AI Sustainability
Debate & Manifesto

Toulouse, France · 30 June – 1 July 2026

Five stakeholder groups. Five perspectives on the future of AI in Europe. One structured debate. One jointly agreed manifesto.

About the Programme

What is Erasmus+ and a Blended Intensive Programme?

Erasmus+ is the European Union's flagship programme for education, training, youth, and sport. Launched in 1987, it has supported over 13 million people in studying, training, teaching, or volunteering abroad across Europe and beyond. With a budget of €26.2 billion for 2021–2027, it operates in all EU member states and dozens of partner countries worldwide.

Its mission: build a more connected, open, and skilled Europe by enabling people to learn across national borders — regardless of background. Erasmus+ funds everything from full semester exchanges and joint degrees to targeted collaborative projects.

A Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) is a specific Erasmus+ format introduced in the 2021–2027 cycle. It combines in-person mobility — students travel to a partner university in another country — with a mandatory online collaboration phase, creating a hybrid learning experience more accessible than a full semester abroad but more immersive than a purely digital course.

To qualify as an official Erasmus+ BIP, a programme must involve participants from at least three different countries. Students receive an Erasmus+ grant to help cover travel and living costs, making international academic collaboration financially accessible across all backgrounds.

🌍 What makes BIPs different? BIPs are short — typically 1 to 4 weeks — but highly focused. They bring students from different countries together to tackle a shared real-world challenge in person: rapid-fire international collaboration that a semester exchange cannot replicate.

📅 Duration of this BIP Three intensive days in Toulouse: one day of preparation and research (30 June), then the structured debate and live manifesto creation on 1 July. Students from France, Spain, Belgium, and Ireland work together throughout.

🎓 Who attends? Engineering and business students from four partner universities — ICAM, Universidad Loyola, Université de Namur, and NCI Ireland — each bringing their national and disciplinary perspective to the debate table.

⚡ Why AI Sustainability? AI systems consume enormous quantities of energy, water, and rare materials. As AI adoption accelerates across Europe, questions about its environmental, social, and regulatory costs are urgent and unresolved — exactly the kind of challenge BIPs are designed for.

The Activity

What is this debate?

This BIP takes the form of a structured stakeholder negotiation. Five teams — each representing a distinct group in the global AI ecosystem — research their stakeholder's real-world position on sustainable AI, then meet in a formal debate to present arguments, challenge each other, and negotiate toward a shared document.

The five groups are: AI Model Providers (companies building large-scale AI systems), Data Center Companies (infrastructure providers who power AI at scale), Companies Using AI (businesses across all sectors deploying AI tools), Environmentalists (scientists and advocates tracking AI's ecological footprint), and EU Regulators (the policymakers shaping Europe's legal framework for AI).

Each group develops a set of principles they want enshrined in a joint manifesto. The debate tests those principles against the perspectives of every other group — forcing negotiation, compromise, and ultimately consensus. When all five groups agree on all points, this site generates the live manifesto: a real, jointly authored document on what responsible and sustainable AI looks like in Europe.

How it unfolds

Tuesday 30 June — Preparation Teams form, research their stakeholder, define their position, and submit manifesto points. This site is built and prepared for debate day.

Wednesday 1 July — Debate Opens (9:00) Each group presents their position. Points are discussed one by one and marked agreed or disputed in real time on this site.

Negotiation & Revision Disputed points are revised through open negotiation until all groups can agree. The progress bar reflects the live state of consensus.

Manifesto Signed (by 12:00) When every point is agreed, the Create Manifesto button activates and the document is generated live — ready to download and publish.

Partner Universities