Approved project: Interreg VI France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen

Interreg VI France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen is an initiative of the European Union to stimulate cooperation on economic, social, and environmental issues between the border regions of France and Belgium. The goal is to improve the quality of life for residents in the border region and to achieve integrated territorial development. The program simultaneously promotes innovation and the preservation of shared cultural and natural heritage.

EMERGE is the first project by cultural actors since 2015 to be approved under this Interreg program.

The new cross-border platform EMERGE was conceived and developed by le Phénix in Valenciennes—recognized as a national stage and European pole of creation—together with 10 French and Belgian production houses. With this platform, the project partners aim to build a structural ecosystem in the border region for better production and distribution between cultural organizations and independent companies in Hauts-de-France, Flanders, and Wallonia.

Based on a detailed inventory of the 10 involved production houses, the platform aims to jointly deploy available resources and competencies over the 2024-2028 period to develop support trajectories tailored to the specific needs of 12 artistic companies.

Two calls, in 2024 and 2026, will allow matching the needs of companies with the resources of the project partners, thus designing a support trajectory that leads to bold and artistically excellent productions that also find their way beyond the border region into the European and international landscape.

Additionally, the platform offers a place for knowledge building and sharing for and between artists and production houses about current challenges around production and presentation. This is done through semi-annual meetings as well as online.

Partners:

Région Hauts-de-France: le Phénix National Stage European Pole of Creation Valenciennes (project leader), the Maison de la Culture d'Amiens European Pole of Creation, the Manège Maubeuge National Stage, the Rose des Vents National Stage Villeneuve d'Ascq Lille Metropolis, the Théâtre de Beauvais National Stage.

Flanders: VIERNULVIER Ghent, Kunstencentrum BUDA Kortrijk, De Grote Post Ostend.

Wallonia: Charleroi Danse, the Théâtre de Namur.

Associated partners: the National Office for Artistic Distribution, the French Institute, Kunstenpunt.