Link is to an article about the project

From the description:

Have the inhumanity and environmental destructiveness of global supply chains got you down? What about the rapaciousness of multinational corporations who have twisted globalization into a nightmare for so many people on Earth? Here’s one thing you can do about it: you can support the growing movement known as distributed production. In Episode 3 of Season 4, researcher Sarah Hutton of the Internet of Production Alliance explains what distributed production is, why it’s all about people power, and exactly why it is a completely radical and powerfully democratizing activity that is also better for local jobs, local communities, and the environment.

Join the Internet of Production Alliance’s Community Forum at https://community.internetofproduction.org/

This paper is a great read for anyone researching or developing open source hardware.

From Highlights:

• Open Source Technology Readiness Levels assess openness maturity of technologies. • OSTRLs include nine assessment levels of product and process openness maturity. • Other readiness frameworks can be used with OSTRLs for broader adoption assessment. • OSTRLs can assess existing real-world ecosystems adopting open source technology. • OSTRLs support strategic decision-making and future research in sustainable systems.

This is an exciting milestone for the Open Source Ecology project. As of May 1, the Seed Eco Home has received OSHWA UID US002825. As far as I know, this is the first project to receive OSHWA certification.

Announced by OSHWA Association Mastadon account: https://mastodon.social/@oshwassociation/116518268944217730

Mentioned in 2025 review board meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2trAhiqu0s

J Simmons presents the Shepard Test Stand project as a case study in the development of OSHW in the aerospace sector showcasing successes, identifying lessons learned, and discussing future work.

Developed to demonstrate that open source software practices can be applied aerospace hardware, qualifying as Open Source Hardware (OSHW), and supporting the development of derivative systems through OSHW forks.

When you're building the solarpunk future, it's possible you might spend hours in the workshop. If you need a PPE solution for airborne contaminants - consider building your own powered air respirator (PAPRa). You can build this PAPRa for less than $200 in parts. Originally created during the pandemic when supply chain issues made it difficult to acquire these devices. Wearing a PAPRa is more comfortable and safer than wearing an N95.

Marcin Jakubowski gives a presentation at the University of Western Ontario

Key Ideas

Breaking down designs into small, well-defined modules allows for rapid prototyping, easier maintenance, and significantly reduced labor costs—up to 3x cheaper than professional construction (2:02, 7:40 - 9:33).

Lack of documentation as the primary bottleneck for scaling open-source projects. Traditional CAD documentation for a single house build can take over 2,000 hours (2:41, 18:46 - 25:32).

Discusses "Iconic CAD" AI-assisted workflow. (23:48, 30:36 - 38:00).

Recycled plastic (pellets) to create structural or decorative elements, offering potential cost savings and sustainability benefits (14:16 - 15:20, 56:38 - 1:02:00).

Conversation between the hosts of Decentralize.TV and Marcin Jakubowski

Key updates:

GVCS Progress: He did a quick walkthrough of the 50 "civilization starter kit" machines (7:53). The focus is still heavily on local maintenance and modularity, making sure these aren't just one-off prototypes but viable tools for a decentralized community.

Seed Eco-Home Specs: He discusses aiming for a $40k material cost for a high-quality modular home that can be put up in days (47:15).

The "Collaborative Literacy" Problem: Marcin spent some time (around 30:35) talking about why this isn't moving faster. He argues the bottleneck isn't the engineering anymore; it’s the lack of an "abundance mindset" and the skill of open-source collaboration in a world still stuck in profit-hoarding.

Future Builders Academy: He gave a shout-out to the training program for anyone looking to actually gain the hands-on skills to build these systems (24:19).

Upcoming Build: There’s an extreme build event for the Seed Eco-Home scheduled for December 1–14. If you can’t get out there physically, he mentioned a remote "crash course" option via the Future Builders program (1:01:46).

Usual links for the blueprints and the wiki:

learn.opensourceecology.org

wiki.opensourceecology.org

The OSE Future Builders Academy (FBA) is a 4 year apprenticeship and immersion program with hands-on, immersive learning - built around three core pillars:

• Architectures of Civilization
• Learning How to Learn
• Learning How to Be a Human

More Info: https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Future_Builders_Academy_Curriculum

The Recreator3D is a low-cost DIY Pultrusion Project; tailored to upcycle aging and salvaged 3D printer parts you're already acquainted with, empowering you to construct your very own pultrusion unit.

​Help reshape our future's recycling methods, one bottle at a time!

Reduce, Reuse, Recreate…with The Recreator 3D!

Many people are at risk for exposure to the COVID-19 virus and cannot afford to get infected. These people can isolate themselves, but often, their professions or requirements for daily life will take them in contact with other people, and they need some form of protection. Masks definitely help, but can become uncomfortable to wear, especially over long periods of time. This guide will walk you through creating a Powered Air-Purifying Respirator, which will protect the wearer and those around them from airborne viruses and bacteria, while at the same time providing positive airflow to the wearer’s face. That airflow makes sure that the wearer has a supply of fresh, clean air that has gone through a filtration process, and, in our tests, is the equivalent of wearing an N95 mask.

The Open Hardware Summit took place in place in Edinburgh on May 30th & 31st, 2025.

