ATLIC: European Youth Come Together to Envision the Future of the Blue Economy
Our design students are envisioning the future of the blue economy with ATLIC
On April 21 and 22, 2026, L'École de design Nantes Atlantique and the Blue Lab hosted the ATLIC Youth Summit, a major European event dedicated to youth-led innovation in the blue economy. Organized in France as the project’s closing event, this summit marked the culmination of several months of collaboration along the Atlantic coast. Following that, a white paper has been presented in France and Belgium to strengthen youth entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability across coastal and rural territories.
A Europe-wide review session
The Youth Summit is the culmination of several months of collaboration among young people as part of the ATLIC – Atlantic InnoBlue Communities project. For two days, Nantes and Saint-Nazaire served as the meeting place for an international community bringing together students, designers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and business leaders from the Atlantic region around a common goal: to share, discuss, and promote projects developed in response to the challenges of the blue economy.
Through project presentations, collaborative workshops, and discussion sessions, the Youth Summit highlighted initiatives developed by young people from France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. Designed as a forum for exchange, this key event helped raise the profile of student-led initiatives while placing them within a European context.
Projects from Innoblue Labs
Developed over several months at Innoblue Labs, the projects presented reflect an approach that is both experimental and socially engaged, at the intersection of design, innovation, and the challenges of the ecological transition.
Innoblue Labs are collaborative innovation labs that bring together students, researchers, and socio-economic stakeholders to address concrete challenges related to the blue economy. Designed as true spaces for experimentation, they facilitate the exchange of perspectives, the testing of practical approaches, and the strengthening of ties between education, research, and the professional world.
These projects explore new ways:
- to inhabit maritime territories,
- to produce and consume,
- to interact with marine environments,
in response to contemporary changes and environmental challenges, as part of a collaborative effort at the European level.
Working Together to Develop a Manifesto for the Future of the Blue Economy
At the heart of the Youth Summit, a co-creation process invites participants to collectively envision the contours of a desirable future for the blue economy.
This reflection will give rise to a manifesto, the ATLIC Declaration, drafted by the young people themselves, to affirm their vision and their role in the transformations to come.
More than just an opportunity to showcase results, the Youth Summit embodies a collective dynamic: that of a generation that envisions, experiments, and takes action for a sustainable future, using design as a catalyst for innovation and engagement.
Cassandre Samson, who is in charge of coordinating the European ATLIC project at the school, presented the white paper titled « Empowering Youth Innovation in the Blue Economy » in Brussels and then in Pornic, France. This publication is the result of three years of experimentation, collaboration, and collective learning aimed at empowering young people to actively contribute to the future of the blue economy.
This white paper highlights practical methodologies, inspiring case studies, and concrete recommendations aimed at fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainable development among young people in coastal and rural areas.
Students who designed the Karea-Mareva project also had the opportunity to present their work in Brussels. Their connected biomimetic buoys, designed to monitor and track Sargassum seaweed in Guadeloupe, were presented to leading European stakeholders and institutions, such as the Spanish Chamber of Commerce’s delegation to the European Union and the Portuguese Embassy.
About the ATLIC project
The Youth Summit is part of the European project Atlantic InnoBlue Communities (ATLIC), which aims to support innovation and entrepreneurship among young people in the blue economy through collaborative initiatives such as the Innoblue Labs.
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