14 ° C
Profile

Tag: monaco

Monaco Energy Boat Challenge to return to the Principality for 13th edition

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
28/02/2026

The Yacht Club de Monaco will once again host the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge from July 8th to 11th, bringing together 43 teams from 21 nationalities across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa for four days of sustainable boat racing.

Under the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, UBS, BMW and SBM Offshore, the 13th edition will see students, universities, technical colleges and industry professionals not only present unique solutions but also test their prototypes with one goal in mind: speeding up the energy transition in yachting.

“This event is a platform for exchange and knowledge sharing. By bringing together hundreds of young engineers, we are reaffirming yet again our commitment to making Monaco a testing ground where students, manufacturers and institutions can work together on sustainable solutions for the boats of tomorrow,” said Bernard d’Alessandri, Yacht Club de Monaco’s Director and General Secretary.

The event also provides a unique opportunity for more than 1,000 students and young engineers to advance their careers, all while being in the epicentre of innovation.

During a prototype testing, photo credit: Yacht Club de Monaco

Many of the competing teams are not newcomers either, bringing years of development work with them and projects across areas like eco-design, hydrogen-electric hybridisation and smart energy management.

Four categories, four frontiers

The 43 teams are split across four categories. First is the AI Class which draws 11 teams building fully autonomous vessels that rely on sensors, algorithms and onboard systems to navigate real-word conditions at sea.

Then, the Energy Class is the largest, with 26 teams all racing on the same standardised hull, a format designed to put energy management strategies, rather than boat design, under the microscope.

During last year’s edition, photo credit: Yacht Club de Monaco

Following, the SeaLab Class gives six teams room to experiment with less conventional technologies, among them a methanol-powered prototype, as an alternative to the more established electric and hydrogen approaches.

Lastly, the Open Sea Class is open to CE-certified zero-emission boats and functions as a showcase for production-ready vessels.

In terms of the technology on the water, 33 of the registered prototypes feature battery-electric systems, 9 incorporate hydrogen technologies, 1 runs on methanol and 9 are fitted with foils.

Alongside the on-water competition, Tech Talks and a Job Forum will give contestants the chance to meet and exchange with professionals from across the maritime industry.

See also: 

Monaco Yacht Club to launch first ever Yachting Student Fair this March

Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Main photo source: YCM

Monaco’s GirlBoss mentoring event returns

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
27/02/2026

Girls and young women aged 11 to 25 are invited to meet some of Monaco’s most accomplished female leaders in an afternoon of open, small group mentoring sessions designed to inspire the next generation. 

The Speed Mentoring GirlBoss event, now in its fifth year, is organised by SheCanHeCan and the Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises de Monaco (AFCEM), with the support of the ComitĂ© for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights.

It is set to take place on 4th March, coinciding with International Women’s Rights Day, at Le MĂ©ridien Beach Plaza, starting at 3pm.

Participants will move through a series of small-group session with the chance to ask mentors about their career paths, the obstacles they have faced and how they got where they are. The goal is for young women to see that it’s possible. Then, they will be more likely to believe it possible for themselves.

During the previous edition of the GirlBoss event, photo credit: SheCanHeCan

More than 20 mentors will be present, spanning fields including finance, architecture, logistics, pharmaceuticals and haute couture.

Among the confirmed names are internationally acclaimed Monegasque pianistStella Almondo, founder of Little Wonders and member of the Grimaldi family Marie Ducruet, Monaco’s Interministerial Delegate for Women’s Rights CĂ©line Cottalorda, Director of the CHPG BenoĂ®te Rousseau de Sevelinges, and BĂ©atrice Fresko-Rolfo, member of the National Council.

Those wishing to register can do so by visiting: shecanhecan.org/speedmentoring

Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Main photo credit: SheCanHeCan.

Princess Grace Irish Library to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with free event

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
26/02/2026

The Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco will host a free evening of Irish theatre and music on Thursday 19th March at 7pm to mark St Patrick’s Day, giving a fun opportunity for guests to celebrate the day and dress up in green.

Actors from the Monaco-Ireland Arts Society, directed by Virginia Disney Connell, will perform readings drawn from the letters and journal entries between three of Ireland’s most known literary figures: James Joyce, W.B Yeats and Oliver St. John Gogarty.

Additionally, the evening will feature guitar performances by Philippe Loli, professor at the Académie Rainier III de Monaco and member of the renowned Aïghetta Quartet, which was created in Monte Carlo in 1979 and has since performed worldwide.

The Monaco-Ireland Arts Society, photo credit: Princess Grace Irish Library

The musical performance is set to pay tribute to a lesser-known aspect of James Joyce’s life, who except of being the renowned author of Ulysses, he was also an accomplished singer and guitarist.

For those wondering about the date, the reason the event takes place on the 19th instead of St Patrick’s Day itself is to avoid a clash with an Irish-themed evening being held at the Monaco Yacht Club on the 17th.

