Over Leuven
Not everyone enters the labour market through the same route, some take a detour due to illness, displacement, or a career that did not go as planned. Leuven’s Learning Ecosystem, an ESF-funded initiative built on a network of partner organisations - schools, makerspaces, volunteer groups and job agencies - was designed with those detours in mind.
Eight makerspaces and informal learning environments across the city offer low-threshold, no-prerequisites workshops - digital fabrication, textiles, food production, circular entrepreneurship - where participants learn by doing, supported by peers and volunteer mentors. Learning formats are adapted to diverse needs, including disability, age-related limitations and mental health challenges. The skills matter, but so do the things rebuilt alongside them: confidence, social networks, and a clearer sense of direction.
The ecosystem reaches young people, people with a migrant background, persons with disabilities, and those navigating burnout or interrupted careers. Structured connections with job agencies and vocational education providers then bridge the gap between the makerspace and the labour market.