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OpeningWelcome
Gran Salón Simón Bolívar · Estelar Santamar Hotel
Reception and guest registration.
Official programme · Santa Marta, Colombia
InnovAzul Caribe 2026 Programme
Three days, three moments: Opening, Science and Territory.
For three days, Santa Marta will host strategic conversations, international alliances, immersive experiences and concrete projects. Browse the programme day by day and take it with you in your device's calendar.
The .ics adds every activity to Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook. The PDF is the official programme to print or share.
September 17, 18 and 19, 2026Universidad del Magdalena · Estelar Santamar Hotel
For your visit
Santa Marta practical guide
Tips for your visit: getting there, getting around and making the most of the city. Download the guide in your language.
Day 1 · Opening
Blue Innovation Ecosystems and Strategic Alliances
Institutional opening, science diplomacy and alliance activation.
Thursday, September 17, 2026 · 8 activities · Colombia local time (GMT-5)
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OpeningOpening ceremony
Gran Salón Simón Bolívar · Estelar Santamar Hotel
Formal opening led by the Rector of Universidad del Magdalena, the CAF delegate and national authorities.
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Alliances & diplomacyAL MAR Universities Alliance
Gran Salón Simón Bolívar · Estelar Santamar Hotel
Official launch and signing of the Memorandum of Intent to create “AL MAR Universities” of Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Science & knowledgeKeynote lecture
Gran Salón Simón Bolívar · Estelar Santamar Hotel
Keynote by Günter Pauli and official presentation of the “Blue Caribbean Opportunities Portfolio”.
- 12:00 – 13:30Lunch break
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Alliances & diplomacyBlue Innovation District: Multi-stakeholder meeting
Salón III Simón Bolívar · Estelar Santamar Hotel
- i.Presentation and validation of the “Perla del Caribe” project (CAF–Unimagdalena Technical Cooperation).
- ii.Progress report on the Innovation Free Zone Pre-feasibility Study and the IncubAzul Caribe model.
- iii.Multi-stakeholder working session with local authorities, Cádiz Free Zone, Santa Marta Free Zones, Port Authorities and the Santa Marta Chamber of Commerce.
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Alliances & diplomacyAL MAR Diplomacy: Trinational dialogue on the Coastal Law
Salón III Simón Bolívar · Estelar Santamar Hotel
Dialogue on “Coastal Law and Marine-Coastal Governance in Colombia”.
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Culture AL MARCulture AL MAR: Welcome cocktail
Beach Area · Estelar Santamar Hotel
Throughout the three days
Permanent activities
Exhibitions, showcases and open spaces running alongside the whole gathering.
Biennial exhibition “The SEA that Unites Us”
San Juan de Nepomuceno Cloister · Exhibition halls
Photo exhibition “Creatures in the Dark”
Main hall · Mar Caribe Building
Collective art-making laboratory, supported by artist Ingrid Haubrich (founder and artistic director of ART BLUE LAB CARIBE)
San Juan de Nepomuceno Cloister and Universidad del Magdalena main campus
INVEMAR travelling museum “Makuriwa”
Main hall · Mar Caribe Building
Business and artisan trade fair
Main hall · Mar Caribe Building
Audiovisual festival of short films and features on maritime culture and the Blue Economy, with students of the “Colegios Amigos del Mar” programme
“La Langosta Azul” Audiovisual Room
Venues
Where InnovAzul happens
The opening day takes place at the Estelar Santamar Hotel; the rest of the programme unfolds on the Universidad del Magdalena campus and at the Marine Life Centre.
Opening day · Day 1
Estelar Santamar Hotel & Convention Centre
- Gran Salón Simón Bolívar
- Salón III Simón Bolívar
- Beach Area
Main venue · Day 2 and permanent activities
Universidad del Magdalena
- Mar Caribe Building: Neguanje and Playa Grande auditoriums, room Sur 106 and main hall
- Julio Otero Muñoz Auditorium
- Gastronomy Lab
- Moot Courtroom, Law Programme
- Los Almendros Plaza
- San Juan de Nepomuceno Cloister (exhibition halls)
- “La Langosta Azul” Audiovisual Room
Immersive experience · Day 3
Marine Life Centre · Santa Marta Aquarium
- Accelerated sea turtle conservation project
Opening manifesto
The sea does not divide. It unites us
From Santa Marta, an amphibious, port, ancestral and university city, InnovAzul Caribe 2026 calls on universities, communities, businesses, governments, research centres, artists, entrepreneurs and cooperation agencies to imagine together a new development path for the Greater Caribbean.
The gathering is born of a conviction: the future of marine-coastal territories is not built by depleting their resources, but by regenerating their ecosystems, dignifying their communities and placing science, culture and innovation at the service of life. Here the ocean is not understood as a border but as a maritory: the living unit that connects the sea with the rivers, the marshes, the mangroves, the Sierra Nevada and the people who inhabit them.
