Royal College of Art launches marine navigation aids study

In a partnership with Hawkshill Consulting, the International Organisation for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA) and funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, and the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation (IFAN), this three-year project awarded with a combined grant of £1.1m will address the safety gap in the world’s most vulnerable waterways by developing low-cost co-designed marine aids to navigation. 

Currently, vessels at sea rely on aids to navigation (AtoN) that must conform to global standards set by IALA. While these industrially manufactured tools are essential for mitigating maritime risks, the cost, logistical challenges, resources and lack of local technical knowledge often creates a significant barrier for developing regions, leaving critical waterways underserved. 

The aim is to co-design and develop low cost aid(s) to navigation suitable for sustainable local construction and maintenance. This will involve engaging with local communities to collaboratively design and build AtoN solution/s that leverage local expertise in materials and making through a co-design process to exchange knowledge between the project partners. 

These prototypes will undergo extensive testing and validation to ensure they provide the same high-level reliability as current alternatives, even in the most challenging maritime climates. The project's findings will be documented in a joint publication, providing a roadmap for future implementation. The ultimate goal is a significant reduction in maritime risk in SIDS and LDCs ensuring that the oceans remain a safe and productive space for all nations, regardless of their economic standing. 

In its capacity as a UNESCO Ocean Decade Implementing Partner, the RCA leverages its world leading expertise in co-design and participatory research to drive innovation and secure a resilient and sustainable future for our oceans. 

Professor Ashley Hall, Professor of Design Innovation and Postgraduate Research Lead in the School of Design at the Royal College of Art, said: “In many countries the vast majority of the goods we use are imported by sea. As the oceans around us change it’s crucial to collaborate and develop sustainable co-designed solutions for safer navigation for all. This is a very exciting project that builds on our experience of Design for Safety at sea, New Economic Models for the Ocean and Engineering Design Innovation.” 

Jan Przydatek, Director of Technologies at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, said: “Addressing safety gaps makes people safer, and this project will help address those gaps by developing and testing low-cost, co-designed marine aids to navigation, while generating the evidence needed to inform regulators and strengthen uptake. Focusing on small island developing states (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the project develops local solutions to achieve global safety standards which is key to making safety accessible for everyone reflecting our mission to engineer a safer world.”

Catherine Mulvihill, Chief Executive Officer of the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation (IFAN), said: “We are proud to support this initiative, which reflects IFAN’s commitment to advancing sustainable development through safer navigation. In many Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries, reliable aids to navigation are essential not only for maritime safety, but also for trade, food security, connectivity, and economic opportunity. When navigation is safer, communities are freer to thrive. By combining design innovation, technical expertise, and local knowledge, this project has the potential to deliver practical and sustainable solutions for vulnerable coastal communities.”