Our Chalk Reef & It’s Incredible Marine Life with Sarah Ward, Living Seas Officer, Sussex Wildlife Trust, on 24 September 2019 12-12.30pm with Brighton MuseumLab

Stretching from Brighton Marina to Birling Gap a unique, chalk reef is home to a rich diversity of marine life. 

You probably know that wind, rain & the sea continuously erode the chalk cliffs all along the Sussex coast.  But, did you know that it’s also eroded by the animals that live there, creating safe refuge & habitats for many other creatures.

The talk is presented by The Living Coast Undersea Experience, a virtual reality experience enabling users to explore the underwater environment of the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (running between Brighton Marina & Beachy Head).

Ships, Shafts & UBoats with Lara Band, Discovery Programme Officer from CITiZAN on 17 September 12-12.30pm, with Brighton MuseumLab

On the Birling Gap foreshore lie the timber ribs of the clipper Coonatto, lost en route from Australia.  The entangled steel debris of SS Oushla and UB121 can also still be seen, and visited, at low tide. And, can the circular feature in the wave-cut, chalk platform be the base of an ancient shaft discovered, then lost though coastal erosion in the late 20th century? These remains have fascinating stories to tell.

CITiZAN, the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network, focuses on archaeology at risk from the effects of climate change: we train volunteers to record and monitor sites and work to raise awareness of coastal change and coastal archaeology as a whole.

The talk is presented by The Living Coast Undersea Experience, a virtual reality experience enabling users to explore the underwater environment of the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (running between Brighton Marina & Beachy Head).

• 12 October 2019, Brighton Digital Festival Fair #BDF19
• 24 September 2019, Our Amazing Chalk Reef, Bite Size Talk, Brighton Museum
• 17 September 2019, Ships, Shafts & UBoats, Bite Size Talk, Brighton Museum
• 1-4 August 2019, Birling Gap Visitor Centre – info & tickets here
• 21 July 2019, Wild Chalk, East Brighton Park – more info here
• 20 July 2019, Brighton Museum – more info here
• 18 July 2019, St Margaret’s School, Rottingdean Years R, 1, 2, 4 & 5
• 26 & 27 June 2019, The Big Bang STEM event, Ardingly, 9.30am-3.30pm
• 19 June 2019, Hamsey CP School, Cooksbridge Years R/1, 2/3, 4, & 5/6
• 18 June 2019, Middle Street School, Brighton Years 1 & 2
• 4 June 2019, ONCA Gallery, Brighton, What Next? Culture & Climate meeting 9.30am-12.30pm & ticketed 12.30 – 5pm
• 1 & 2 June 2019, National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth, 10am-4.30pm
• 25th May 2019, Hangleton Community Centre for Our Place, Brighton Festival, 10-5pm
• 23 May 2019, Park Mead School, Cranleigh, Years 4, 5 & 6
• 18th May 2019, East Brighton Community Centre Library for Our Place, Brighton Festival, times 10-5pm
• 17th April 2019 at Seven Sisters, Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Barn, 10.30AM – 4PM.  Tickets for the Experience & a range of activities, in 45 minute slots on Eventbrite HERE
• 16th April 2019, Seaford at St James Trust, 12noon – 7pm. Tickets in 20 minute slots, available on Eventbrite & HERE
• 15th April 2019 in Newhaven, at Denton Island Community Centre.  Tickets in 20 minute slots from 9.30-5pm available on Eventbrite & HERE
• 19-21 February 2019, Art Pod, Rottingdean
• 4-7 October 2018, TOM (The Old Market), Brighton Digital Festival

The Living Coast Undersea Experience

Are you are in interested in Marine conservation? Passionate about your environment & want to enthuse others? Interested in learning about VR technology? Or just want to meet new people? Come & join our volunteer team.

What is The Living Coast Undersea Experience?

It is an interactive, virtual reality & 360^o experience enabling users explore the underwater environment of the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (between Brighton Marina & Beachy Head). The Experience aims to open up the MCZ to everyone; raise awareness of its unique chalk reef & the species living there; & be a powerful educational tool to help people understand the environment & the things we can all do to conserve it. More here….

What would you be doing?

We are looking for volunteers to help us deliver the experience in community settings & schools across Sussex. You will help with:

• Welcoming visitors, signing in/taking tickets
• Giving information about the project & Marine Conservation Zone
• Engaging visitors in the accompanying games & activities
• Helping people into headsets & managing their experience, including the opportunity to learn to set up the VR equipment
• Collecting feedback & evaluation & feeding into the overall evaluation & development of the project

Interested? Contact Karen at info@kp-projects.co.uk for more information, or download the application form here

Privacy Notice – KP Projects CIC

This privacy notice explains how we collect, use and protect your personal data, our purposes for collecting and storing it and your rights as an individual.

1. Your legal rights under General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) are

• The right to be informed
• The right of access to your personal data
• The right of rectification (to have any inaccuracies corrected)
• The right of erasure (to have your records deleted)
• The right to restrict processing
• The right to data portability
• The right to object
• Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

Further information about your rights is available on the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office at http://www.ico.org.uk.

