Events

Our virtual and in-person events bring together workers, thinkers, scholars, activists, and all types of maintenance enthusiasts. Please feel free to browse our past events, and stay tuned on upcoming ones by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Twitter.

Virtual Events

Maintainers Meet Up, March 21

Virtual Event Thursday, March 21 at 9am ET Are you a repairer, fixer, maker, hobbyist, mender, or caregiver passionate about community-building? An independent or university-affiliated researcher delving into the themes of maintenance, repair, and care? An advocate seeking to promote … More →

Event Recording, End of 2023 Fellowship Panel

Virtual Event December 6, 2023 | 9-10 AM EDT | Zoom Join the 2023 Maintainers Movement Fellows for a presentation and panel discussion as we celebrate the culmination of their Fellowship. This event brings together our esteemed fellows who have … More →

End of Year Fellowship Panel

End of Year Fellowship Panel Wednesday, December 6th at 9am ET on zoom You’re invited to join the 2023 Maintainers Movement Fellows for a presentation and panel discussion as we celebrate the culmination of their Fellowship. This event brings together … More →

Event Recording, Dreaming of Circular Futures

Virtual Event October 6, 2023 | 12-1:30 PM EDT | Zoom Dreaming of Circular Futures, led by Maintainers Movement Fellow Jennah Jones, explored the potential of urban mining and landfill mining as viable alternatives to material extraction. We will discuss … More →

Event Recording, Sustaining Mental Health Repair

Virtual Event October 11, 2023 |  6:30-8pm IST | 9-10:30am EDT | Zoom This thought-provoking event led by Maintainers Movement Fellow Himani Kulkarni delved into the heart of mental health support during unprecedented times: “Sustaining Mental Health Repair: Understanding the Journey … More →

Sustaining Mental Health Repair: A Maintainers Fellowship Event

Virtual Event October 11, 2023 |  6:30-8pm IST | 9-10:30am EDT | Zoom Join us for a thought-provoking event that delves into the heart of mental health support during unprecedented times: “Sustaining Mental Health Repair: Understanding the Journey of Psychosocial … More →

Dreaming of Circular Futures: A Maintainers Fellowship Event

Virtual Event October 6, 2023 | 12-1:30 PM EDT | Zoom   Dreaming of Circular Futures explores the potential of urban mining and landfill mining as viable alternatives to material extraction. We will discuss the similarities and differences of these … More →

Event Recording, The Essence of Repair Culture

Virtual Event September 12, 2023 at 8am ET on Zoom Join Maintainers Movement Fellow Mathew Lubari in this virtual event, exploring maintenance, repair and care across countries and global contexts. Mathew is a 2023 Maintainers Movement Fellow, in the “cultures” … More →

The Essence of Repair Culture: A Maintainers Fellowship Event

Virtual Event September 12, 2023 | 8am EDT (New York) / 3pm EAT (Uganda) | Zoom The Essence of Repair Culture across the world and how it connects communities. A Maintainers Movement Fellowship Event. Join Maintainers Movement Fellow Mathew Lubari … More →

Event Recording, Moving Toward Maintenance: Community

Virtual Event June 2, 2023 at 11am ET on Zoom Join The Maintainers network and friends for a 3-Part Event Series highlighting different spheres of maintenance, asking: “How do we maintain ourselves? Our communities? Our movement?”. Together we will explore questions … More →

This is the graphic for the event "Moving Toward Maintenance: Community" There is a collaged background with purple, gold and light green cardstock taped up onto a light grey background. There are also three dried flowers, one yellow, one purple, and one pink. In the middle of the image, there are the words "save the date" in an arch, with "Friday, June 2 11a-12:30p ET" written beneath it. At the bottom is The Maintainers logo, a sewage cover icon with the word "Maintainers" running through the middle.

