SEOUL DESIGN AWARD

“Forests Without Names” is a marine ecosystem conservation project by Hyundai Motor Company that gives names to sea forests that were previously not well-known to the public, enabling people to recognize and protect them. Since 2023, Hyundai Motor Company has cooperated with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to create and restore sea forests off the coast of Ulsan, and in this process, noted that sea forests, which play an important role in the marine ecosystem, were barely known to the public.

The project started from the idea that while people easily recognize and remember named terrestrial forests, places without names make it difficult to notice their existence or protect them. Accordingly, instead of viewing the problem of sea forests simply as an environmental issue, it was perceived as a problem of failing to be properly recognized by people due to a lack of names and identities.

Cooperating with marine experts, research institutions, and NGOs, Hyundai Motor Company created names reflecting the ecological and cultural characteristics of each region for major sea forests in Korea, Australia, and Argentina. For Australia's sea forest, it enabled the public to participate directly in the naming process through a global online platform. Not stopping at giving names, it established the project website 'Sea Forest Map: FORESTS WITHOUT NAMES' to visualize the locations and ecological information of sea forests so they can be checked and explored at a glance.

Newly named sea forests were reflected in the 'Sea Forest Map', and integration with existing map and data platforms such as Kakao Maps and Google Maps was also pursued. Through this, it allowed people to directly discover and understand previously invisible sea forests on maps, further establishing a foundation for sea forests to be recognized as a single place and a natural asset to be protected.

The campaign was publicized domestically and internationally around Earth Month in April and Marine Arbor Day on May 10, leading to the participation of public institutions such as the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency. In particular, it was introduced as a major case enhancing social awareness of sea forests at official Marine Arbor Day events, serving as an opportunity to broaden related discussions.

Forests Without Names did not stop at spreading the necessity of environmental protection, but gave identity to unnamed sea forests and visualized location and ecological information so people could directly discover and remember them. It is meaningful in that it transformed invisible nature into an object that society must recognize and protect through familiar methods such as 'naming' and 'maps'. Hyundai Motor Company received a Presidential Citation in recognition of its contributions to sea forest creation and marine ecosystem restoration, and this project won a Bronze Lion in the Creative Data category at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.