// about init.cat
The creative technology calendar you wish had existed 10 years ago
Laser workshops, sound synthesis sessions, digital creation hackathons, digital fabrication courses — they all happen, but you never find out in time. init.cat changes that: an agenda curated by humans, updated every week.
// how it works
Curated sources per node
Each node maintains a list of trusted sources: makerspace websites, RSS feeds, Meetup groups, newsletters. Discovery only searches these exact sources. Nothing outside the moderator's radar.
Automated discovery, human approval
New events are searched for daily and queued for review. The node moderator reviews each one: approve, reject or edit. Nothing publishes automatically.
Weekly newsletter
Each node's subscribers receive a digest of upcoming events for the next 15 days, every Monday morning. No algorithm, no ads — just the events the moderator approved.
// governance
Curate — always open
Approving or rejecting events in a node's queue is open to anyone, logged in or not — even on a node with an assigned moderator. No login needed to help keep a node's queue clean.
Open admin — until a node has a mod
Any registered user can open full management (edit events, sources, discovery) on a node with no moderator yet — just log in and click "open admin". Self-serve, not exclusive.
Mod admin — once a node is claimed
Once a node has at least one moderator, full management locks to that node's mod team (or a superadmin). Moderators review co-mod applications for their own node directly — no need to go through us.
// cooperative model
init.cat is a cooperative in formation. Each node is managed by a local volunteer — someone who knows their local maker ecosystem and can filter the noise.
Nodes share infrastructure (code, server, tooling) but are autonomous in curation. The result is a network of people caring for their local creative community.
// why is it free
For people looking for events: always free. For spaces and organisers: no sign-up, no fee — we find them.
Sustainability comes from value-added services we're designing: 1:1 sessions connecting learners with teachers, and recorded online workshops. The base directory is and will always be open.
// coming soon
Connecting people who want to learn a specific skill (soldering, Pure Data, textile fabrication) with those who can teach it. Informal, local, affordable.
A dedicated track for online workshops — live and recorded. Accessible from any node.
Madrid, Berlin, Porto, Lisbon, Brussels... If you know your city's maker scene, get in touch.
Access to approved events via API for spaces, apps and third-party integrations.
Want to manage a node?