Presentation of the Interreg ATRACT-AB project

On Tuesday 14th May, at L’Arche in Villerupt, the CCPHVA (Communauté de Communes Pays Haut Val d’Alzette), the Syndicat PRO-SUD and the City of Esch-sur-Alzette presented an ambitious cultural project, ATRACT-AB (Accompagner la TRAnsition du secteur Culturel dans le Territoire transfrontalier Alzette-Belval).

This project has been designed in collaboration with our local and cross-border partners for the next three years. With a total budget of €1,145,588.30, financed by the Interreg programme through the functional area of the GECT Alzette Belval, the initiative aims to establish an environmentally responsible and cross-border cultural programme and tools to promote the greening of the cultural sector. The aim of the project is to raise the awareness of the inhabitants of the Franco-Luxembourg cross-border region about the transition, while strengthening cooperation links.

Our objectives are clear:

To create an environmentally responsible and cross-border cultural programme, a direct legacy of Esch2022 – European Capital of Culture, promoting awareness of the transition and cooperation.
To develop knowledge and practical tools for the greening of the sector (platforms, toolbox, training).
Strengthen cross-border cultural cooperation by networking and supporting the training of actors, while removing barriers to cooperation.

In order to achieve these objectives, the cultural programme managed by the CCPHVA will include major projects such as:

Les Planètes: a cross-border co-creation show by the company Eddi van Tsui (Luxembourg) and the music school DIAPASON (France). The aim is to create an enriching musical experience and to stimulate joint reflection on artistic creation and coexistence.
Autour de l’eau: a convivial summer event bringing citizens together around environmental issues, with awareness-raising workshops during the day and artistic performances in the evening along the Alzette.
Les marchés du NEST: an opportunity to buy local products while taking part in shows and meeting local actors.
Les Stammdësch du collectif Le Gueuloir: meetings aimed at giving a voice to all the inhabitants of the area through an artistic presence (authors) leading to a staged performance with professional actors. Let’s not forget that the authors’ field of research is a neighbourhood or a small town bistro.

Cross-border collaboration

In addition, the syndicat PRO-SUD, in collaboration with the Cultural Department of the City of Esch-sur-Alzette, is committed to ensuring the training of the cultural sector and the continuation of the elo.lu initiative, also developed for Esch2022, while ensuring effective communication at both regional and cross-border levels. The City of Esch-sur-Alzette will lead the development of toolkits for cultural institutions and training aimed at greening the sector’s practices, as well as the development of an online platform for carrying out environmental assessments. These action-research initiatives fully contribute to the strategic priorities defined by the Ministry of Culture in the framework of the Culture Development Plan and to the objectives of the Mission Net Zero launched by the 11 communes of the syndicat PRO-SUD in April 2023. In addition, the Interreg ATRACT-AB project will seek partnerships with key players in the regional and even national cultural sector. As such, the Theaterfederatioun is expected to become the methodological partner of the project.

During the presentation of the project Patrick Risser, President of the CCPHVA, expressed his conviction that “once again we have a very promising project for cross-border cooperation and for bringing our territories closer together. Culture was the basis for our exchanges with Luxembourg in 2022, and today it is the starting point for our reflections on a shared and resilient future”.

Christian Weis, Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette and President of PRO-SUD, emphasised the aspect of “better networking between cultural operators in the 19 French and Luxembourgish municipalities in the Esch2022 area, in order to strengthen the coherence of the cultural offer and enable the inhabitants on both sides of the border to better participate in a large number of diverse and high-quality events, while at the same time helping operators in the sector to reduce the impact of their cultural events on our natural resources and the climate”.