Speakers
Alain Deneault
Alain Deneault is a Québec philosopher and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Paris-VIII. He was program director at the Collège international de philosophie in Paris from 2016 to 2022. He teaches at the Shippagan campus of the Université de Moncton on the Acadian Peninsula.
He is the author of critical essays, including on Canadian mining policies, tax havens, multinational corporations, ideology and the concept of economics.
His most recent essay, Mœurs. De la gauche cannibale à la droite vandale is part of the collection Lettres libres from Lux Éditeur.
Learn more about him https://alaindeneault.net/
Béatrice Alain
Béatrice Alain, directora ejecutiva del Chantier de l’économie sociale
Béatrice Alain es directora ejecutiva del Chantier de l’économie sociale, una organización cuya misión es concertar a actores y socios de la economía social para promover y desarrollar el emprendimiento colectivo en Québec.
Con formación en economía y ciencias políticas, Béatrice está particularmente interesada en la implementación de estrategias diversificadas para facilitar la acción colectiva con el fin de fortalecer el desarrollo de la economía social. Ocupó varios cargos en organizaciones nacionales e internacionales desde 2001 hasta 2010. Integrante del equipo permanente de Chantier desde 2010, asume la dirección general de la organización en 2018. Como responsable entre otros de asuntos internacionales y de las relaciones con actores regionales en Quebec, ha contribuido a lo largo de los años a posicionar el Chantier como un punto de convergencia de la economía social. Entre otro, formó parte de la organización del Foro Internacional de Economía Social y Solidaria (2011) y dirigió el Foro Global de Economía Social –GSEF2016, coorganizado con la Ciudad de Montréal. Además de sus funciones en el Chantier, Béatrice es copresidenta de TIESS, una organización de enlace y transferencia de innovación en la economía social, presidenta de la Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale, un fondo de capital paciente destinado a empresas colectivas, miembro del Consejo de innovación en Québec y participa en varias redes internacionales de intercambio y promoción de la economía social y solidaria.
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Béatrice Alain is executive director of the Chantier de l’économie sociale, an organization whose mission is to bring together actors and partners in the social economy to promote and develop collective entrepreneurship in Québec.
With a background in economics and political science, Béatrice is particularly interested in the implementation of diversified strategies to facilitate collective action in order to strengthen the development of the social economy. She held various positions in national and international organizations from 2001 to 2010. A member of Chantier’s permanent team since 2010, she assumes the general management of the organization in 2018. As responsible among others for international affairs and relations with regional actors in Québec, he has contributed over the years to position the Chantier as a point of convergence of the social economy. Among others, he was part of the organization of the International Forum on Social and Solidarity Economy (2011) and led the Global Social Economy Forum -GSEF2016, co-organized with the City of Montréal. In addition to her duties at the Chantier, Béatrice is co-president of TIESS, a liaison and innovation transfer organization in the social economy, president of the Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale, a patient capital fund for collective enterprises, member of the Conseil de l’innovation in Québec and participates in several international networks for the exchange and promotion of the social and solidarity economy.
Aristarco Cortés
Aristarco Cortés, Subdirector Comercial y de Proyectos, Instituto de Diseño e Innovación Tecnológica (IDIT), Fab City Puebla, México
Es ingeniero mecánico electricista con estudios de administración. Tiene experiencia laboral de más de 30 años en industria, gobierno y universidades. Es emprendedor, egresado del Fab Academy y fanático de construir cosas. Fue director del Instituto de Diseño e Innovación Tecnológica IDIT, casa del Fab Lab Puebla, el espacio maker más grande del mundo. Actualmente es responsable de impulsar proyectos externos y emprendimiento en el Instituto.
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Aristarco is an electrical mechanical engineer with MBA studies. He has over 30 years working experience in different sectors such as industry, government and universities. He is an entrepreneur, in love with fabrication processes, Fab Academy graduate and hard-core Maker. After being director of the biggest makerspace in the world, the Innovation, Design and Technology Institute, IDIT, at the Jesuit Iberoamericana University of Puebla, Mexico, today he develops entrepreneurial tech, social and innovation projects at IDIT.
Sara Horowitz
Sara Horowitz, Director of the Mutualist Society
Sara Horowitz is the founder of the Freelancers Union and the Freelancers Insurance Company, and currently head of the Mutualist Society. Formerly chair of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Horowitz is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and has been featured on NPR and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic, among other publications. A lifelong mutualist, she lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter.