The Data Controller for KP Projects CIC is Karen Poley who can be contacted at info@kp-projects.co.uk . If you have a concern about the way that we are collecting or using your personal data, we ask that you contact us in the first instance.

2. The type of information we collect:

• Customer information: for example names, email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers
• Staff and volunteer information: names, email address, phone numbers and emergency contact details. Personal information such as age, gender, disability etc.
• Client and partner contact information: names, email addresses, phone numbers
• Monitoring information: this can include collecting information about protected characteristics as defined by the Equalities Act such as age, gender, ethnicity etc
• Permission forms: for a child or vulnerable adult to be photographed or filmed for a project

3. How we collect personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:

• Via 3^rd party websites such as Mailchimp or Eventbrite for the purpose of buying tickets or subscribing to newsletters
• Because you have applied to us for work or volunteering roles
• Because you have contacted KP Projects for business purposes
• Because you have voluntarily completed a monitoring form
• Because you have voluntarily completed a photo or video permission form

We use the information that you have given us in order to:

• manage your bookings for events
• share news with you
• work with you
• report on and document projects

We may also share aggregated and anonymised monitoring information with funders and partner organisations.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

(a) Your consent

(b) We have a contractual obligation

(c) We have a legal obligation

(d) We have a legitimate interest

4. How we store your personal information

Customer Information:

Data is stored on 3rd party sites such as Mailchimp and Eventbrite who have their own data protection policies and you can unsubscribe from these sites at any time.

Staff and volunteer information:

This data is stored electronically on a secure online server (Dropbox) and password protected. Periodic emails will be sent to volunteers to ask them if they are still interested in being part of the volunteer team for KP Projects CIC. Personal information is deleted when the project ends or when the volunteer requests to leave.

Client and partner information:

Business and professional enquiries and correspondence will be retained for business purposes as required. You can withdraw your permission for us to retain this data at any time.

Monitoring information:

We will retain paper copies in a secure place (****) and electronic records in a secure online server (Dropbox) and password protected until all project reporting is completed.

Photo and film permissions:

Your consent will be retained in a secure online server (Dropbox) and password protected for as long as we hold the related images.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at info@kp-projects.co.uk.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address:           

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire. SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

ROPA – Register of Processing Activity

KP Projects CIC 2022

The Living Coast Undersea Experience – how to see underwater!

Karen Poley, Creative Producer

In early 2014 I heard a talk by Rich Howarth from The Living Coast, the Brighton & Lewes Downs UNESCO World Biosphere Region, in which he mentioned that the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) had just been designated off the coast of Brighton.  The MCZ runs between Brighton Marina & Beachy Head & out to see for a half a mile or so.   It is a unique chalk reef, created by waves eroding chalk cliffs along the coastline, & is home to abundant wildlife, including rare short-snouted seahorses & threatened species, such as blue mussel beds & native oysters. 

I was staggered!  I had no idea that anything was alive down there!  I know how daft that sounds, but I grew up on the Sussex coast in an era when people stopped going in the water following a few too many sewage spills.  Since then, I’ve never really gone back in, or ever thought that much about it.

My first thought now, was ‘How can we see the MCZ?’  And the answer is, that its pretty tricky unless you can dive, & even then there’s only a couple of weeks of the year that the water is clear enough to see much.   Obviously, most people can’t afford to dive, but surely everyone, especially the thousands living within a couple of miles of the MCZ, would want to see it if they could.

With a background in producing outdoor arts events, performances & community engagement projects, I wondered about creating an underwater MCZ experience in a street with giant projections & maybe some performance.  But it quickly became apparent that a ton of technology would be required &, to be viable, it would need to be filled with lots & lots & lots of people; hardly the ethereal & relatively quiet experience of being underwater. 

As I talked to various artists, creatives & technical people, I realised that hardly anyone knew about the Biosphere or MCZ designations, & helping raising awareness of these became a second key idea.

Simon Wilkinson of C!RCA69, suggested virtual reality, a relatively new technology utterly perfect for creating an immersive, underwater experience.  Being virtually in the marine environment, exploring the chalk gully formations & seeing marine life all around, is a powerful & awe inspiring, kinaesthetic experience.  Just like diving but without getting wet. 

In partnership with The Living Coast, Sussex IFCA (Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority) & Sussex Wildlife Trust, ideas developed around modelling the MCZ’s chalk reef to create a 3.5m square area for exploration, populated by a long, long list of marine plants & animals found locally. 

The result is an extraordinary & very real experience, which we are now starting to tour, as a pilot, to communities along the MCZ coastline.  The next dates are over the Easter holidays, starting with a trip to funders, the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, on 6^th & 7^th April. 

Further info & dates here:  https://www.kp-projects.co.uk/the-living-coast-undersea-experience/

Find us on Instagram @kpprojectscic & Twitter @kpprojectscic  & on Facebook /kpprojectscic

The Living Coast Undersea Experience is funded by Arts Council England, National Marine Aquarium, Sussex Community Foundation, South Downs National Park & Heritage Lottery Fund.

