The making of Cross-Channel Geopark Transmanche 

The Cross-Channel Geopark Transmanche is a landscape without borders, where chalk ridges, cliffs, and seabed geology connect the Kent Downs in the UK with the Caps et Marais d’Opale in France. Stretching across the English Channel, this shared landscape tells a story written over millions of years. 

Since 2022, partners across both sides of the Channel have been working together to transform this unique geological landscape into a living, learning, and connected Geopark. As we move closer to our UNESCO Global Geopark designation, 2026 marks a moment to reflect on how far we have come and the impact being created along the way. 

Inspiring curiosity in the next generation 

95 schools and 6,500 students engaged 

Young people are at the heart of the Geopark’s future. Since 2022, we have worked with 95 schools and reached more than 6,500 students through hands-on learning and outdoor discovery. 

In classrooms across Kent and Pas-de-Calais, students are discovering the chalk beneath their playgrounds is the same chalk that forms the cliffs just across the sea. It is a simple idea, but it changes how they see the world. 

In one exchange project, students in Kent speak to classrooms in Calais through live video links. They send ‘Geo-parcels’ filled with drawings, soil samples, and handwritten notes. One teacher described it as the moment children realised the ground beneath them is shared. 

In the Marquise quarry basin, students hold fossils for the first time and ask the same question again and again. How can something so old still feel so close? 

Most importantly, these experiences help young people see they are part of something bigger. These are the moments that stay with them. 

Making deep time visible 

20 interpretation panels across key sites 

One of our most exciting achievements has been making the story of the land visible to everyone. Across the Geopark, 20 interpretation panels now help visitors read the landscape in new and meaningful ways. 

At Folkestone Warren, Dover Castle, and Cap Blanc Nez, and many others visitors can learn about places shaped by one of Europe’s most dramatic natural events. The megaflood that carved the Strait of Dover around 450,000 years ago. 

They also share a much longer story that spans more than 400 million years, from ancient reef environments in the Boulonnais to the opening of the strait (quaternary), that define the coastline today. 

These panels are helping families, walkers, and visitors connect with the powerful idea that every step across this land is a step through time. 

People at the heart of the Geopark 

75 Geoambassadors sharing the story of the land 

One of our proudest milestones is the growing network of 75 Geoambassadors. They are guides, artists, educators, farmers, and storytellers. Some share folklore from places like Folkestone Warren, others lead accessible nature walks, creative workshops, or food and landscape experiences. 

Fabrice Cazier, founder of Opale Sport Évasion, brings the Côte d’Opale landscape to life through nature-based sports and outdoor learning. His activities encourage people to move through the coastline while observing biodiversity and geology, turning sport into a way of reading the land. 

Helen Nattrass uses geopoetry to help people find words for landscapes that often feel impossible to describe. On cliff walks, she invites visitors to write short reflections, turning scientific space into emotional connection. 

Lucia Stuart leads foraging workshops along the chalk coast. She shows how alkaline soils shape what grows, and how wild plants can be part of local food culture. 

Jennifer Chilaud, a cultural mediator in Chateau d’Hardelot, “Entente cordiale” place between France and England, works with visitors of all ages to explore Franco-British heritage. Through guided tours, workshops, and storytelling, she connects history, gardens, and surrounding landscapes to the wider story of the Opal Coast. 

Others like Gini Mitchell lead accessible nature walks, making sure everyone can experience the Geopark regardless of mobility or background. For her, the landscape should never feel out of reach. 

Together, they make the Geopark feel human, ensuring everyone has a way to connect with this landscape in their own way. 

A shared landscape, a shared vision 

More than 30 partnerships bringing the Geopark to life 

At the heart of this work is connection. Since the launch of the UNESCO Sites Across the Channel (USAC) project, we have built a growing family of more than 30 partners across the landscape, all working towards a shared goal. 

This includes major cross-Channel links such as Eurotunnel and Port of Dover, heritage leaders like English Heritage and National Trust, innovative sustainable transport partners such as SailLink, and industrial heritage partners like the Carrières du Boulonnais and quarries from Bassin carrier de Marquise. 

Alongside them are quarry operators, land managers, educators, and local organisations, all playing a part in caring for this remarkable chalk landscape and helping more people experience it. 

Learning by doing, together 

321 workshops full of creativity and connection 

Across the Geopark, learning happens in the field, in villages, in quarries, and along the coast. So far, 321 workshops have brought people together to explore and create. 

In Saint-Martin-Choquel, communities explored traditional earth-building techniques like cob and rammed earth, reconnecting with local soils in a very real way. At Dover Castle, during the Cross-Channel Geopark Festival 2025, workshops, walks, and hands-on activities brought geology into direct conversation with art, food, and everyday life. 

These moments show geology is something we live with, shape, and are shaped by every day. 

A shared future 

This is only the beginning. Every workshop, every school exchange, and every walk along the cliffs adds another layer to the story. The Geopark is becoming something bigger than a designation. It is becoming a shared sense of place. And that is what makes it powerful.