Dave Anctil
David Anctil, PhD, Professor at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, affiliated researcher at the Observatoire international sur les impacts sociétaux de l’intelligence artificielle et du numérique (OBVIA), Université Laval
Dave Anctil holds a PhD in political philosophy, and teaches philosophy and artificial intelligence (AI) at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal. His areas of expertise are ethics, politics, social robotics and the cognitive sciences of AI.
He is an affiliated researcher at the Observatoire sur les impacts sociétaux de l’intelligence artificielle et du numérique OBVIA, Université Laval, Québec. He works on the democratisation of AI and robotics, and the integration of these fields into the human sciences.
With Simon Dubé, he has developed a research program in technosexuality and erobotics, the study of intimate relations between humans and digital technologies.
Raquel Peñalosa
Landscape Architect, President IFLA AMERICAS 2014-2018
A practicing Landscape Architect for more than 30 years, Raquel Peñalosa works at the encounter of Landscape Architecture, Urban Participatory Design, Active Citizenship and Social Innovation. She is currently, practicing participatory design and integrating collaborative processes to bring into the design conversation the active citizenship practice for more thriving and human oriented cities. As part of her engagement in the community, she was FLA AMERICAS President from 2014 to 2018, moving forward The Landscape Charter of the Americas. She is presently the President of Communautique, an Open Innovation Organization, who is leading the coming of the FABCITY Summit and the FAB16 in 2021 to Montréal.
Geoffroi Garon-Épaule
ICT and Research Pedagogical Advisor at Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne
ICT and Research Pedagogical Advisor at Montréal’s Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne since 2019, Geoffroi Garon-Épaule has nearly two decades of experience in the digital transformation of organizations as a business analyst, researcher and trainer specializing in educational innovation and technology (EdTech, Fab Lab), open and social innovation (Living Lab, communities of practice) and digital social systems design (Fab City). He is also an entrepreneur and researcher-doctor on the theme of digital badges (Open Badges).
Samantha Slade
Collective entrepreneur, author, feminist – Percolab Coop, Co-promoter Fab City Montréal
Healthy collaboration and equitable togetherness are what drives Samantha. Co-founder of Percolab, an international lab in co-creation, she is active in the social part of the socio-ecological transition. Samantha puts her cultural anthropology background in service of open innovation processes like Imagine our Fab Labs or Fab Labs Nation. She works with organisations and ecosystems to innovate culture and governance, with public, private and community sectors and is convinced that business is a key lever for change (see her TedX: The Future is in Business as Commons>). Author of Going Horizontal: Creating a Non-hierarchical Organization, One Practice at a Time (BK Publishers, 2018), Samantha is active in the participatory leadership movement. Samantha believes that inclusive listening, collaboration and governance is at the heart of responsive and regenerative cities.
Leïla Cantave
Québec Lead Climat Action Network Canada
Leïla Cantave joined CAN-Rac in September 2022. Leïla is a graduate of McGill University, where she studied international development, economics and environmental studies. Her interest in social justice naturally led her to incorporate an intersectional approach into her activism for environmental and climate justice.
Over the past few years, she has focused extensively on the issue of ecological inequality, both nationally and globally. She co-founded the nonprofit organization Black Eco Bloom in 2022 with the goal of promoting Black women’s leadership in the environmental sector and identifying solutions that can support the oppressed groups affected disproportionately by climate change throughout the world.
Leïla is also involved in various community organizations and associations dedicated to the development of Black communities in Quebec, focusing particularly on raising awareness and engaging youth and women in their communities.
Antonio Reus
Antonio Reus Montaño, Director General del Instituto de Innovación, Fab City de Guanajuato, México
Juan Antonio Reus Montaño es Director General del Instituto de Innovación, Ciencia y Emprendimiento para la Competitividad para el Estado de Guanajuato (IDEA GTO), organismo encargado del desarrollo de la política pública de manufactura en Guanajuato.
Fue Director Ejecutivo del Parque de Innovación Agrobioteg y Presidente del Consejo de Administración de la Red de Parques Tecnológicos y de Innovación de Guanajuato. Director del Parque Tecnológico CIEN y Director del Instituto de Emprendimiento.
Eugenio Garza Lagüera, ambos del Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus León. Doctorante en Administración con enfoque en Innovación Aplicada por la Universidad Iberoamericana León.
Maestro en Gestión Estratégica de Negocios por la Universidad de la Salle Bajío. Conferencista nacional e internacional en temas de negocios, emprendimiento, innovación y transferencia tecnológica.
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Juan Antonio Reus Montaño is General Director of the Institute of Innovation, Science and Entrepreneurship for Competitiveness for the State of Guanajuato (IDEA GTO), an organization in charge of developing public policy for manufacturing in Guanajuato.
