Since it opened in 1991, Nausicaà, the French National Sea Centre, based in Boulogne-sur-Mer, at the crossroads between three major European cities – Paris, London and Brussels – has attracted 20 million visitors, more than 30% of whom have come from outside France.

Nausicaà is a unique place where visitors can discover the marine environment. At once entertaining, educational and scientific, the Centre derives its originality from its main focus on the relationship between human beings and the sea. The mission that the Centre has set itself is primarily to raise public awareness about the importance of managing the oceans and their resources in a sustainable way toward a Blue Society. Services proposed: Nausicaà venue includes a bookshop, a multi-media centre, auditoriums, several café / bars, and a restaurant. NAUSICAA offers daily activities and services in 4 languages: French, English, Dutch and German.

Nausicaà team coordinated EU funded regional (ERDF) projects and cross-border (Interreg) initiatives with partners from France, UK, Ireland, Belgium & Netherlands, to foster awareness of marine related topics and active Citizenship of the Ocean. They also coordinated the DG Research & Innovation funded OCEANICS pan-european project (FP5 2003-5) and Sea for Society Mobilisation and Mutual Learning Action Plan (FP7 2012-2015), to engage with educators and stakeholders throughout Europe and craft the concept of Blue Society. The ECSITE office and ECSITE members were instrumental to the success of these cooperation initiatives.