The Nantes metropolitan area accelerates cooperation with Québec

Made up of 125 people, including 60 company representatives, as well as actors from higher education, research, and public institutions, this multidisciplinary delegation resulted in the signing of nearly ten partnerships across several strategic fields for Nantes and Québec: from responsible digital technology to cultural industries, health of tomorrow, and the events sector.

A decentralized cooperation between Nantes and the City of Québec

As a symbol of the friendship between Nantes and Québec, the sculpture “L’Éloge du déplacement” by the artist, Philippe Ramette, was donated by Nantes Métropole to the citizens of Québec. Through this gift, a piece of Nantes’ cultural spirit, the famous “Pas de côté” (step aside), now blows across Québec’s soil.

Johanna Rolland, Mayor and President of Nantes Métropole, and Bruno Marchand, Mayor of Québec City, who met for the first time, committed to supporting cooperation projects between local actors, with a focus on culture, the French language, and economic development.

” For over 10 years, we have shared the same values. This trip marks a new milestone with many new cooperation agreements,” highlighted Johanna Rolland, Mayor of Nantes and President of Nantes Métropole.

” Our creativity is largely born from our openness to others and our ability to capture and be inspired by the best practices of other regions,” said Yann Trichard, President of the Nantes Saint-Nazaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Partnerships between Samoa and two key creative industry players in Montréal

Samoa, the urban and creative development agency of Nantes’ Île de Nantes, signed two new collaborations.

The first, signed with the “Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles” and QDSinternational in Montréal, aims to strengthen ties between Montréal and Nantes in the field of creative and cultural industries (ICC). The agreement includes facilitating the exchange and circulation of existing public space installations or artworks from Montréal and Nantes creators, as well as developing original public installations in both cities to promote access to culture and overall well-being.

The second agreement was signed with La Piscine, an incubator and accelerator for creative industry projects based in Montréal. This partnership focuses on the joint development of innovative programs at the intersection of creative industries, design, and ecological transition, targeting companies and CCI professionals.

New partnerships for Nantes Université with HEC Montréal…

In the field of higher education and research, Nantes Université announced a partnership with HEC Montréal, which will bring, for the first time in 2025, a part of the Summer School on Creativity Management (Mosaic-HEC Montréal team in collaboration with the University of Barcelona) to Nantes. Nantes Université is also invited by Laval University to join the governance of the international UNI-C network, founded by Laval and supporting student climate action.

Additionally, IETR/Polytech Nantes is launching a research collaboration with Polytechnique Montréal as part of the PEPR AI program. This project involves two new PhD theses focusing on federated artificial intelligence applied to the Internet of Things (IoT).

… and for L’École de Design

Since 2018, L’École de Design Nantes Atlantique has been cooperating with Centech, one of the world’s top 10 university startup incubators. This partnership allows about forty design students each year to complete two years of their master’s degree in Montréal, alternating between studies and professional assignments in startups.

The school is also working with the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), a major engineering school in Montréal, to launch a dual degree in design and industrial engineering starting in 2025, in the same spirit as the initial Centech partnership, which encourages entrepreneurship. This program will be open to both French and Québec students. By then, it will also integrate Ax-C, a new innovation and entrepreneurship hub supported by the Québec government and managed by Startups Montréal, bringing together five incubators and numerous innovative companies.

Health: inspiring exchanges for Nantes University Hospital and Nantes Université

The teams from the Nantes University Hospital (CHU) and Nantes Université, led by the CHU’s Director General and the President of Nantes Université, met with many counterparts and partners, including the Québec and Montréal University Hospitals, the Québec Heart and Lung Institute (IUCPQ), the TransMedTech Institute, MEDTEQ+, and Centech.

These meetings will help deepen research and innovation collaborations, explore new concrete partnerships with these and other actors, particularly in future health sectors, and discover inspiring practices.

Shared values charter on digital technology signed in Québec

A charter of shared values between Québec Numérique, La Cantine and the Nantes Congress Centre was signed during the Web à Québec (WAQ) event, equivalent to Web2Day, held from May 28 to 30, 2024.

Building on their partnership since 2016, these organizations jointly commit to supporting responsible, ethical, ecological, and socially inclusive (gender parity) digital practices and to launching a collaborative and cross-sectoral reflection on major digital challenges, within and beyond their respective events.

In Montréal, the Nantes Congress Centre and Montréal’s Printemps Numérique continue their collaboration on ethical AI, following their joint declaration signed in September 2023. Québec and Nantes delegations are expected at Nantes Digital Week in September and at MTL Connecte in October 2024.

Events sector: partnership agreements between convention centers

In the events sector, Nantes Congress Centre and Exponantes Le Parc signed partnership agreements with the Palais des Congrès de Montréal and the Québec City Convention Centre.

These agreements promote shared production of events addressing strategic industry challenges and topics of mutual interest for Nantes, Montréal, and Québec City. Sustainable development is a joint priority, with a focus on water-related themes as a potential starting point.

© Credit : Aurélia Bossé – MStream