Former Executive Director of the Agrobioteg Innovation Park and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Network of Technology and Innovation Parks of Guanajuato. Director of the CIEN Technology Park and Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute.
Eugenio Garza Lagüera, both at Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus León. D. in Management with a focus on Applied Innovation from the Universidad Iberoamericana León.
Master in Strategic Business Management from Universidad de la Salle Bajío. National and international speaker on business, entrepreneurship, innovation and technology transfer.
Ileana Cerón Palma
Ileana Cerón Palma, directora general de FabCity Yucatàn
Doctora en Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental por la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Es Co-Fundadora y directora general de FabCity Yucatàn A.C., centro de innovación urbana y acción climática. Bajo su liderazgo, dicha institución hoy es miembro de la red de apoyo del Pacto Global de Alcaldes por el clima y la energía (GCoM) brindando apoyo voluntario a los Municipios firmantes en sus metas para combatir el cambio climático.
Co-director y responsable de la implementación de FabLab Yucatán en el 2017. Socio fundador de la empresa inedit donde ha liderado la certificación de edificios, barrios y espacios públicos sustentables a través de indicadores locales y/o certificaciones internacionales.
Ha sido consultora para la implementación de laboratorios de innovación en diversas Ciudades de Latinoamérica.
Ha publicado en revistas internacionales como: Habitat international, Journal of urban technology, Land use policy, Journal of the science of food and agriculture, entre otras.
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Ileana Cerón Palma, General Director of FabCity Yucatàn
D. in Environmental Science and Technology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She is co-founder and general director of FabCity Yucatàn A.C., a center for urban innovation and climate action. Under her leadership, this institution is now a member of the support network of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) providing voluntary support to signatory municipalities in their goals to combat climate change.
Co-director and responsible for the implementation of FabLab Yucatan in 2017. Founding partner of the company inedit where she has led the certification of sustainable buildings, neighborhoods and public spaces through local indicators and/or international certifications.
She has been a consultant for the implementation of innovation laboratories in various Latin American cities.
She has published in international journals such as: Habitat international, Journal of urban technology, Land use policy, Journal of the science of food and agriculture, among others.
Dan Swinney
Dan Swinney, Founder and Director for Strategic Initiatives, Manufacturing Renaissance
Dan began his organizing career as a volunteer for Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Georgia in the summer of 1965. In 1970, he moved to Chicago and entered the world of manufacturing. Dan worked for 13 years as a machinist. He organized Steelworker Local 8787 at G+W Taylor Forge in Cicero. Taylor Forge closed in 1983. Dan then founded Manufacturing Renaissance (MR) in response to the massive plant closings in the Chicago area. MR is a not-for-profit that develops innovative approaches to community development. We believe manufacturing is the essential foundation of a modern society. As such, the development of our manufacturing sector must be profoundly tied to social inclusion. Dan writes and speaks regularly for organizations interested in promoting advanced manufacturing and its intersection with public interests.
Michael Alden Peck
Executive director & cofounder of 1worker1vote
Michael Alden Peck serves as board member (executive and governance committees) for the American Sustainable Business Network and was the 2019 recipient of ASBC’s Sustainable Leaders Award. At ASBN, Michael focuses on three campaigns: “Ownership4All”; “Own The Metrics” – Alternative ESG Human & Social Capital Assets with UNRISD + SEE ; and Rebuild Social Economy Ukraine through the SEE/ASBN Sustainability Collaboration Partnership announced in December 2020.
Michael serves as executive director & cofounder of 1worker1vote & The 1worker1vote/NewsSocial Bridge emerging from the October 2009 collaboration MOU between the United Steelworkers and Mondragon International. 1worker1vote (NY 501C3) serves as fiscal sponsor for the 2022-2023 Build Mutualism Campaign – mutualistsociety.net. Michael also serves as co-founder & managing director of a second for-profit start-up, The Virtuous Cycle Collaboratory (tvc2) – a majority-minority worker cooperative & social enterprise (mission: to “flatten unequal socioeconomic curves into shared prosperity virtuous cycles”).
Francisco (Paco) Flores
Francisco (Paco) Flores, colaborador de la iniciativa Fab City León
Francisco (Paco) Flores es licenciado en diseño industrial con una tesis sobre movilidad sostenible, Máster en Comunicación y Diseño Labs, Madrid, España. Ha trabajado en agencias de publicidad de Ciudad de México y Guadalajara como diseñador senior y director de arte. Como diseñador, desarrolló proyectos para la YMCA América Latina y el Caribe en Puerto Príncipe (Haití) y Londres (Reino Unido), utilizando la fabricación digital y espacios creativos que promueven la democratización tecnológica.
