Fab Labs as hybrid innovation infrastructures under turbulence: Entrepreneurship, openness, and adaptation

PURPOSE: Fab Labs are increasingly recognized as localized innovation infrastructures that combine digital fabrication technologies with open, community-oriented practices. While prior research has highlighted their democratizing aspirations and normative potential, considerably less attention has been paid to how Fab Labs adapt, evolve, and sustain themselves under conditions of turbulence and persistent uncertainty. Addressing this gap, this study aims to examine Fab Labs as hybrid innovation infrastructures in which entrepreneurial activity and post-capitalist orientations coexist and are continuously negotiated, particularly in the face of external disruptions. METHODOLOGY: The study adopts a qualitative multiple case study design, analyzing four Fab Labs located in Spain. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis, and field observations, and were systematically coded to capture patterns of adaptation, organizational reconfiguration, and value negotiation. This approach enables an in-depth examination of how Fab Labs respond to external shocks, resource constraints, and shifting participation dynamics. FINDINGS: The findings reveal that Fab Labs exhibit significant adaptive capacity under turbulent conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and related socio-economic disruptions. Rather than following linear recovery trajectories, Fab Labs reconfigure governance arrangements, mobilize community-based resources, and adjust access and participation rules to maintain operations. At the same time, this adaptability is shaped by persistent structural tensions, particularly related to funding models, human resource configurations, institutional embedding, and intellectual property management. These tensions are not resolved but institutionalized, contributing to the emergence of Fab Labs as stable yet flexible hybrid spaces. IMPLICATIONS: The study contributes to theoretical debates on innovation under turbulence by conceptualizing Fab Labs as hybrid innovation infrastructures that combine entrepreneurial and post-capitalist logics. For practitioners and policymakers, the findings highlight the importance of supporting flexible governance arrangements and diversified resource configurations to enhance the adaptive capacity of locally embedded innovation infrastructures. ORIGINALITY & VALUE: By explicitly linking hybridity and turbulence, this research offers a novel analytical lens for understanding how Fab Labs sustain innovation and community engagement under uncertainty, extending existing discussions on resilience and hybrid organizing in innovation studies.