Entry is free, though reservations are required due to limited space and can be made at pgil.mc or by emailing info@pgil.mc.

A few days earlier, the library also features a talk on 5th March by Writer-in-Residence Jeanne Sutton, supported by the Ireland Funds Monaco, on the theme of Irish heroines in migrant fiction.

Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Main photo credit: Princess Grace Irish Library

MSR Jbonet: The firm behind Monaco’s most familiar places

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
25/02/2026

Most people rarely notice the furniture around them – the reception counters at a hospital, the dividers in a school corridor, the seating in a conference hall. And yet these elements quietly shape our daily lives.

In Monaco, one family-run business has been furnishing and fitting out Monaco’s public and private spaces for over 50 years. MSR Jbonet has contributed to projects like the Grimaldi Forum, which it furnished when the building opened and for which it later supplied part of the extension works.

The firm has also installed glazed partitioning systems at the British School of Monaco as the campus expanded, and carried out office fit-outs for the Monaco Red Cross, alongside projects for banks and private clients in the Principality.

Built for performance, not display

More recently, the company has been involved in supplying furniture for the New Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace (NCHPG), continuing a relationship with the hospital that spans more than a decade. The current work includes office furniture, reception areas, staff lockers and counters.

“It has to be robust, very resistant, with a fairly classic design and materials that can stand the test of time,” said administrator Gilles Benhamou, referring to the specific requirements of hospital environments. In such settings, durability and practicality take precedence, with furniture subject to constant use.

Different sectors, different needs

Of course, the demands differ depending on the sector. In schools such as the British School of Monaco, glazed dividers have been used to create flexible spaces while maintaining light and visibility.

Meanwhile, in commercial settings such as banks and offices, aesthetic and functional requirements shift again. Banking projects may call for more decorative materials, while modern office environments have evolved with hybrid working patterns and dense layouts.

Clients increasingly request enclosed booths, informal meeting areas and multipurpose staff kitchens, often with integrated power and connectivity built directly into furnishings.

Each project, Benhamou said, begins with understanding the brief. “The first job is to understand what the client or the architect is looking for. Then we adapt and propose solutions that match the project.”

Now, while all these fit-puts remain largely unnoticed by those who use them, they play a vital role in the daily running of Monaco’s public and professional spaces

Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Main photo credit: Monaco Life

Monaco warns of threat to international order at UN Human Rights Council

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
25/02/2026

Monaco is not a country that typically takes sides. The Principality has long preferred quiet diplomacy over public positions, and so its interventions at international forums tend toward the measured and uncontroversial. However, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 23rd February, Isabelle Berro-AmadeĂŻ chose to speak bluntly about the state of the world.

Isabelle Berro AmadeĂŻ, Monaco’s Minister of External Relations and Cooperation, addressed the High-Level Segment of the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, delivering her message by video.

She raised concern over what she sees as a dangerous drift in international affairs: the sidelining of legal norms, the decline of multilateral cooperation, and an increasing willingness among states to resort to force over dialogue.

Pointing to conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Iran and Sudan, she argued that in each case, it’s ordinary people that bear the consequences, when might trumps right.

“Force can conquer, but only law can build,” she stated.

Berro-AmadeĂŻ also advocated for a stronger UN human rights architecture, calling for greater institutional capacity within the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and announcing that Monaco would be increasing its voluntary financial contribution to the body.

The Human Right Council is the UN’s principal body for the promotion and protection of human rights. It’s 61st session runs in Geneva until 31st March 2026

Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Main photo source: Government Communications Department

Fontvielle’s Avenue des Papalins to get a green makeover

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
24/02/2026

A landscaping project is under way on Avenue des Papalins in Fontvieille, aimed at transforming a key pedestrian route in the district and improving the quality of life of residents and pedestrians. 

The project will see existing planters enlarged to create 111 square metres of new green space, forming a continuous green barrier between traffic and pavement, making the area both safer and more pleasant to use.

Seasonal flower beds will be replaced with long-lasting Mediterranean plants designed to provide colour throughout the year.

Additionally, seven new trees will be added, a mix of large-flowered magnolias and bitter orange trees, to complement the citrus trees already lining the street.

Magnolias were selected due to their environmental benefits: their dense canopy can help reduce urban heat, while their leaves trap fine particles from the air.

On-site banner of the work being done, photo by Monaco Life

Meanwhile, all existing trees will be retained, and contractors have been instructed to take particular care to protect their root systems during construction.

The new planters will also include an upgraded watering system, improving water management.

Current use of the avenue will remain in place. However, 32 surface parking spaces for two-wheelers will be removed. In exchange, 52 new two-wheeler spaces will be created inside the Papalins car park, including 14 designated for electric vehicles. This will increase overall capacity while freeing up surface space for greenery.

The works are expected to continue until early March and they form part of Monaco’s National Biodiversity Strategy, which aims to expand green spaces and increase tree planting across the Principality by 2030.

Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Main photo credit: Kyriaki Topalidou, Monaco Life