En 2020 obtuvo dos becas y completó su segundo máster en Diseño de Futuros Emergentes en el Instituto de Arquitectura Avanzada de Cataluña, la Escuela Superior de Diseño e Ingeniería ELISAVA y el Fab Lab de Barcelona. Posteriormente fue seleccionado como investigador residente en el proyecto europeo CENTRINNO y como campeón comunitario en el proyecto Make Works, financiado por la UE. Ese mismo año presentó SISTER LOBA, un dispositivo GPS DIY para bicicletas destinado a promover la movilidad sostenible y la igualdad de género, en la Semana del Diseño Holandés 2021 de Eindhoven.
En la actualidad, trabaja junto a diversas partes interesadas, como responsables políticos, instituciones, comunidades y agentes de cambio, para lograr el ODS n.º 11 con la iniciativa Fab City León (@fabcityleon), como parte del movimiento global comprometido con el cambio y el impacto mediante la promoción de la fabricación local y el conocimiento distribuido para lograr ciudades empoderadas e inclusivas.
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Francisco (Paco) Flores, Collaborator in the Fab City León initiative
Francisco (Paco) Flores has a Bachelor’s of Industrial Design degree with an awarded thesis about Sustainable Mobility, Master in Communication and Design Labs, Madrid, Spain. He has been working in advertising agencies in Mexico City and Guadalajara as Sr. Designer and Art Director. As a designer, he has developed projects for the YMCA Latin America and the Caribbean in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and London UK, by using digital fabrication and creative spaces that foster technological democratization.
In 2020 won two scholarships, and finished his second Master’s in Design for Emergent Futures at the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering, and Fab Lab Barcelona. Then he was selected for the researcher-in-residency at the European project CENTRINNO and also as a community champion in the European-funded project Make Works. The same year he presented SISTER LOBA, a DIY bicycle GPS device to foster sustainable mobility and gender equity, at the 2021 Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.
He is currently working alongside different actors such as policymakers, institutions, communities, and change-makers to accomplish SDG #11 with the Fab City León (@fabcityleon) initiative, as part of the global movement committed to making change and impact by fostering local manufacture and distributed knowledge for self-sustainable and inclusive cities.
Éric Pineault
Éric Pineault, Scientific Director of the Pôle sur la ville résiliente, UQAM
Éric Pineault is a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal, attached to the Institut des sciences de l’environnement (where he chairs the Scientific Committee) and a specialist in ecological, political and economic transitions. He works on the issues surrounding the exploitation of fossil fuels in Canada, in collaboration with researchers from the pan-Canadian Corporate Mapping network.
Committed both as a scientist and as a citizen to the environmental movement, he has been involved as an ecological economist in the fight against fossil fuel infrastructure projects such as Énergie Est, Anticosti and more recently GNL Québec. In 2020-22, he co-directed, with Franck Fischbach, a research program in social ecology funded by the Institut d’Études avancées at the University of Strasbourg.
Latest publication: É. Pineault, A Social Ecology of Capital, London, Pluto Press, 2023.
David Kaiser
Dr. David Kaiser, public health and preventive medicine specialist
Dr. David Kaiser is a public health and preventive medicine (PHPM) specialist, associate medical director at Montréal Public Health, director of the PHPM residency training program at McGill University, and vice-president for continuing professional development at the Québec association of preventive medicine specialists (ASMPQ). He also gives back to the community as a board member of Equiterre and scientific advisor at Percolab Coop. Dr. Kaiser has worked for nearly a decade in the domain of environmental health, leading public health initiatives in housing, environmental noise, air quality and climate change. During the pandemic, he managed the public health response in a variety of challenging contexts, including prisons and essential public services. He also developed innovative approaches to community engagement.
Carolina Ferro
Carolina Ferro, Ecosystem Lead at Fab City Foundation
Ecosysteam Lead at Fab City Foundation, responsible for the strategic coordination and facilitation of the various networks and communities inside the Fab City Global Initiative. She is an Administrator and Political Scientist with a Ph.D. in Political Science (Unicamp-Brazil) and Master in Political Science and Sociology (FLACSO-Argentina). She is a human rights and digital technology researcher, consultant, and advocate with over fifteen years of experience in academic research, advocacy and policy influencing for social change, grassroots development, and nonprofit organizations’ management. She has significant experience in networking and advocating with executive, legislative and judicial bodies, and training and counseling social movements and NGOs.
