Discover the commitments behind the Canal
Find here the structural commitments of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe and the project partners.
Discover the commitments behind the Canal
Find here the structural commitments of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe and the project partners.
In 2025, an exhibition at the Maison du Canal in Compiègne showcased poems, readings, and podcasts by middle and high school students from the Oise region. This initiative, carried out as part of a partnership between the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe and the French Ministry of Education , continued this year for some of the students. Here's a look back at their latest discoveries, in pictures and words.
Last year, second-year automotive maintenance students at the Paul Langevin high school in Beauvais participated in the "Listening to the Canal" project . For a year, they studied and recorded texts about water, canals, and inland waterways without ever having seen them in person. On June 3, 2026, the students were able to bring their words to life with a bike ride along the route of the future Seine-Nord Europe Canal.
"Listening to the Canal" is good, but watching it is even better!
That's the starting point. The same students who worked last year on the texts provided by the Canal Center had the opportunity to follow the future route and discover the ongoing work. But the Canal is something you have to earn!
The students of 1MV2 accompanied by 5 teachers cycled from Ribécourt-Dreslincourt to Compiègne, a distance of nearly 20km.
All in the saddle
We begin our leisurely stroll along the road, taking the time to reach the towpath. Roadworks forced us to take a detour, but finally we are here along the Oise Lateral Canal, which will be widened and deepened to become the Seine-Nord Europe Canal.
The students remained very perplexed by the lock, its operation and its usefulness, until this sentence:
“Actually, a lock is a boat lift!”
The works
Very soon we are faced with the very impressive works of the Montmacq – Cambronne-lès-Ribécourt lock which will allow the Canal to accommodate large boats.
An arrival fit for the greatest… on the red carpet!
Twenty kilometers further on, the Château de Compiègne is not far away. Some students are struggling, others resent their teachers for bringing them there (yes, really!), but ultimately, they all admit to having had fun, pushed themselves, and above all, created lasting memories. To end the day on a high note, since we were in Compiègne, we took the opportunity to visit the Vehicle Museum. There, in just a few steps, we traveled through the history of technological innovation.
Article written by Anthony KOCH, Julien, Anthony, Samy and Christel TURBLIN
