Since Monday 12th November 2012 at 9.10am, the wait had become difficult to handle... but it is now over: on Thursday 11th April 2013, ZEPA 2 project was approved by the Programme Committee of the European cross-border ERDF-funded Interreg IV A France (Channel)-England programme!
ZEPA 2 is the second phase of ZEPA 1 and will be running from 2013 to 2014. Seven arts organisations, three in the UK and four in France, will be sharing resources and experiences to develop research and university exchanges around outdoor arts and contribute to the professional development of emerging outdoor artists.
The network will also facilitate artists’ touring across various areas, particularly isolated areas, increasing interactions between artists and communities, and through the organisation of Anglo-French artistic events.
A seven-partner EU
Atelier 231 – National centre for outdoor arts (Sotteville-lès-Rouen) is lead partner for the project and Pôle National Cirque et arts de la rue d’Amiens, Le Fourneau – National centre for outdoor arts (Brest) and Culture Commune – National performing arts organisation in Bassin Minier du Pas-de-Calais are the other French partners.
These four partners and Great Yarmouth-based SeaChange Arts were already involved in ZEPA 1 and the University of Winchester and Vivacity (Peterborough) join them for ZEPA 2.
First ZEPA 2 key milestone at the beginning of June: a symposium in Peterborough involving ZEPA 2 partners, their 2nd tier partners and half a dozen French and UK compagnies to jointly develop shared artistic projects.