On the occasion of its second birthday, the Straits Committee is pleased to announce the first projects that will be supported under The Straits Committee’s Small Project Initiative.
The Straits Committee launched its “Small Project Initiative” in 2021 to give a boost to local-to-local cross-Channel cooperation where a tangible benefit from working together can be demonstrated. Projects must involve at least 2 organisations from 2 different Straits Committee areas and from 2 different countries. Applicants that are successful receive funding from their home local authority.
The first call for projects closed in November 2021 and, on 1st December 2021, the members of the Straits Executive Committee agreed to support the following projects:
Name of the project : L’Onde Théâtrale — Episode 4
Project partners: La COMPAGNIE 8 (Nord); University of Kent School of Arts (Kent)
Regions involved: Nord (FR); Kent (FR)
This project will bring students from the universities of Lille and Kent together over a period of one week to develop and perform an artistic creation on the theme of international cooperation through multilingualism. At the end of the residency, the performance wil be recorded and a critical analysis of the creative process will be produced.
Name of the project : Sport, culture, youth: at the core of the exchange
Project partners : Union Sportive et de Jeunesse du Montreuillois (FR) ; K.F.C. Varsenare (BE)
Regions involved: Pas-de-Calais (FR); West-Flanders (BE)
This mobility and intercultural exchange project for young people aged 14-15 years old builds on a shared passion for football as a vector for fostering cultural openness. Each club will host a tournament and invite their partner to participate. The tournament will be the opportunity for the young people taking part in the project to get to know each other through sport and to discover a new culture, language and local heritage. A video report will be realised to communicate on this experience.
Name of the project : Platform for Art and Play – Plateforme de jeux et création
Project partners : Artconnexion (FR); Strange Cargo Arts Company Ltd (UK)
Regions involved: Nord (FR); Kent (UK)
This project will deliver a cross-border education and arts project on the theme of ecology between secondary school students from the Nord department of France (Denain) and from Kent (Cheriton, Folkestone). Working with a contemporary artist, the young people will co-create a cross-border game around the theme of climate change and make two permanent sculptures for display.
The Straits Committee wishes all applicants every success with their projects and hopes they will inspire many other projects that can benefit the Straits area to come forward.
In 2022, the Straits Committee is particularly looking for fresh and innovative ideas for projects that can help implement the priorities of the Straits Committee’s vision and strategy. If you have an idea for a project, please get in touch with your member authority. Contact details can be found on our contact us page.
The next deadline for submitting projects to the Straits Committee is 7th June 2022, with decisions on applications to be taken in July.
