The Franco-British Connections is a non-profit and non-political association that aims to encourage students to develop their own cross-Channel initiatives. Our events have attracted students from over 20 universities from France and Britain, including Oxford, Cambridge, ESCP, King’s, LSE, QMUL, Imperial College and UCL in the UK, and the Ecole Polytechnique, Sciences Po, HEC, ESSEC, ENA, Assas, ENS, ULIP and the Sorbonne in France.

The philosophy of the FB-Connections is to encourage and help students to develop their own projects. We view student-led events as complementary to the regular course-based cooperative projects devised by university administrations. Students are often not aware of their potential to organise important and mutually beneficial events with their colleagues from other universities; this is where the FB-Connections strives to act as a catalyst, by putting students in touch with alumni who have organised Franco-British events in the past and by giving them access to our broad network of institutional contacts in both France and Britain.

To promote innovation, the structure of the association is project-based, whereby students are required to be in charge of their event, always bringing their own ideas to bear on the project. Once students successfully complete a project, they join the ranks of the alumni who are able to advise the next generation of students, bringing with them the new contacts that were made and a new experience to share. More than an association, we view ourselves as an informal network of people who wish to contribute to the development of Franco-British relations at the university level. This means that suggestions for events sometimes arise in cooperation with alumni and institutional partners who are keen to be involved.

Past events have included student conferences with students from both France and Britain, online essay competitions, interviews and debates on Franco-British themes, lectures and alumni reunions.