2026 UK-France study visit bursary

2026 UK-France study visit bursary for a young professional in a protected landscape

EUROPARC Atlantic Isles in collaboration with Federation des Parcs Naturels Regionaux 

Protected landscapes are addressing the major issues facing us such as climate change, nature recovery, social inclusion and working to achieve sustainability at the local level. Their ability to do this in future depends on nurturing the next generation of people working in them. This bursary is an opportunity for a young professional employed in a protected landscape in the UK or France to learn from protected areas by making a study visit in 2026 to the other country (i.e. French applicants may apply to visit the UK, and UK applicants may apply to visit France).

The bursary is a personal initiative of Phil Holden from the Shropshire Hills National Landscape team, and the money comes from fundraising from Phil’s 1000-mile bike ride across France from Saint-Malo to Nice through 14 Parcs Naturels Regionaux in September 2025.  His inspiration for the fundraising was from hosting earlier visits under the EUROPARC youth scholarship programme, which has now been scaled back due to loss of funding.  EUROPARC Atlantic Isles are holding the funds and administering the bursary.

Any donations will be very gratefully received and can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/page/phil-holden-1.

Eligibility

At the time of applying you must be aged 35-years or under, employed by a protected landscape organisation in either the UK or France, and have permanent residency in either the UK or France.  We would hope that your employer would treat some or all of the study visits as part of your paid work time.  If awarded the bursary, you must hold a valid passport/visa to cover the complete period.  You must obtain relevant travel insurance – this is your responsibility but the bursary may cover the cost.  The bursary is not for conducting study visits as part of a Masters or Doctoral thesis.  No economic activity or money can be earned as a result of the study visit(s).  You must be willing to put effort into the language of the country you visit (see Language section below).

Application Requirements

We ask you to set out your aims for your study visit, what particular theme you would like to study and why.  Where you would like to visit and how far you have got in contacting the host protected landscape, and what you plan to do with the knowledge and skills gained.  The application should be a Word document of no more than 2,000 words in total (plus images if you wish).  You should explain your current job role in your protected landscape, and must demonstrate how your proposed study visit will bring real benefits to your professional tasks. Your study theme could relate to any from a wide range of topics relevant to protected landscapes, including biodiversity, climate change, health and wellbeing, social inclusion, recreation and tourism, farming and land management, involvement of communities.  You can make the case for any relevant subject you wish to study.

The application should be emailed to Deb Brookes ([email protected]) by 31 October 2025. 

Visits

The bursary is for a visit to at least one protected area in the country you wish to visit, to be made during 2026.  If you are able to visit two or three protected areas this may enhance your study.  If distances are short you may even choose to make separate visits to the country, but visiting multiple places in one journey is likely to be more cost and time efficient.

Setting things up with host areas can be difficult as protected landscapes teams are always busy. If you know the place(s) you wish to visit, we encourage you to contact them before applying.  We understand that you may not be able to have definite plans in place with a host area before you know if you have been awarded the bursary – we will be awarding the bursary on the strength of your ideas, and your demonstrated commitment and initiative.  We may even be able to help through the national protected area networks to support the person awarded to secure visits to relevant and suitable areas. A final travel plan including contact addresses, journey and the length of the visit should be submitted prior to the start of the trip.

Award

The bursary award will be decided by a Panel made up if representatives of EUROPARC Atlantic Isles and the Federation des Parcs Naturels Regionaux.  We expect to invite a shortlist of applicants to an online interview, probably during November.  The funding will be a minimum of £1,000 and potentially more if funds raised allow.  The bursary is to cover travel, accommodation and any other costs associated with the visit(s).  It is an amount awarded rather than requiring you to claim for specific amounts you spend, recognising that you will also put in considerable time. Any costs over the bursary amount will need to be covered by the applicant. As the funds were raised by sustainable travel in the form of cycling, a condition of the study visit funded will be that it does not involve flying.  With the multiple travel options between the UK and France, this should not pose too much limitation.  We expect to pay 65% in advance to help cover costs, which need to be outlaid before the visit, and then 35% upon submission of final reporting, to encourage and ensure completion.

Reporting

This will consist, at minimum, of an article (ideally in both English and French) with some photos that can be published by EUROPARC Atlantic Isles, the Federation des Parcs Naturels Regionaux, and potentially by the EUROPARC Federation, and must be completed by the end of 2026.  Disseminating your findings and experience through your own networks is also encouraged.  You may also wish to make a short video, an artistic piece or write something longer.  If possible, an opportunity should be sought to make a presentation about your visit(s) to one or both national protected area networks.  For example via a EUROPARC Atlantic Isles webinar to its members.

Language

Ideally the language aspect would be entirely equal.  However, in reality, speaking English in France is stronger than that of French in the UK (and EUROPARC conduct most of their international events in English).  Improving language competency will be an additional benefit of the visit and this should be treated as part of the learning opportunity.  We suggest the following guidelines of minimum language standard and expectations:

• For French applicants – you should be competent to read and converse in English, and expect the protected area(s) you visit to host you almost entirely in English, but allowing consideration for speed and complexity of speech, extra explanation, etc.
• For UK applicants – you should be able to make greetings and ideally some basic conversation in French and be able to make some use of written documents in French using translation aids if necessary.  You should expect the area(s) you visit to host at least partly in French, and if you would need them to host substantially in English, you would need to specify this, and to understand that this may limit your options.

The application should be made mainly in English but you may include some French.