Partnerships

The Brussels-Capital Region visits Lille

On 20 January 2020, a Brussels delegation travelled to Lille in the margin of the cooperation agreement between the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) and the European Metropolis of Lille (EML). The two partners exchanged experiences about how the European ERDF and Interreg support programmes work in practice.

At the start of the meeting, the delegation of the BCR, which consisted of representatives of the External Relations Directorate, the ERDF Directorate and perspective.brussels, discussed the organisation and the outcomes of their ERDF 2014-2020programmes with representatives of the EML and the Hauts-de-France region.

The Hauts-de-France region, which was created in 2014 following the merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy, has two ERDF programmes for this period. It presented the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) tool, which delegates the management of part of the ERDF financing of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais programme to the EML.

The discussions then focused on the European Interreg financing programmes and the tools that are developed to assist local stakeholders with the development of their projects. These exchanges proved an excellent source of information for Brussels International, which hopes to increase its support to Brussels operators for the 2021-2027 programming period.

 

Fives Cail: an industrial flagship is transformed into a metropolitan eco-district

The Brussels delegation visited the Fives Cail project, with their counterparts of the European Metropolis of Lille.

The Brussels delegation then visited the Fives Cail project. This former 25-hectare industrial site was recently transformed into a mixed eco-district with housing, business premises, an international hospitality (secondary) school, sports and cultural infrastructure… This urban renewal project aims to preserve the city’s industrial heritage while developing the infrastructure needed by the City of Lille and the metropolis. The Fives Cail project received financing from the ERDF programme, as well as from the Urban Innovative Actions programme, which has provided funding for the construction of the future Halles Gourmandes.

The main building on the Fives Cail site is home to the Lycée Hôtelier International and the future Halles gourmands.
Fives-Cail-Babcock specialised in mechanical engineering, building locomotives among others. Some of the rails have been preserved in the new project.