For three days, Santa Marta will host strategic conversations, international alliances, immersive experiences and concrete projects. InnovAzul Caribe 2026 will connect the blue economy, ocean diplomacy, science, maritime culture, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence and regenerative tourism to turn the Colombian Caribbean into a living laboratory of blue innovation for Latin America and the world.
“The Sea That Unites Us is more than a motto. It is a declaration of the future.”
Academic prelude · September 14–16
Caribbean Seas and Coasts Course “The Sea That Unites Us”
Ahead of the gathering, the first edition of the course will take place, organised by CEI·MAR and the BiO ReD Institute.
The proposal
Three great moments, one per day
InnovAzul Caribe 2026 does not want to feel like a conference agenda, but like an invitation to imagine the blue future of the Greater Caribbean.
Day 1 · Opening
Blue Innovation Ecosystems and Strategic Alliances
Institutional opening, science diplomacy and alliance activation.
Day 2 · Science
Collaborative Knowledge and Communities
The scientific, community, creative and entrepreneurial heart of the gathering.
Day 3 · Territory
Regenerative Tourism and Closing
Territorial immersion, ecosystem connection and strategic outlook.
The long-term framework
Perla del Caribe and the Blue Innovation Districts
InnovAzul Caribe 2026 is not an isolated gathering. It is the public showcase, the meeting point and the acceleration platform of a long-term commitment: the Perla del Caribe project, a non-reimbursable technical cooperation between CAF and Universidad del Magdalena, prioritised by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Trade and approved by CAF in December 2025.
The Blue Innovation Districts describe an open network of territorial nodes —community, port, academic and scientific— connected to regenerate the maritory. They are neither a closed infrastructure nor a special legal figure: they are a university-led, territorial and collaborative platform for innovation, training, applied research and business incubation.
A Blue Innovation District is not an enclave. It is a living network of nodes where the sea talks to the Sierra, ports incubate businesses, beaches learn to care for themselves and communities are partners in development.
Project sheet
- Project
- Perla del Caribe: Blue Economy and Regenerative Development Innovation Ecosystem for Santa Marta and the Greater Caribbean
- Approach
- Blue Innovation Districts (BIDs): an open network of territorial nodes, not a free zone or customs figure
- Partners
- CAF · Universidad del Magdalena · CEI·MAR / University of Cádiz · Spanish Ministry of Economy and Trade · Cádiz Free Zone
- Cooperation
- USD 199,000 · Non-reimbursable technical cooperation · 15-month implementation (February 2026 – May 2027)
- Deliverables
- Pre-feasibility study of the blue innovation ecosystem · Technical-legal report · “Blue Caribbean” Strategic Portfolio · Governance and international cooperation model
- First node
- Taganga, ancestral fishing village: community epicentre of the District
- Outlook
- Scaling the model across the Greater Caribbean, including the island territories of San Andrés and Providencia
- Expert consultant
- Gunter Pauli (blue economy / ZERI)
Ecosystem components
IncubAzul Caribe
Technology-based business incubator for the blue economy, drawing on the experience of the Cádiz Free Zone and its IncubAzul incubator.
AL MAR Universities Alliance
Academic alliance of sea universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for scientific cooperation, mobility, training and shared projects.
Blue Caribbean Opportunities Portfolio
Roadmap, prepared with the advice of economist Gunter Pauli, to identify, prioritise and showcase blue innovation, investment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Marine conservation and Marine Life Centre
Environmental education, accelerated sea turtle conservation, community participation and social appropriation of knowledge.
A network of nodes activated across the territory
The Districts are activated progressively, node by node, starting with the communities and moving towards the ports, biodiversity and the university campus.
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Taganga · first community node
Ancestral fishing village where sustainable fishing, regenerative tourism, electric navigation and blue trades serve the people of the sea.
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Pueblo Viejo – Ciénaga Grande · amphibious and fishing node
Mangrove restoration, regenerative aquaculture, water quality, fisheries traceability and amphibious bioeconomy.
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Tayrona – Mendihuaca · biodiversity node
Ecological restoration, biodiversity monitoring, scientific nature tourism and environmental education.
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Katanzama · biocultural node
Knowledge dialogue, epistemic justice and protection of ancestral knowledge of the maritory.
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Ports of Santa Marta and Ciénaga · blue port innovation nodes
Blue logistics, energy transition, waste management and business incubation.
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University campus and ALUNA AI · scientific and digital brain
Ocean data, environmental artificial intelligence and digital twins of the maritory.
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Island nodes of the Greater Caribbean · scaling the model
Scaling towards San Andrés, Providencia and other territories of the Colombian Caribbean.
Communities are not the destination of blue innovation. They are its starting point.
Organised by
Universidad del Magdalena · BiO ReD Institute
Supported by
Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – CAF · International Campus of Excellence of the Sea – CEI·MAR
An activity recognised by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
Want to take part?
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