3

LENS

urea formaldehyde,” ensuring that soil, chickens, bees,
or urban farmers using the kits, are not exposed to
harmful chemical substances.
Furthermore, the meticulous layout of the design files
ensures that as much of the plywood sheet is used as
possible, with only a small percentage of the material
ending up as compostable waste.

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
Tristan’s personal aim is to spread access to
homesteading equipment so that more people can
produce their own food and live more healthily. “There’s
a growing interest out there with people wanting to get
back to the land,” he says.
Since POC21, AKER co-founder Aaron has been
awarded a fellowship grant from the Shuttleworth
Foundation, which provides funding and support for
individuals seeking to implement innovative ideas for
social change. Rather than a traditional academic
fellowship aimed at research or study, the Shuttleworth
fellowship is an opportunity for those interested in
pushing technological boundaries and challenging
accepted norms.
Aaron’s fellowship focus was to continue developing
the methodologies, tools, and kits used in the
development of AKER to restore balance to food
production and consumption cycles. Much like Open
State and Oui Share, The Shuttleworth Foundation
believes that openness is vital for ideas to become
stronger and spread through replication.
Initially only available to order in the US and Canada,
AKER kits are now available in Europe and Australia,
with other regions in the works. Since first bootstrapping
the company, AKER is now a profitable business that

continues to expand their kit line, which currently

includes a catalogue of eleven open source designs and

accompanying online training materials to foster an

international network of collaborators.

Another area the team is exploring is to distribute the

kits to refugee camps to create pop-up gardens. Aaron

believes that if food can be produced within the refugee

camps themselves, not only will more healthy food

become readily available, it may even result in the

formation of a micro-economy to help support that

community. “Locations where people sometimes have

to stay for ten or 20 years could become living regions

rather than more of just a place where you’re stuck,”

he tells us.

My secret motive is to

spread the merciless

idealism that will likely be

emanating from the camp,

along with the idea that the

human ability to dream,

create and repair is alive and

well amongst your fellow

human beings — despite

what you may have heard

“

”

Above

Aker’s six new open

source designs on

display beside the

POC21 exhibition tent

Below

Aaron Mararuk

and Tristan Copley

Smith in the old

stables workshop