Engineers, Artists, Designers, Managers: when students join forces to address societal, technological and environmental challenges
As part of the Artem Alliance (art, technology, management), which brings together the École nationale supérieure d’art et de design de Nancy (Ensad Nancy), ICN Business School and Mines Nancy, students from the three institutions will take part in a unique educational challenge: “Artem Insight.” From 24 to 28 November 2025, engineering, art and management students will work together on topics reflecting today’s societal, technological and environmental issues. Their mission? To develop concrete solutions to the real-world challenges faced by local stakeholders.
Over 250 students combining their expertise to serve the region
Bringing together future engineers, managers, artists and designers to tackle companies’ key challenges: this is the promise of Artem Insight, which will gather 263 students this year, divided into 30 mixed teams.
The ten partner organisations involved in the event will submit cross-disciplinary challenges: an artistic component drawing on the expertise of Ensad Nancy students; a technological component designed to challenge the engineering students of Mines Nancy; and finally a management component for the students of ICN Business School.
This exercise gives participants the opportunity to work on concrete cases and propose meaningful solutions to real issues encountered by companies and local stakeholders (public authorities, associations, etc.). Artem Insight showcases the strength of the synergies made possible by the Artem Alliance, enabling students—guided by instructors from all three schools—to immerse themselves in issues that may initially seem far removed from their field of expertise.
From Decathlon’s urban bike to gender diversity at Enedis: real-world challenges tackled through interdisciplinarity
The ten challenges assigned to students fall within one of the six structuring themes of the Artem2030 project — from sustainable materials to the use of natural resources, and from arts and culture to societal issues.
Firmly rooted in real-world needs, these challenges have been submitted by major companies such as Decathlon or Enedis, mid-sized firms like the Pando Group, and local stakeholders including the Nancy University Hospital (CHRU) or the City of Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy.
One of them, proposed by Decathlon, invites students from the three schools to anticipate the future by imagining a modular, sustainable urban bicycle concept that responds to the mobility needs of city dwellers in 2030 while ensuring economic viability. Engineering students will focus on innovative materials, reparability and recyclability; art, design and communication students will work on aesthetics, ergonomics and user experience; and management students will be responsible for defining a robust and realistic business model.
Another challenge concerns CurioKids, a screen-free educational voice assistant based on artificial intelligence and designed with ethics at its core. Students will be asked to rethink child–technology interaction by addressing a central question: how can a screenless educational voice assistant be improved in terms of design, ergonomics, use cases and parental trust?
Pando, a mission-driven company encompassing 8 businesses and 11 expert brands in custom joinery, is asking students to imagine how to preserve brand identity, value and competitiveness in an e-commerce landscape transformed by AI and data. A challenge fully aligned with the company’s DNA: combining local roots, purposeful innovation and responsible performance.
Other teams will tackle an equally strategic issue: rethinking gender diversity within the regional management of Enedis in Lorraine. Despite progress, women currently represent only 20% of the workforce and just 13% of technical positions. Students from the Artem Alliance will therefore be asked to propose an ambitious and creative regional action plan, leveraging innovative educational approaches to drive lasting change.
About Artem
Artem — short for Art, Technology and Management — is an original initiative developed by three institutions (École nationale supérieure d’art et de design de Nancy, ICN Business School and Mines Nancy). It combines creative approaches and technological innovation with managerial, strategic, economic and legal perspectives.
By bringing together the cultures of Mines Nancy’s scientists and engineers, ICN Business School’s managers, and the artists and designers from Ensad Nancy, the Artem Alliance encourages students to think outside the box, immersing them in issues and logics that lie beyond their primary field of expertise.