Sylvain Delagrange
Sylvain Delagrange, Professor, Researcher and Project Manager, Institut des sciences de la forêt feuillue tempérée (ISFORT)
My work focuses on understanding the link between plant functional traits and their ability to adapt and acclimatize. In the course of my various projects, I have developed expertise in (i) plant ecophysiology and phenology, (ii) measurement, 3D reconstruction and analysis of tree architecture, (iii) plant plasticity in response to silvicultural treatments, and (iv) ecosystem services provided by plants in an urban context.
Functional ecology: In this research theme, I am interested in understanding the establishment and development of forest species regeneration in natural or urban environments. Indeed, by exploring the combinations of physiological, morphological and architectural traits that trees express during their development, it becomes possible to better understand the mechanisms of competition between species, their ability to acclimatize to different environments and their capacity to respond to disturbances or global environmental changes.
Remote sensing and modelling: In this research theme, I explore measurement and modelling methods enabling an innovative study of the development and functioning of the tree as a complex, organized modular organism in a 3D environment. In particular, I have developed expertise in the use of terrestrial LiDAR technology for the reconstruction of tree architecture, notably with the PypeTree platform.
Intensive silviculture: In this area, my work aims to better quantify the yields of monocultural or mixed plantations and their potential use in the Outaouais and Quebec. Intensive silviculture plantations are indeed an attractive option for increasing yields and protecting mature forests. However, these plantations can offer many more ecological services than just wood fibre, and can be used for a wide range of purposes, such as restoration, protection of riparian buffer strips, protective cover for noble species or windbreaks.
Manon Boiteux
Manon Boiteux, coordinator of the Construire l’avenir durablement project
Manon Boiteux holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences and a DESS in management and sustainable development. She is a research advisor and coordinator of the Université de Montréal Innovation Laboratory’s Construire l’avenir durablement project, which aims to support interdisciplinary research and training projects related to sustainability issues and sustainable development goals. In particular, she set up the Université de Montréal’s Une Seule Santé Initiative, which aims to promote the adoption of an inclusive, systemic and dynamic approach to better address issues at the human-animal-environment interface.
Alexandre Beaudoin
Alexandre Beaudoin, Biologist, M.Sc., Senior Biodiversity Advisor, Sustainable Development Unit, Université de Montréal
Alexandre Beaudoin holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from UdeS, a master’s degree in environment and sustainable development from UdeM, in biodiversity management, and a second master’s degree in socio-ecology from UQO’s environmental economics laboratory. While completing a post-graduate microprogram in Strategic Environmental Consulting at UdeS, he also co-founded Éco-pivot, a social economy company specializing in ecological connectivity and urban biodiversity. Recently, he began an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in planning at UdeM, where he will explore, among other things, tools for the implementation of natural infrastructures through action research. It was against this backdrop that he embarked on the EcoSense adventure, to promote a better understanding of urban issues among the general public.
Lorraine Simard
Lorraine Simard, M. Env., President, CEO and co-founder, Comité 21
Lorraine Simard is recognized as a 360 expert in corporate social responsibility (CSR). She works in the manufacturing, industrial, metallurgical and mining sectors for SMEs and multinationals, ministries and cities in Québec and abroad. She has a cross-disciplinary background in management and business strategy (2nd cycle, HEC), the environment (Master’s degree, Université de Sherbrooke) and Arts and Sciences (Université de Montréal). She spent several years as a public relations executive in the health and humanitarian sectors, before devoting herself to societal leadership and the socio-ecological transition in early 2000. This background enables her to advise and support organizations with ease and passion. To illustrate the full potential of the socio-ecological transition (organization and territory), she has set up a flagship program in 2021: “Montérégie Circulaire”.
An international speaker, she is also the author of sector guides on eco-responsible best practices. She also coordinates dialogues on societal commitments with stakeholders in Québec, Central Africa and West Africa.
She co-founded Comité 21 in 2013, a non-profit social economy enterprise whose mission is to accelerate the implementation of sustainable development by supporting economic players in implementing concrete strategies and actions in this direction.
Comité 21 is convinced that it is by mobilizing business and territorial players that together it will be possible to meet the challenges of the energy, social ecological and climate transition. In 2015, Comité 21 launched the first phase in the development of industrial symbiosis in Montérégie.
Today, “Montérégie Circulaire” is THE flagship program of Comité 21 for dedicated support to companies and territories in the circular economy (Pierre-De Saurel, Aggl. de Longueuil, Roussillon, Beauharnois-Salaberry, Vaudreuil-Soulanges, etc.).
