The Marine Impact Lab will be held on November 16, 2026, at RAI Amsterdam. This event is designed to explore how the maritime industry responds to regulations, adopts alternative propulsion systems, and finances sustainability projects. The lab includes two practical workshops and eight thematic tables led by experts, allowing participants to address the challenges in their businesses.
Practical Workshops and Group Challenges
The "Sustainable Design Principles" workshop, led by Marine Futures, teaches participants how life cycle assessment can help design boats with a lower impact. Participants engage in a group challenge where they select materials, propulsion systems, and energy for virtual boats using a simulator and compete in speed, slalom, and endurance races.
This simulator, specifically designed for this lab, is inspired by the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge and uses real boat designs and actual life cycle assessment results obtained from MarineShift360. The goal of this simulator is to examine the trade-offs between racing performance and environmental impacts.
Developing Sustainable Strategies
The "Sustainability Sales" workshop, presented by Foxall Munro, utilizes a free online tool called The Toolbox to help organizations develop, implement, and improve their sustainability programs. In this workshop, participants learn how to create business cases for sustainability and secure investment through practical frameworks.
Together with DAME and Yachting Ventures, innovators and startups in the maritime industry will benefit from this workshop and learn how to integrate sustainability into their value proposition and make their businesses resilient to future changes. Oli Taylor, founder and director of Marine Futures, emphasizes that the choice of materials and component specifications significantly impacts the environmental footprint of boats, with the aim of empowering participants to tackle the challenges in their businesses with more knowledge and confidence.
The eight other thematic tables will address questions such as the right time to recycle composites and how to finance sustainability projects. Participants can bring challenges from their businesses and collaborate with experts and peers at the secretariat of these tables.
Damin Foxall, director of Foxall Munro, also highlights the importance of maintaining a healthy ocean, stating: "We all depend on a healthy ocean, and every organization in this industry must play a role in caring for it. Through The Toolbox, we help teams understand their impacts, set priorities, and move forward together."
This lab, jointly organized by Marine Futures, Foxall Munro, and Metstrade, combines product design with organizational sustainability. The activities of Marine Futures and Foxall Munro in this lab are supported by 11th Hour Racing.
