Konexio
France
Konexio is a hybrid non-profit and social start-up that provides tech skills training to disadvantaged populations, notably refugees and migrants. …
Good practice
Imported
★ 72
★ 32
★ 76
★ 72
The Solidarity FabLab programme
France · Paris · Transnational · See the France profile
The aim of the Orange Foundations FabLabs is to support the future of young people through giving them the opportunity to turn their lives around with new technologies, training them in digital tools to develop their skills, improving their employability and ensuring that each on
88 fablabs
Number of Solidarity FabLabs (n/a)
19 countries
Countries with a Solidarity FabLab (n/a)
Details
- Maturity
- Established
- Promoter
- Orange Foundation — website
- Type
- Service
- Status
- Ongoing
- Target groups
- Unemployed and those facing social problems, Marginalised young people and children
- Period
- 2016-01-01
- Keywords
- digital skills, employability, opportunities, digital professions, new technologies
Context
Since 2015 the Orange Foundation has run 'Solidarity FabLabs' offering free digital-fabrication training to young people (aged 12-25) facing difficult circumstances and who are at odds with traditional teaching methods, adding a solidarity/mentoring dimension to the standard FabLab model.
Objectives
Give disadvantaged young people the chance to improve their employability and digital skills through hands-on work with new technologies, encouraging them to consider digital careers.
Activities
FabManagers, Orange Foundation volunteers and Orange employees train young people in 3D printing, digital milling machines, laser cutters and other fabrication tools, an approach based on 'doing and sharing,' while also building transversal skills such as project management and teamwork. Participants can enter an international challenge to develop a project from concept to completion.
Results
As of the source material, the programme comprises 88 Solidarity FabLabs across 19 countries, including France.
Implementation
- Indicative cost
- High (€500k–€5M) — Requires capital investment in fabrication equipment (3D printers, digital milling machines, laser cutters) at each site; no budget figures published.
- Time to results
- Long (> 3 years) — Running continuously since 2016, scaled to 88 FabLabs across 19 countries.
- Staffing & skills
- FabManagers, Orange Foundation volunteers, Orange employees
Conditions for success
- Corporate (Orange) funding and employee volunteering
- Partnerships with local charities to organise digital-education programmes
- Access to fabrication equipment (3D printers, digital milling machines, laser cutters)
Where it fits
- Governance type
- corporate-foundation-led, delivered via charity partners
- Scale
- transnational (88 sites, 19 countries)
- Income level
- mixed (operates across multiple income-level countries)
Commonly funded by
Philanthropic / foundation funding
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
- MEDICI / Digital Inclusion Atlas — accessed 2026-06-14
- Practice website — accessed 2026-06-14
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