Jump to content

Community action/Folkestone and Hythe

From Appropedia
Aerial photograph of Folkestone, Kent. Author: John D Fielding
Loading map...

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 Plans for major overhaul of councils halted, BBC News (Sep 07, 2026)
  • News The UK towns at risk of running out of water within six weeks, inews.co.uk (Aug 12, 2026)
  • News ‘It’s irreplaceable’: Fury over Reform plans to expand quarry in ancient Kent woodland, theguardian.com (Jul 30, 2026)
  • News Severe drought declared in six areas of England as reservoirs run low, theguardian.com (Oct 15, 2026)
  • News Ardingly Reservoir falls below 20% as drought persists, BBC News (Oct 14, 2026)
  • News Hospital appointments can make greener travel harder, theconversation.com (Oct 08, 2026)
  • News Citizens need to power Europe's future, demnext.substack.com (Oct 02, 2026) — The EU can enable new democratic institutions: in European countries; with a European Citizens’ Assembly as a 4th branch of government, and by legally enforcing the Global Citizens’ Assembly on AI, Claudia Chwalisz and Another Democratic Future
  • News Reclaiming the streets: the architects clawing back Europe’s car-centric spaces, theguardian.com (Sep 09, 2026) — The European Prize for Urban Public Space’s shortlist highlights projects helping people cope with climate crisis
  • News We’re the mayors of Paris, Milan and Phoenix. The heat crisis has us all facing the same question, Emmanuel Grégoire, Giuseppe Sala and Kate Gallego, theguardian.com (Sep 07, 2026) — Our three cities are learning from each other about how to protect residents. These climate policies are also public health measures
  • News Hunter Valley community group wins landmark high court climate change case over coalmine, theguardian.com (Oct 07, 2026) — Ruling on Mount Pleasant coalmine shows ‘we cannot continue to dig up coal … and pretend the consequences have nothing to do with us’, group says
  • News Citizens need to power Europe's future, demnext.substack.com (Oct 02, 2026) — The EU can enable new democratic institutions: in European countries; with a European Citizens’ Assembly as a 4th branch of government, and by legally enforcing the Global Citizens’ Assembly on AI, Claudia Chwalisz and Another Democratic Future
  • News Fifty Billion Seedlings: Can Ethiopia Replant Its Ravaged Forests?, e360.yale.edu (Oct 01, 2026)

UK and international events

[edit | edit source]

UK events

  • Event Nov 9 - 15, 2026 (Mon - Sun) — Living Wage Week, livingwage.org.uk
  • Event Nov 13, 2026 (Fri) — Kindness Day UK, Nov 13 annually, aiming to increase the value of kindness in society as well as increase the amount of kind acts that take place, making kindness a greater part in our daily life, kindnessuk.com
  • Event Nov 15 - 21, 2026 (Sun - Sat) — Road Safety Week, brake.org.uk
  • Event Nov 21 - 29, 2026 (Sat - Sun) — National Tree Week, The Tree Council's annual tree celebration. People across the country planting thousands of trees to mark the start of the winter tree planting season. "Trees and hedgerows are some of the most powerful tools we have in the fight against climate change.", treecouncil.org.uk

UK community action events

Global or international events

  • Event Nov 05, 2026 (Thu) — Media Liberation Day, Change the Media, Change the Future, mediarevolution.org
  • Event Nov 13, 2026 (Fri) — World Kindness Day, Nov 13, annually, highlighting good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness for good which binds us, randomactsofkindness.org
  • Event Nov 15, 2026 (Sun) — World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, third Sunday in November each year, worlddayofremembrance.org
  • Event Nov 16, 2026 (Mon) — International Day for Tolerance, Nov 16 each year, fostering respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human, unesco.org
  • Event Nov 19, 2026 (Thu) — International Men's Day, Nov 19, annually
  • Event Nov 27 & 28, 2026 — Buy Nothing Day, en.wikipedia.org
  • Event Nov 27, 2026 (Fri) — Citizen Friday, actionism.space

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.

mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
Building a Secure Cycling Network, Cyclehoop, The Power of Cycling
Authors: European Cyclists' Federation and Content With Purpose, 3.36 mins.
Date: 2026-09-15
mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
When will the drought end?
Authors: Tom Edwards, BBC London, 3.07 mins.
Date: 2026-08-26
mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
The Route Forward
Authors: Cycling UK, 6.13 mins.
Date: 2026-09-22

Community action/United Kingdom/Cycling activism, Community action/South East England/Saving water / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

Folkestone and Hythe video

[edit | edit source]
mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
16 Years of Folkestone Creativity
Authors: Creative Folkestone, Mar 25, 2019

Networks and sustainability initiatives

[edit | edit source]

Events

[edit | edit source]

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

[edit | edit source]

Arts and culture

[edit | edit source]

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

[edit | edit source]

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

[edit | edit source]

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

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

Open spaces

[edit | edit source]

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

[edit | edit source]

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

[edit | edit source]

Ashford - Canterbury - Dover

See also

[edit | edit source]
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 32 page views (analytics)
Created January 31, 2022 by Phil Green
Last edit September 16, 2026 by Felipe Schenone
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.