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Community action/Folkestone and Hythe

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Aerial photograph of Folkestone, Kent. Author: John D Fielding
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Location Folkestone and Hythe, Kent, England
Coordinates 51° 3' 27.89" N, 1° 0' 21.86" E

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Folkestone and Hythe.

Folkestone
Kent
UK
Europe
Earth
  • News Library building sell-off is 'lazy option' - MP, BBC News (Jan 12, 2026)
  • News Forum to allow young people to shape Folkestone & Hythe's future, BBC News (Feb 24, 2025)
  • News Rural communities awarded cash help, BBC News (Jan 11, 2025)
  • News Hedgerows the 'unsung heroes of the countryside', BBC News (Feb 16, 2026) — A group of Kent volunteers is aiming to provide vital habitat for wildlife by planting about 3,800 yards (3,500m) of hedgerows in the countryside this year.
  • News ‘To live a normal life again, it’s a dream come true’: UK’s first climate evacuees can cast off their homes and trauma, theguardian.com (Feb 09, 2026)
  • News Behind the scenes as GPs face 'tidal wave of demand', BBC News (Jan 22, 2026)
  • News WL Meets: Zoe Gilbertson who is refashioning textiles from the ground up, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (May 13, 2026) — Nick Easen meets designer Zoe Gilbertson who wants to revive the UK textile sector, with sustainability woven in from the start
  • News Fixing social care: Report highlights potential of co-op model in the UK, thenews.coop (May 08, 2026) — Commissioned by Co-operatives UK and Cwmpas, the study found co-ops provide ‘fairer, better quality, community-rooted care’
  • News Our Land: who owns the countryside? New documentary explores the access divide in England and Wale, theconversation.com (May 08, 2026)
  • News Rewilding giants: captive elephants rehomed in Europe’s first sanctuary, theguardian.com (May 07, 2026)
  • News Sail-power offers passengers new crossing between England and France, reuters.com (Apr 28, 2026)
  • News Europe needs affordable, low‑carbon homes – here’s how Barcelona is reimagining its housing system, theconversation.com (Apr 08, 2026)
  • News How one Kenyan community is building a new future on reclaimed ground, globalvoices.org (May 14, 2026)
  • News Data Centres Need a Social License to Operate, demnext.substack.com (May 13, 2026) — How lessons from citizens' assemblies are highly relevant for the future of AI infrastructure and data centres, Another Democratic Future and Claudia Chwalisz
  • News Argentina’s co-operativas escolares: A case study in co-op education, thenews.coop (May 12, 2026) — In 1946, national legislation formally established the teaching of co-operativism and the creation of school co-operatives

UK and international events

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UK events

UK community action events

Global or international events

  • Event May 1 - 3, 2026 (Fri - Sun) first weekend of May every yearJane's Walk, How to Lead a Jane's Walk, Video, janeswalk.org
  • Event May 03, 2026 (Sun) — International dawn chorus day, first Sunday of May, wildlifetrusts.org
  • Event May 3 - 9, 2026 (Sun - Sat) — International Compost Awareness Week, compostfoundation.org
  • Event May 9 and Oct 10, 2026 — World Migratory Bird Day, worldmigratorybirdday.org
  • Event May 20, 2026 (Wed) — World Bee Day, May 20 each year, fao.org
  • Event May 21, 2026 (Thu) — Outdoor Classroom Day, celebrating and inspiring outdoor learning and play, outdoorclassroomday.com
  • Event May 22, 2026 (Fri) — International Day for Biological Diversity, May 22 every year, cbd.int

2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events

Cosmolocal discovery club

Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.

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Future Rural Voices: perspectives on the countryside’s future
Authors: Campaign to Protect Rural England, 2.35 mins.
Date: 2026-05-07
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Local Power, Lower Bills: Up the Energy!
Authors: Community Energy England, 1.38 mins.
Date: 2026-03-10
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Tiree - This is Community Wealth Building
Authors: Scottish Community Alliance, 3.44 mins.
Date: 2025-11-18

Rural sustainability UK, Community energy UK, Community action/Argyll and Bute / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

Folkestone and Hythe video

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16 Years of Folkestone Creativity
Authors: Creative Folkestone, Mar 25, 2019

Networks and sustainability initiatives

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Events

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The Hythe Venetian Fete is a traditional "floating tableaux" (water carnival) that dates and derives back to the 1860s Hythe Cricket Week. It takes place on the third Wednesday in August, every two years, on the Royal Military Canal at Hythe in Kent, England.

The competitive fete is largely sponsored by local businesses and media (some of which have their own themed floats) and also features related entertainments, refreshments, band concerts, and fireworks throughout the evening illuminated variation.