Since 2010, the Open Source Hardware Association, a 501(c)(3) not for profit charity, has hosted the Open Hardware Summit- a comprehensive conference for the open hardware community and the ever changing open source hardware movement.

Speakers include world renowned leaders from industry, academia, the arts and maker community. Talks cover a wide range of subjects from electronics, mechanics to related fields such as digital fabrication, fashion technology, self-quantification devices, and IP law. As a microcosm of the Open Source Hardware community, the Open Hardware Summit provides an annual, friendly forum for the community.

In this video Marcin talks with members of the UAB Solar House team.

In 2017, they designed and built a 1,000 sq. ft. off-grid solar house for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. After the competition, it was relocated to UAB’s campus, where it now serves as part of a sustainability demonstration project.

The UAB Solar House is fully powered by solar energy and “islanded”, completely disconnected from the city’s electrical grid. It was built to maximize energy efficiency while maintaining comfort and usability. The space includes a fully equipped kitchen, living/dining area, jack-and-jill bathroom, individual climate control in each room, and a smart TV for presentations. It also features a large porch and outdoor gathering area, surrounded by native gardens.

Full documentation of the project is available. The design is replicable, and there’s potential for adaptation to modular or open-source construction methods (e.g. OSE’s toolkit and build system).

For more information see https://www.uab.edu/sustainability/solar-house-community

From the description:

Dr. Joshua Pearce discusses how to accelerate knowledge transfer with open hardware with examples from his FAST lab at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada - as well as business models the open source scientific hardware companies can use. https://www.appropedia.org/FAST

OSE is teaming up with FAST to accelerate open hardware development. I (Marcin) am applying to be a visiting Thompson Fellow at Western. In this collaboration - my main duties would be to give guest lectures and mini-seminars on OSE primarily through TCELI (https://www.eng.uwo.ca/tc/); establish research collaborations between UWO and OSE starting to focus on open source scaling - set up a path to get more of OSE work in the scientific literature so we can create more career paths of open hardware ; make a path for OSE to leverage Canadian government funding through FAST - set up OSE Canada, and plan an something like a big showcase of OSE awesomeness in the Winter term.

This would contribute to a student pipeline from Western University feeding into the OSE Apprenticeship and Fellowship programs, and is a win-win for open source acceleration towards the open source economy. This will also contribute to OSE College Tour 2025, where we visit top universities in search for open source opt-outs. Ripe territory, for example as 1 in 8 students at Western do not fit and do not finish. This means that there is a significant population of people for whom the integrated, convergent collaboration of the OSE program is potentially a good fit.

From the description:

Existential hope is a thing. Foresight Institute (https://foresight.org/technologies/fo...) is working on it. Foresight is a sensemaking, futurist, mid-course correction, appropriate technology, metacrisis, existentical hope institution. Check out discussion with Beatrice Erkers - https://www.existentialhope.com/team/.... They have a Fellowship that covers Existential Hope, and Open Source Ecology work may fit in that paradigm. Check out their library - "From Existential Angst to Existential Hope" - https://www.existentialhope.com/exist.... And "Meta-Tools for Progress" - https://www.existentialhope.com/meta-.... Definitely big picture thinking.

The OSE opinion is that social technology is more important. At a time of exploding hardware tech and retarded social tech - namely the lack of a collaborative abundance mindset - the key threat to society is not technology but humanity's incapacity to steward this technology properly. Stewarding technology properly is more of a personal development issue, less of a technology issue.

In this video, Marcin speaks with Big Skills Tiny Homes. Big Skills Tiny Homes has an education program similar to what OSE is launching for the Apprenticeships and Fellowships. They are also a Factory Build Modular Home producer and have training hubs for producing Accessory Dwelling Units .

Marcin speaks with participants about open agriculture experiments in the Global Village Construction Set and autonomous open software and open hardware add-ons for a commercial tractor. Looking towards automation of agriculture and foundation grading, and autonomous materials logistics in the framework of zero marginal cost economics. Future plans to talk to Agrilab regarding open source hydraulic tractors such as OSEs.

From the video description:

Talking to Emily Aiken ( / emilyaiken ) and Brian Blair from The Story Studio https://www.thestorystudio.com/ about getting the word out on the OSE Apprenticeship and announcing today, the OSE Fellowship - A $100k work-study grant for young people to rebuild civilization. It's a 4 year commitment to build yourself an abundance mindset.

Open Source Ecology announces apprenticeship and fellowship programs. The first cohort of Fellows begins on September 1, 2025.

From the YouTube Video Description:

Ladies and gentlemen, we are taking the next major step towards scaling the work of OSE. We are starting a 4 year program for civilization re-design/build. Forget about trade school or college - we are offering a radical, transformative alternative.

In 4 years or less - you will learn to build seed eco-homes as 24 person crew - in only 5 days from start to finish. This part will pay the bills - but the skill set you will learn is much broader. Apply today - http://bit.ly/43YMlkw

See our blog for all the ways you can build or acquire a Seed Eco-Home - (https://www.opensourceecology.org/seed-eco-home-builds/)

This announcement was posted about a month ago. Since then there are a couple other videos relevant to the apprenticeship fellowship:

• Sponsoring Students for the OSE Apprenticeship
• GI Bill Apprenticeships
• Meet an Apprenticeship Applicant - Charles

Love to see it