HBKU students formulate declaration to humanity in makerspace initiative

The College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University(HBKU) have organised the university’s first makerspace initiative,bringing together students to share ideas, experiment learning anddevelop a framework for transformative change. The session, titled ‘Islam in a Global World: A Makerspace’, concluded with a joint declaration issued to humanity.The four-point statement sourced its inspiration from the tenets ofIslam and discussed the role of communities across the globe in the faceof pressing contemporary challenges, HBKU said in a statement. As a concluding stage of the makerspace initiative, participatingstudents will avail of the opportunity to present His Highness the EmirSheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani with their hopes for global communitiesto collaboratively work towards the resolution of world crises.Organised by CIS assistant professor Dr Mohamed Evren Tok, themakerspace initiative is a novel approach and provides a maidenopportunity for students to gather and collaborate to produce creativeresults, with each participant harnessing their own academic background,life experiences and internal motivation. Further facilitating students to synergise productively during thecourse of the day, CIS’s communal creative space, where the initiativewas conducted, came equipped with stationery, art tools and otherconstructive resources.In their declaration to humanity, the students proclaimed that a sharedobligation exists to protect and integrate refugees, while affordingthem basic human rights. Further, they said communities must enshrineprinciples of humanitarianism and work together to holistically addressthe material and non-material needs of the vulnerable. Building on the theme of collaboration, the authors called forinter-communal dialogue to seek common ground where conflict was rife.Finally, denouncing terrorism in all its forms, the students stressedthe need for a multifaceted approach to combat this global phenomenon,based on the promotion of education and justice.Dr Emad El-Din Shahin, dean, CIS, said: “At the College of IslamicStudies, it is a key part of our institutional efforts to stir acivilisational renaissance. This declaration seeks to give students aplatform to voice their collective concerns and develop their own uniqueand creative solutions. We essentially share the responsibility ofproblem-solving with a generation that is the biggest shareholder in thebuilding of a peaceful future.” Makerspace is an initiative under Innovation Space, a cornerstoneproject of HBKU that is critical to the objectives outlined in theuniversity’s 10-year strategic plan. The project was launched with theaim of developing an innovative culture under which novel ideas from theHBKU community may thrive.HBKU is a member of Qatar Foundation.