Community energy

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Arts and culture

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Creative Folkestone Quarterhouse (also known as Quarterhouse) is a performance and exhibition space in Folkestone, Kent, England. It is used for activities including theatre, dance, music, film, comedy, family shows, and live screenings from organisations including National Theatre and Royal Opera House. The venue is also home to numerous festivals, including Creative Folkestone Book Festival, Normal? Festival of the Brain, and SALT Festival of the Sea and Environment.

Community radio

Folkestone ( FOHK-stən) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal resort for most of the 19th and mid-20th centuries.

This location has had a settlement since the Mesolithic era. A nunnery was founded by Eanswith, granddaughter of Æthelberht of Kent in the 7th century, who is still commemorated as part of the town's culture. During the 13th century, it developed into a seaport, and the harbour developed during the early 19th century to defend against a French invasion. Folkestone expanded further west after the arrival of the railway in 1843 as an elegant coastal resort, thanks to the investment of the Earl of Radnor under the urban plan of Decimus Burton.

In its Edwardian-era heyday, Folkestone was considered the most fashionable resort of the time, visited by royalty — amongst them Queen Victoria and Edward VII and other members of the English aristocracy. The town's architecture, especially in the West End part, is a testimony of this period, with many impressive buildings, townhouses, villas, private squares, and large hotels built to accommodate the gentry. After two world wars and the boom of the overseas holiday package, the town quickly declined. The harbour's trade diminished following the opening of the nearby Channel Tunnel and the ending of ferry services from Folkestone, but it still remains in active use.

Shoreline 100.2FM is the community radio station for Hythe and Romney Marsh and has been broadcasting since January 2020. Academy FM 105.9FM, the community radio station for Folkestone can also be received in parts of Hythe. W

Sustainable transport

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Several long distance footpaths cross the District, including the Saxon Shore Way and the North Downs Way; shorter walks include the "Elham Valley Walk" and the "Royal Military Canal Path". W

The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, 163 miles (262 km) in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the route runs significantly inland from the modern coastline.

Cycling

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National Cycle Route 2 (or NCR 2) is a route of the United Kingdom National Cycle Network, running from Dover to St Austell. When complete, the route will be 581 km (361 miles) long.


Dover to Hastings: The route follows the Chalk and Channel Way along the cliff tops to Folkestone and crosses Romney Marsh to Lydd. From Rye it follows the coast into Hastings.

Biodiversity

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  • The Fifth Continent, Romney Marsh Landscape conservation scheme. link checked 17:04, 2 February 2022 (UTC)

Open spaces

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East Cliff and Warren Country Park is formed of the East Cliffs of Folkestone, the sandy beaches of East Wear Bay and the land-slipped nature reserve land between the cliffs and the sea.

After the Country Park was set up, grazing animals were banned, this has allowed shrubs and trees to seed naturally across the site. Patches of wildflower meadow still exist and these are the favoured habitats of various rare insects. The Warren is an important habitat for many insects. Over 330 species of moth have been recorded visiting the site.

The White Cliffs Countryside Project, who are assisting by local volunteers to maintain the remaining areas of chalk grassland and meadow. They have created open grassy corridor habitats along the footpaths so that the wild flowers and insects can survive and access other parts of the important nature reserve.

The Saxon Shore Way and North Downs Way, (long distance trails lead through the park between Folkestone and Dover, via Capel-le-Ferne. Beside Wear Bay Road, on the northern fringes of the park, is Little Switzerland Camping Site; it is so named because of the mountainous-looking white cliffs nearby. The Tea Chalet is within the camp site. W

About Folkestone and Hythe

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Folkestone and Hythe is a local government district in Kent, England. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the coast of the English Channel. The district was formed in 1974 and was originally named Shepway after one of the ancient lathes of Kent, which had covered a similar area. The district was renamed in 2018. The council is based in Folkestone, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Hawkinge, Hythe, Lydd and New Romney, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

The North Downs hills extend into the north of the district, parts of which fall within the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of the Kent Downs. Much of the south of the district forms the low-lying Romney Marsh, an area of land partly reclaimed from the sea. The district contains the Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal, the main interchange for road vehicles at the UK end of the Channel Tunnel.

The neighbouring districts (anti-clockwise from north-east) are Dover, Canterbury, Ashford and Rother. The latter is in East Sussex, the rest are in Kent. To the south-east is the sea.

Near you

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Ashford - Canterbury - Dover

See also

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Page data
Keywords Sustainable community action
SDG SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 1 pages link here
Redirects Folkestone and Hythe community action
Views 17 page views (analytics)
Created January 31, 2022 by Phil Green
Last edit January 12, 2026 by Phil Green
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