is not the goal of a hackerspace. Coding, soldering and discussing technology are our pastimes. This is exhilarating, fascinating and fun to us. Seriously ;)

What does a hackerspace contain?

• Fast internet access.
• Library with programming / science / leisure books & tens of magazine subscriptions - knowledge is power
• Electronics laboratory which can be booked if all of it is required for a bigger project / workshop.
• Plenty of chairs and desks for computers and laptops - Members are encouraged to do their reading and coding in the hackerspace so that inspiration can be shared freely.
• A lounge with consoles, a TV, a projector and screen and a number of Sofas - relaxation is part of the creative process.
• Kitchen facilities.
• Bathroom facilities, possibly a shower.
• Storage space for hardware which is not used often.

Where is syn₂cat heading? Goals and outlook

As mentioned above, syn₂cat follows the same goals as cited in the hackerspace definition. As such, our non-for-profit association (lux : ASBL), seeks synergies and collaborations with clubs and associations, sharing the same interests as syn₂cat. Furthermore, we have the profound belief that sharing knowledge, resources and localities gives way to productive and interesting collaborations.

As such, syn₂cat wants to share its space with people interested in technologies, electronics, arts, and any other kind of engineering field out there.

Art + Technology + Community + Diversity = Innovation

We are promoting new and experimental collaborations between previously unrelated ideas, methods and technologies, mashing architects with electronics engineers or coders with designers. The fusion of several disciplines is what makes a hackerspace interesting for everyone involved. The crossover of technology and art is an inspiring and rewarding task that leads to innovative ontologies and opens up captivating possibilities.

Chill & Cook -- Bits & Bytes

But behold! syn₂cat isn't only about microcontrollers, soldering irons or computer workstations. In order to give people the opportunity to get to know each other and their ideas and projects, syn₂cat is also very much about having fun and being comfortable. We don't want people to hide behind their notebooks, soldering irons or artistic tools. We aim at building and maintaining a nurturing social environment that brings together people from various backgrounds, spanning age, gender or ethnicity. We want everyone to get together over a drink and some collectively prepared food, chatting, socializing, building trust and creating a group of people that can actively shape a part of society.

In order to build a thriving community in and around the hackerspace, we will actively engage in organizing alternate, less-technological activities, such as cooking and eating together, field-trips to various institutions and conventions, etc...

U23 - Guiding youth, imparting knowledge

Educating young people and helping them discover modern technology from another point of view is also one of the goals of syn₂cat. Considering the basic idea of a hackerspace, syn₂cat furthermore believes that young people can be taught to see fields of modern creativity from another perspective. In fact, our ASBL tries to interest young people (starting from 14 years on) to a wide area of modern appliances (like technology, electronics, arts, etc) and share their members' expertise and know-how in order to awake a new passion in the youngsters.

We consider ourselves responsible for teaching children and teenagers that there's more to computers and electronics than just games, instant messaging and facebook. Helping them discover their power over the machinery and their own creativity, they will see the endless possibilities that contemporary technology and media hold.

syn₂cat will offer regular workshops and cooperate with other institutions in order to create exceptional experiences for children and teenagers.

Some examples are

• JugendSummer2009
• Arduino soldering and programming workshop
• CDays 2009 (Lycée technique Ettelbruck)

Fostering an Open and Participatory Culture

Adhering to the founding principles of the internet and guided by the flow of increasingly converging media, we believe in an open and participatory culture that shares resources, knowledge, power and of course responsibilities. Openness extends to topics such as OpenSource, OpenAccess or OpenSpace.

Furthermore, syn₂cat is by all means a community project. In other words, the hackerspace is operated by the sum of its members, everyone is encouraged to participate in building, extending and maintaining the syn₂cat community and its infrastructure. There is no hierarchy in syn₂cat, instead, we hold on to and promote adhocracy. As our sister-project Noisebridge excellently puts it:

Leadership is taken by individual members for specific projects.  We call this "sudo leadership"
after the *nix command sudo which allows a regular user to do one root-level, or superuser, task.
In other words, if you want Noisebridge to do something, start doing it.

syn₂cat Usage Schedule (Example!)

Schedule

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
08:00 - 09:00
09:00 - 10:00
10:00 - 11:00
11:00 - 12:00
12:00 - 13:00						U23
13:00 - 14:00
14:00 - 15:00		OpenTuesday					Arduino workshop
15:00 - 16:00
16:00 - 17:00
17:00 - 18:00
18:00 - 19:00						Social Cooking & Chill-out (Bits & Bytes)
19:00 - 20:00			PHP Class		LiLux
20:00 - 21:00	C3L			syn2cat office meeting			G.R.L. Meeting
21:00 - 22:00
22:00 - 23:00
23:00 - 00:00