Moving Toward Maintenance: Community

June 2, 2023 at 11am ET on Zoom Join The Maintainers network and friends for a 3-Part Event Series highlighting different spheres of maintenance, asking: “How do we maintain ourselves? Our communities? Our movement?”. Together we will explore questions about … More →

Moving Toward Maintenance: Self

April 7, 2023 at 3pm ET on Zoom Join The Maintainers network and friends for a 3-Part Event Series highlighting different spheres of maintenance, asking: “How do we maintain ourselves? Our communities? Our movement?”. Together we will explore questions about … More →

Monthly Maintenance Sessions

Upcoming Maintenance Session: Wednesday, March 27th at 11am ET on Zoom Invitation: Join The Maintainers for a monthly, no-cost, self-guided maintenance accountability session as we invite you to set aside time for maintenance each month with us! During these monthly … More →

March Maintenance Session

03/17/2023 2–4pm ET Invitation: Join The Maintainers for a monthly, no-cost, DIY maintenance session. We invite you to set aside two hours a month for maintenance. This can be time dedicated to maintaining your work, your home, your body, your relationships, … More →

February Maintenance Session

02/17/2023 2–4pm ET Invitation: Join The Maintainers for a monthly, no-cost, DIY maintenance session. We invite you to set aside two hours a month for maintenance. This can be time dedicated to maintaining your work, your home, your body, your relationships, … More →

January Maintenance Session

01/20/2023 2–4pm ET Invitation: Join The Maintainers for a monthly, no-cost, DIY maintenance session. We invite you to set aside two hours a month for maintenance. This can be time dedicated to maintaining your work, your home, your body, your relationships, … More →

Event Recording, Moving Toward Maintenance: Self

Virtual Event April 7, 2023 at 3pm ET on Zoom Join The Maintainers network and friends for a 3-Part Event Series highlighting different spheres of maintenance, asking: “How do we maintain ourselves? Our communities? Our movement?”. Together we will explore questions … More →

Embodying Degrowth Event Recording

12/16/2022 2 PM EDT Join The Maintainers Movement Fellows for an end-of-year celebration as they showcase their collaborative project, Embodying Degrowth. The 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellowship is a year-long fellowship to advance the movement for maintenance thinking and action. Learn … More →

Engineering for Long Term Solutions – A Maintainers Movement Fellow Event with Long Now Boston, led by Tona Rodriguez-Nikl

06/06/2022 4:30 PM PDT | 6:30 PM CDT | 7:30 PM EDT Long Now Boston and The Maintainers have come together to proudly present a conversation melding our two key concepts: long-term thinking and maintenance. This event is led by … More →

Who Cares – A Maintainers Movement Fellow Event with Circular City, led by Leila Behjat and Sam Bennett

05/04/2022 9 AM PDT | 11AM CDT | 12 PM EDT A conversation about the value of repair and maintenance from fixing bikes to building upkeep Does a tear in your shirt mean the end of its use? Can a … More →

Announcing Embodying Degrowth: An Event with The Maintainers Movement Fellows

Thursday, December 15 2022 | 2–3 PM EST | Register for the event here!   Join The Maintainers Movement Fellows for an end-of-year celebration as they showcase their collaborative project, Embodying Degrowth. The 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellowship is a year-long … More →

Announcing Engineering for Long Term Solutions – A Maintainers Movement Fellow Event with Long Now Boston, led by Tona Rodriguez-Nikl

Engineering for Long Term Solutions – The Challenge of our Times A Joint Conversation Event by The Maintainers and Long Now Boston led by Maintainers Movement Fellow Tona Rodriguez-Nikl Monday, June 6 2022 | 7:30PM EDT | Zoom doors open … More →

Tropical Fungi Summit – A Maintainers Movement Fellow Event, led by Rheanna Chen

03/30/2022 1-2:30 PM PDT | 3-4:30 PM CDT | 4-5:30 PM EDT In this event, led by Maintainers Movement Fellow Rheanna Chen, we looked at mushrooms as regenerative teachers for care, repair, and maintenance through the lens of a forest … More →

Announcing Who Cares – A Maintainers Movement Fellow Event with Circular City, led by Leila Behjat and Sam Bennett