Comité 21 is also a co-founder of the consortium for the development of expertise in the “Economy of Functionality and Cooperation in Québec (EFC-Québec)”, along with five other Québec regions and in collaboration with the Centre de transfert technologique en écologie industrielle (CTTÉI).
Martin Van Den Borre
Martin Van Den Borre, responsable Fab City de la provincia de Québec, Communautique
Formado en agricultura tropical y subtropical, desarrollo internacional y negocios, Martin entró en el mundo de la economía social a principios de los 90, trabajando en sistemas agroforestales comunitarios con pequeños agricultores marginados en el contexto posterior a la guerra civil de El Salvador. Trabajó durante una docena de años como promotor de cooperativas en la red CDR de Québec y durante 20 años con diferentes organizaciones de comercio alternativo propiedad de trabajadores y agricultores, como La Siembra y Equal Exchange. Más recientemente ha sido Director Ejecutivo de C.I.T.I.E.S., un centro de transferencia de conocimientos e innovación sobre economía social. A través de su implicación con Communautique, Martin participa en los movimientos Fab City y Fibershed. Está también involucrado con su comunidad de Ripon, Québec, en la creación de un centro cooperativo alimentario, textil y cultural centrado en la diversidad humana y biológica. Recien Martin fue nombrado como coobservador/asesor para el Canadá en CICOPA Américas y como docente en innovación en la Universidad Internacional de Andalucía (UNIA).
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Martin Van Den Borre, Fab City Manager, Province of Québec, Communautique
Trained in tropical and subtropical agriculture, international development and business, Martin entered the world of the social economy in the early 90’s, working on community agroforestry systems with marginalized small farmers in post-civil war context of El Salvador. He served for a dozen years as a cooperative developer in Quebec’s CDR network and for 20 years with different worker and farmer owned alternative trade organizations such as La Siembra and Equal Exchange. More recently he served as executive Director of C.I.T.I.E.S. a knowledge and innovation transfer center on the social economy. He is currently involved within the Fab City and Fibershed movements and with his community in Ripon, Québec, to set up a cooperative food, textile and cultural hub with a focus on human and biological diversity. He also is a co-observer / advisor for CWCF at CICOPA Americas and a lecturer on innovation and social economy at the International University of Andalucía (UNIA).
Annie Ferlatte
Annie Ferlatte, Coordinator, Strategic Ecodesign, and Instructor, Fab Academy and Fabricademy
Annie works at Communautique and its Fab Lab, echofab. An architectural technician with a bachelor’s degree in industrial design, she specialized in the environment and circular economy for her graduate diploma in strategic eco-design. As part of the echofab team, Annie contributes to the development, testing and implementation of environmental solutions for the organization and for user services. For Annie, everything in a Fab Lab is there to be discovered, experimented with and shared. The “Canari” project she has implemented, an air quality sensor with a civic vocation made in a Fab Lab, is a perfect example of the symbiosis between collective intelligence and new technologies to bring new opportunities and contribute to the search for solutions for a better future.
François Auclair
François Auclair, Fab Lab Coordinator, and Instructor, Fab Academy and Fabricademy
I always enjoyed learning new stuff and working with people that can bring me new knowledge. I love mixing art, humans and technology. Fab Labs changed my life and I want to stick around them for as long as I can.
François Auclair is coordinator at échofab, Communautique’s Fab Lab. He is knowledgeable in computerized numerical control machinery, in electronics and in manufacturing methods. He helps users with their project in the Fab Lab. Trained in social sciences, he is a Fab Academy and Fabricademy graduate and instructor.
Rino Coté
Rino Coté, Artistic and digital project manager at Communautique
My work as a whole is an ongoing research into the human condition, and into the interactivity between the public, performance, sculpture and installation. This quest, motivated by GMOs, cloning, in vitro and other demonstrations of the microscopic, can be found in many of my earlier works, sometimes tipping over into cynicism. Using modeling, casting and various technological principles, such as 3D scanning and 3D printing, my motive is to provoke a questioning of the possibilities of genetic and organic modification and remodeling of the human body.
In many of my works, I often favor soft, translucent polymer materials, in order to establish a connection with the human body (skin, organ, etc.). Silicone and latex are ideal materials for this. I also have a good command of the manufacturing process for bronze and aluminum pieces. As a sculptor, I’m interested in any other materials and techniques that might take me further in my creative process.