Initial Concept Words & Ideas © The Bicycle Ballet Co

The Bicycle Ballet Ballet will merge ballet & contemporary dance with bicycles, to synthesize a new imagery for performance & cycling.

The project emerges in response to the idea that a rich, creative link exists between the technical skill & precision of a highly trained ballet dancer & the beautifully balanced mechanism of a bicycle.

This metaphor mimics the aesthetics of modernism, in which form follows function, & the machine aesthetic of Constructivism, merging with the body.  The project will draw on this influence in the design of both the dance & production (costumes, music, style).

The piece draws on the Modernist dream of the elegant city to present a tale of an idealised future.  Tapping into contemporary visions of repurposing & remaking, where the city is free from choking pollution & traffic congestion; the streets reimagined as spaces for people; ease of travel & everyone living & moving in harmony.  The bicycle is the ‘ideal’ machine to cut through traffic, offering liberation, health & possibility.

Underpinning the concept is The Bicycle Ballet Company’s commitment to change the way people think about riding bicycles.  Reframing cycling here as an activity of elegance & excellence to interrupt cycling stereotypes & help encourage people, including ballet dancers, to ride.

The piece will be flexible, to be performed by six dancers in a variety of spaces, & even move through & between places.  It will be created for touring & sustainability, with participatory opportunities.  Choreographed by Virginia Farman in collaboration with Creative Producer Karen Poley.

A new show from The Bicycle Ballet Company, created in 2016/7, will be developed in 2018 to further explore the history of women & cycling & fashion & its relevance today.

In particular, we are interested in extending the potential for engaging with local communities, working with a wide range of people, community groups & organisations, to explore the ideas behind the show & to create arts & heritage activities with & for local communities.

Find out more about the show & future ideas in this short presentation, made to delegates of Xtrax Shorts, at the Out There Festival in Great Yarmouth September 2017.  Click HERE to watch

More info on the show HERE

The Living Coast Undersea Experience is an interactive, virtual reality & 360 experience, enabling users to explore the underwater environment of the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (BHW MCZ), which runs between Brighton Marina & Beachy Head, without getting wet!

Scroll down for more info & a short film

Tour Dates 2023

TLC Undersea Experience 2023 tour is now completed. We visited 16 venues & 4 schools across Sussex presenting our unique VR project over 30 days Coming up next: a 2 year tour with Ouse Valley Climate Action. More info soon.

OVCA community partners interested in presenting TLCUE, Technical Specs HERE

Be the first to know by following us on: Instagram, Facebook or Twitter

More about The Living Coast Undersea Experience

The Living Coast Undersea Experience was created by internationally acclaimed digital artist, Simon Wilkinson & Karen Poley, KP Projects, in a partnership including The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere Region, Sussex Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority (IFCA) & Sussex Wildlife Trust. More about how the idea evolved HERE

TLC Undersea Experience aims to:

• Open up one of the UK’s most unique marine environments to everyone
• Raise awareness of BHW MCZ, home to one of the world’s only chalk reefs, with unique species of plant & animal life, which only a fraction of people know about
• Be a powerful kinaesthetic & educational experience to help people understand the environment & the things we can all do to help conserve it

What people say about TLCUE:

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Want to know more ?

Check out these two talks by experts on our local marine environment & the archaeology of the chalk cliffs: Sarah Ward, Living Seas Officer, Sussex Wildlife Trust & Lara Band, Discovery Programme Officer from CITiZAN

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How can you help?

A few simple things you can do to help protect this unique environment, here…

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How to get involved

• Volunteering opportunities from 2022, more here…

• There are exciting & engaging sponsorship opportunities & the project needs patrons & funders to help develop subsequent touring opportunities for this amazing project across the Biosphere region to schools, community centres & venues.  Please get in touch for further information:  info@kp-projects.co.uk

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Have a closer look this is short of the prototype experience, created in 2018:

The Living Coast Undersea Experience is created by Simon Wilkinson of C!RCA69 & Karen Poley of KP Projects CIC; in partnership with The Living Coast Brighton & Lewes Downs, UNESCO designated Biosphere Region; Sussex Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority (IFCA); & Sussex Wildlife Trust.

An interactive, outdoor exhibition conceived as a way of creating a significant ‘guerilla’ art activity during Brighton Festival 2017, to raise awareness of the cuts & re-organisations to the NHS, & is part of KP’s ongoing exploration of presenting digital storytelling in unexpected outdoor locations.  

Created in In collaboration with Ray Gibson (Raysto Images), Dr Sarah Anderson, Sussex Defend the NHS & internationally acclaimed photographer & artist JR & the Inside Out project.

Subjects were activists & passers by, plucked off the streets or from a pub round the corner, who told their stories & concerns about the NHS whilst be photographed & recorded.

The photos were blown up & printed as part of internationally acclaimed photographer & artist, JR’s Inside Out project.

Images, film or audio were edited together under the auspices of virtual reality app, Aurasma, to make posters come to live.  Click on the instructions to the left, or see a couple of the films below.