FCE programme marks project closure, with round-up of greatest achievements

The France (Channel) England Programme has reached a huge milestone with almost all its 51 approved projects completing their project activities at the end of June. 

The programme has committed €227 million ERDF to 51 projects (including 8 micro projects) that have been funded across 3 priority areas with 5 specific objectives focused on driving innovation, low carbon technology and protecting the regions natural and cultural heritage.  

In total, 12 projects have now been fully closed with the most recent being LabFact and BIOCIRC. The remainder of our projects (except for three of our targeted projects) completed their activities on 30 June 2023 and all projects will be fully closed by the end of this year.

Over the lifetime of the programme, projects have overcome multiple hurdles from Brexit to Covid-19, demonstrating flexibility and resilience.  We’ve highlighted some of our project’s greatest achievements below. 

Project Awards

Over the lifetime of the programme, projects have overcome multiple hurdles from Brexit to Covid-19, demonstrating flexibility and resilience.  We’ve highlighted some of our project’s greatest achievements below.

Nearly 20 awards have been received by FCE projects across the programme lifetime. Most notably, in 2019, CobBauge won the EU REGIOSTARS Award for Connecting Green, Blue & Grey and the following year, Coo-l Food won the REGIOSTARS Award for Circular Economy for a Green Europe.  

Other significant awards include FLOWER winning first prize in the Design, Furniture & Home category at the International JEC Innovation Awards in 2022, Increase VS winning Innovator of the Year at the UK Housing Awards in 2021, Marineff winning the Habitat Creation award at the CIRIA Biodiversity Challenge Awards and EXPERIENCE winning the 2023 Travel Marketing Award in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Campaign category.

 CobBauge receiving their Regiostars award in 2019

High-Profile Visits

Our projects have been visited Royals and Government officials.  In late 2020, then French Secretary of State for People with Disabilities, Sophie Cluzel, visited ADAPT project, to see how its smart wheelchair technology and simulator for wheelchair driving in virtual reality has been benefiting patients with mobility difficulties. 

In November 2021, FISH INTEL project received a visit by HRH The Princess Royal in Plymouth where she learnt about the project’s pioneering efforts to protect and enhance the marine environment. That same year, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales visited the Bio-Cultural Heritage Tourism project at one of its Biosphere Reserves in North Devon.

French Secretary of State for People with Disabilities, Sophie Cluzel, visiting the ADAPT project in 2020

Policy Wins

We are proud to have funded Interreg’s biggest ever project, the €46 million TIGER project, which is a cross-border partnership between 18 UK and French organisations set up to drive growth in the tidal stream energy industry. 

As well as testing and developing tidal stream energy, and providing an evidence base for it becoming part of the UK and France’s future energy mix, the project has engaged extensively with policy makers.

TIGERs efforts paid off and in early 2023, the UK Government announced that it will invest £20 million per year across the UK in tidal stream electricity as part of its flagship Contracts for Difference renewable energy auction scheme. Then in July 2023, the French Government announced a boost for the tidal sector, with €65m and revenue support allocated to TIGER project partner HydroQuest towards its tidal farm FloWatt at one of the most powerful sites in the world, Normandy’s Raz Blanchard. 

TIGER (click here to visit its website) has also been recognised at a number of awards including securing a highly commended for Delivering Green Growth at the ADEPT Awards and first place in the Seanergy 2022 R&D Awards.

TIGER (Tidal Stream Industry Energiser) is Interreg's largest ever project.

Big Moments

There are so many new designs and infrastructure created as part of the FCE project. Some of the most memorable are: 

• CobBauge project building the UK’s first domestic CobBauge house in Fakenham, Norfolk
• EXPERIENCE project launching its 250-mile Norfolk Way Art Trail and five new impressive sculptures and the launch of a new 230km scenic cycling route in Cornwall
• Smart-T project developing a first of its kind ‘smart bandage’ that could help patients with chronic wounds avoid infections
• Cool Food Pro’s carbon saving calculator app to help tackle carbon emissions in the catering sector
• REVERT project launched a one-stop, multidisciplinary clinic at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge to help identify and treat people with normal pressure hydrocephalus and other cerebrospinal fluid disorders
• The Preventing Plastic Pollution project was championed by Olympic Champion in sailing and Team GB flagbearer Hannah Mills at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. A flyer produced on its behalf was included in Team GB’s Olympic kit bags, encouraging British athletes to become plastic pollution prevention ambassadors.

Flint in Norwich, one of the five new artworks created for the Norfolk Way Art Trail 

 Media Coverage

Projects have enjoyed a great deal of media coverage on both sides of the channel. Highlights include:

• REVERT project feature on regional TV both BBC and ITV in June 2022
• FLOWER national TV coverage on French news channel TF1 which included interviews with key members of the project explaining the use of flax in biocomposites
• BBC Countryfile report on PACCo’s Lower Otter Restoration Project in 2022
• EXPERIENCE project feature on page 16 and 17 of the June Travel Guide in the Evening Standard
• ABCD, PPP and C-CARE were profiled in the following French media outlets: Ouest-France, RCF, Le Telegramme and Terra.

A bird's eye view of PACCo's Lower Otter Restoration project in Devon

End of Project Resources

One of the legacies of the FCE programme is the resource and guidance packs that projects have created as part of their outputs.  These can be accessed via project websites. We’ve included links to recent publications below: 

• BLUEPRINT published slides and reports produced for its Circular Economy Roadshow

Reports and presentations | Project Blueprint

• AWE has provided an in-depth toolkit for potential female entrepreneurs to access

What is contained in the Legacy Toolkit? – Accelerating Womens Enterprise

• INDIGO published multiple resources including research, a good practice guide for end-of-life fishing gear and specification for two prototypes of biodegradable fishing gear

Deliverables – INdIGO (indigo-interregproject.eu)

• CobBauge, which has developed the first domestic CobBauge house in Europe, published training videos, a guide for builders and designers, among other resources to promote low carbon construction using cob.

Technical documentation - CobBauge

Find out more about our projects 

• Project summaries (links to project websites)
• Project videos
• Project news & project closure interviews