My work is not an analysis or a social or philosophical statement, but rather an observation. A magnifying glass focused on our faults or qualities. I remain, above all, an artist who uses different techniques and materials to establish a discourse with the public. My interest in this artistic work is to create a presence that is both strong and intriguing. For example, the installation needs its own vital space in order to stand out. So it’s important to be aware of the most suitable locations and materials, in order to bring the installation to life. In this way, I believe it’s possible to quickly establish a link between people and the work.
On my website, you’ll discover a constant artistic discourse in which it’s possible to detect a link between the various installations and the human condition. I like to show, through different materials and mechanisms, that the body is multiple, not reducible to an organ or a cell; unique as an imprint in its diversity and finding its richness in it.
Rino is an experienced specialist in research and development in the entertainment and performing arts industry. He has been working in visual arts, sculpture, and installation art for over 26 years. Rino holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from UQAM and a Master’s degree in Digital Design and 3D Animation from UQAC, specializing in digital prototyping.
Noémie Carrier
Noémie Carrier, Textile design Mediator and Instructor
“I was searching for new things to learn, more processes to explore, when I discovered échofab. It was like this place was meant for me. It was the place for so many great ideas and projects to flourish, and I felt privileged to be able to talk to so many people for different domains that were glad to share their knowledge.
This is how I ended up spending my last year of fashion studies at the Fab Lab the more I could. This is where I met François and Annie, and where I learned about the Fabricademy program.
Even if I have my diploma of fashion in hand, I feel like I need to learn more about sustainable fashion and technology, since I truly believe that soon every designer will need this expertise”.
Noémie Carrier is a mediator at échofab, Communautique’s Fab Lab. She has a background in fashion design and garment production management. She is particularly interested in technological advances and their application to clothing and textiles. She is also a Fabricademy graduate.
Jobair Jaber
Jobair Jaber, Managing Director Milo & Dexter
Jobair Jaber is the Managing Director of aesthetics made to last, a Canadian made slow fashion brand that is looking to revolutionize the way people dress for the every day. The company aims to make well made clothing and timeless aesthetics so that dressing can be simple for everyone. Jobair has spent the past decade in the fashion industry and is energized by his companies manufacturing roots here in Montréal.
Marilou Lyonnais Archambault
Marilou Lyonnais Archambault, artist, musician and educator
Marilou Lyonnais Archambault (1993) artist, musician and educator holds a bachelor’s degree in visual and media arts education from UQAM and a certificate in art history. His artistic practice offers a reflective work on our current digital condition through a plural approach (photography, video, installation, sound).
Lyonnais Archambault oscillating between visual and sound practice, explores the diversion of technologies in order to create half-worlds questioning the thresholds of the real and the invisible. When the latter is not indulging in visual production, she explores new sonic avenues with one of her various musical collaboration projects (Saudade, (oum, Heart Ensemble).
The artist has performed at festivals such as Suoni Per il Popolo, MUTEK, Sight & Sound and exhibited in cultural institutions in Montreal; PHI Center, Eastern Block, Never Apart. His work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Anissa Boukili El Hassani
Anissa Boukili El Hassani, multidisciplinary artist
Born in Marrakech, Anissa Boukili El Hassani is a Moroccan-Canadian multidisciplinary artist based in Tio’Tia: ke (Montreal). After finishing a college diploma in visual arts at Cégep du Vieux Montréal, she completed a BFA in Studio Arts at Concordia University in 2022. Her works have been presented in group exhibitions at the Gham and Dafe gallery, at the Atrium & Studio-Théâtre des Grands Ballets, at the VAV gallery and at the Parc offsite gallery. She showcased her work in two solo exhibitions “Dichotomies” at the Canif du Cégep du Vieux Montréal, in 2018, and “Contrefaçon” at the Aussenwelt gallery, in 2021.
Arheum Lee
Arheum Lee, musician and interdisciplinary media artist
Ahreum Lee is a musician and interdisciplinary media artist from Seoul, South Korea, currently based in Montreal. Lee began her career as co-founder and frontwoman of the experimental rock-art band Juck Juck Grunzie. After spending nearly a decade producing records and touring internationally, she extended her practice to video and multimedia installation work.
Photo credit: Min Ju Kim
Salima Punjani
Salima Punjani, multisensory artist
Salima Punjani is a multisensory artist grounded in relational aesthetics. She is particularly interested in how multiple senses can be used to expand the possibilities for people to feel welcome in art spaces as well as to create artful experiences of empathy, intimacy, and connection.