    Does a tear in your shirt mean the end of its use? Can a rusty bike be reborn again? How can you care for the worn floor in your home? Or the land your house is built on? … More →

Announcing the Tropical Fungi Summit – A Maintainers Movement Fellow Event, led by Rheanna Chen

    What can we learn from fungi for a more caring and regenerative society and planet? The hope of this event is to inspire many about the regenerative role of mushrooms in the Tropics and beyond. There is much … More →

Information Maintainers April 2021 Meeting

We were joined by Lidia Ponce de la Vega, Hispanic Studies Ph.D. Candidate at McGill University. Her presentation focused on the case study of the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and discussing the possibilities for decolonizing online archives by exploring topics of human and nonhuman representation, diversity and inclusion, and equitable archival practices.

Information Maintainers March 2021 Meeting

This month we continue to explore art and maintenance- we are joined by Lauren Callis, co-founder and executive director of Curiosity Studio, An Upcycled Closet , and art therapist. Her art practice is in painting and fiber arts. Lauren will be speaking with us about garment mending and the maintenance of this traditional skill set, made all the more important as more people seek to consume less and also connect more with their immediate personal worlds.

Information Maintainers February 2021 Meeting

Interdisciplinary artist Elisabeth Nicula discussed the maintenance of her artistic practice and archives. Elisabeth is from Norfolk, Virginia, and her artwork is in conversation with nature. She is interested in seeing and being seen by the non-human world; abstracted scales of space and time; and poetics and memory.

Information Maintainers November 2020 Meeting

This month’s conversation is about documentation, with special guest Kaitlin Newson! We’ll get into the actions, routines, and communities that are needed to support and maintain the documentation needs of information systems, from someone who’s a leader in making such work happen in decentralized, open-source environments.

Information Maintainers October 2020 Meeting

Our meeting focused on information maintenance frameworks for Indigenous data sovereignty and the preservation of Indigenous cultural knowledge. Our panel of speakers represented perspectives from across the continuum of information maintenance, from Public Health to Librarianship, to Indigenous data governance.

Information Maintainers September 2020 Meeting

The Information Maintainers is an open community dedicated to supporting the maintenance of information and those who manage, maintain, and preserve information systems. On September 25, we held our monthly meeting where we eschewed our usual guest-speaker structure to spend some time learning about information maintenance frameworks for Indigenous data sovereignty and the preservation of Indigenous cultural knowledge.

Future of Work

In the last few years, both popular and academic outlets have been paying renewed attention to the relationship between technology and work. Often framed through the so-called “future of work,” questions focus on how technological change shapes organizational change and whether new technologies will lead to unemployment and depressed wages.

Measuring Maintenance

Through an alternative set of measurements to quantify the cost of a basic household budget, the ALICE team is able to demonstrate how many households are currently Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed – which happens to be a staggering proportion of people in the United States.

Information Maintainers August 2020 Meeting

The Information Maintainers is an open community dedicated to supporting the maintenance of information and those who manage, maintain, and preserve information systems. On August 21, 2020, we spent our monthly meeting exploring the intersection of digital preservation and open-source software. Our speaker was digital preservation domain expert, and full-stack developer, Ross Spencer.

Social Care: Maintaining Each Other

This virtual discussion focuses on social care and what maintainers can learn from more formal care relationships. We explored various dimensions of social care – such as paid and unpaid assistance for children, adults, and the elderly.

The Gig Economy: A Precarious Form of Maintenance

This discussion covered the concept of “gig economy” and maintenance. Gig workers (shoppers, drivers, etc) sustain daily life, and as such have been recognized as “essential workers.” But this dependence on gig workers raises an important question: what steps do companies, governments, and individuals take to maintain gig workers – or, in other words, to ensure that this form of labor is sustainable? This discussion featured two experts on gig economies in the United States and Europe.

Conferences

Maintainers III: 2019

The third in a series of conferences that celebrates and unpacks the concepts of maintenance, infrastructure, repair, and the myriad forms of labor and expertise that sustain our human-built world.

Maintainers II: 2017

Maintainers I: 2016