Noémie Videaud Maillette
Noémie Videaud Maillette, Manager, Centre de formation en écoconception textile
Concerned with offsetting the social and environmental impacts of the textile and apparel industry, Noémie Videaud Maillette founded the Collatéraux brand, whose mission is to raise awareness and attract us to textile overcycling practices.
To nurture and share her circular practice, she is also involved with the textile community and sits on the city of Montréal’s textile community of practice. She is co-founder of Entremaille: a training center for eco-design and circular practice, which plans to open a ressourcerie centralizing and making accessible the reuse of post-industrial textiles.
In parallel with her entrepreneurial projects, she is an author, director and dramaturgy consultant for theater, and a Master’s student in Environmental Management and the Circular Economy. Her master’s project aims to raise awareness of the impacts of the fashion industry in the form of a documentary-theater, for which she received the Laure Waridel Bursary.
Emmanuel Cameron
Emmanuel Cameron, General Manager, co-founder of Continuums
Over the past 9 years, Emmanuel Cameron has dedicated himself to developing the province’s entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. He established Montérégie’s first startup incubator, Garage&co, whose mission is to support Quebec’s local manufacturing ecosystem (hardtech). Thanks to his experience in economic development, acquired through his stint with Futurpreneur Canada and his involvement on the APDEQ Board of Directors, he co-founded Continuums, a hub for structuring projects in entrepreneurial innovation. He now works in the field of open innovation as a lecturer at HEC Montréal, in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Certificate program, and through his company, Interface&co, dedicated to developing the capacity of organizations to innovate collaboratively.
Yannick B. Gélinas
Yannick B. Gélinas, independent filmmaker
Yannick B. Gélinas has been a independent filmmaker for 25 years, creating both auteur works and cultural commissions. She has collaborated with the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the NFB, Fortier Danse création and the Ville de Montréal. In 2013, she won a Gémeau for the documentary on the Montréal music scene ‘From Montréal’. Filmmaker-in-residence at the NFB in 2009 for a project on waste, she is highly concerned by the global ecological situation. In 2021, she presented Les Entretiens Fab City, a series of short video portraits, at the Fab City International Summit in Montréal. In 2022, her achievements are presented at the Economic Forum of the Americas under the theme ‘Leading the Green Transition’. The same year, she completed the documentary Remix ta chaise, about 4 artists who transformed chairs destined for the garbage into works of art.
Nadia Bunyan
Nadia Bunyan, cofounder of Growing A.R.C
Nadia Bunyan is a fashion designer and the cofounder of Growing A.R.C., a nonprofit that creates spaces and opportunities for people to activate, reciprocate and cultivate their relationships with all beings. Through plants, material culture, and bioregional design, they are engaging in a conversation on sustainability through active participation.
Monique Chartrand
Monique has been the executive director of Communautique since 2002. Since 2008, she has initiated a broad prospective approach to citizenship, democracy, information technology and communication technology, which has positioned Communautique’s Living Lab at the forefront of Montréal’s open culture and of the global movement of Commons.
She is co-founder of Fab Labs Québec, and échofab (the 1st Fab Lab in Canada). She also piloted the Fab Labs Nation initiative towards a pan-Canadian network of Fab Labs. Finally, after contributing to host the Open Living Lab days meeting for the first time in America in 2016, she led the successful pitch for Canada to host the FAB16 Montréal and the Fab City Summit Montréal in 2021. She is also a laureate of the Women4Climate programme of the C40 Cities network.
Raphael Rossato Caetano
Raphael Rossato Caetano, Diretor da rede Fab Lab Livre SP
Graduado em Políticas Públicas e Ciências e Humanidades pela Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), estudou a implantação do WikiLab em São Bernardo do Campo. É o atual Diretor da rede Fab Lab Livre SP na Secretaria Municipal de Inovação e Tecnologia de São Paulo, programa em que trabalha desde 2019. Na Prefeitura Municipal de São Paulo também atuou entre 2018 e 2019 como Líder de Pesquisa de Mercado na Secretaria Municipal de Educação.
Linda Contreras Carrillo
Linda Contreras Carrillo, Director de estrategia, Fab City Hub Yucatán
Linda es licenciada en psicología, tiene un Master en Gestión de recursos humanos y planeación estratégica del Colegio Nacional de Irlanda. Más de 6 años de experiencias trabajando en corporativos en México e Irlanda principalmente en el área de tecnología. Fue parte del equipo de implementación de Fab Lab Yucatán en el año 2017. Actualmente es Chief strategy officer de Fab City Hub Yucatán desde donde promueve la vinculación y alianzas internacionales.
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